Adam Rayner is no stranger to popular franchises, having starred as “The Saint” Simon Templar in the past as well as guest starring in an episode of Doctor Who. Now, Rayner is part of another iconic franchise as part of the cast of Superman & Lois where he plays Morgan Edge, who, of course, has had a few new things revealed about his character in recent weeks.
Tonight’s episode of Superman & Lois titled “A Brief Reminiscence In-Between Cataclysmic Events” is a masterpiece, and to promote it, KryptonSite has had the opportunity to speak with Mr. Rayner about what we have recently learned as well as what is coming up. If you’re not caught up on the show, catch up already — this interview will still be here to read when you’re done!
KRYPTONSITE’s CRAIG BYRNE: At what point did the writers tell you that Morgan Edge was actually a Kryptonian named Tal-Rho?
ADAM RAYNER: I was already signed on for the job on the understanding that he was Morgan Edge, the media mogul billionaire, and that sounded fun, and I was fine with that. Then, I was in the hotel in quarantine, as we all had to do when we came out here to shoot. I spoke to Todd [Helbing] who said ‘oh, yeah, by the way, he’s also Superman’s Kryptonian half brother.’
I was thrilled. We’re always looking for additional twists and turns and layers to the characters we play so I was thrilled with that. And the fact that you know, who was closely linked to the man himself, was only going to make the character more significant and more fun.
As an actor, is it intimidating to be part of a major mythology like Superman?
I have a slight sense of what it is to step into the world of well-known characters and mythology, playing Simon Templar. You’re conscious of a certain kind of fan expectation, and you just have to do your best and try and give them something interesting and hopefully new when you come to play these characters.
How would you tease the June 22 episode without giving anything away?
From my point of view, although everyone’s got some great stuff in the episode, I would say this episode is about getting to the heart of Morgan Edge, who he really is, and what he really wants.
What made Superman & Lois a series that you would want to be a part of?
I was the kid with the red underpants outside my blue pajamas, running around being Superman. I was a huge Superman fan as a kid. He was the central character of my sort of childhood play, so there’s a wonderful, strange sense of a journey being completed.
The funny thing is, the play-acting we do as kids… for actors, we’ve just chosen to sort of follow that through to an insane degree. In a way, it all starts with that, so to actually up being part of that world as a grown up, professional actor, there’s a sort of strange sense of completion to that.
Do you get get a certain nostalgic feeling when you see Tyler in the Superman costume on set?
Yeah. It’s impossible not to, if the character meant something to you as a kid, which it certainly did for me. And, he’s a wonderful Superman. You kind of get used to it, but the first time you find yourself talking to Superman, you sort of have to get your stuff together, and remind yourself you’ve got a job to do.
Do you have anything else to tell the fans about the upcoming episodes?
Keep watching, because with almost every single character, what you thought you knew about them is not necessarily the full story, and if you want to get to the heart of pretty much every character in the show, you have to keep watching.
Our thanks to Adam Rayner for doing this interview. A new episode of Superman & Lois airs TONIGHT (June 22) at 9PM ET/PT on The CW… you can see a trailer below.