Rise to Fame
In 2019, he told an interviewer he wanted to play Superman. Four years later, James Gunn called his Philadelphia-area home with the part. The two Ryan Murphy shows in between (The Politician, Hollywood) built his profile, but it was Ti West's Pearl (2022) that Gunn specifically credits for the casting decision. He reportedly thought the call was a joke. From the outside, it looked like luck.
In the Spotlight
Superman (2025) landed at 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and became the highest-grossing superhero film of the year. The DCU is now built around him, with a sequel (Man of Tomorrow) slated for July 2027. That's a fast promotion from 'actor most audiences hadn't quite placed' to the face of a studio's franchise reboot. What he did with the role was play it earnest, which was unfashionable, and somehow that was exactly right.
Side Notes
His grandfather, Edward Packard, invented the Choose Your Own Adventure book series. That's a detail that doesn't quite fit anywhere and lands harder because of it. He started college at UPenn in psychology before transferring to Juilliard, then co-wrote and starred in a two-season sketch comedy web series while still a student. On Hollywood, he was also an executive producer, not just the lead actor. That kind of ambition at that stage is usually the tell.