David Corenswet Reveals How His New Character Is a 'Superman-Like' Figure

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David Kornzot's turn as the Man of Steel in Superman 2025 was filled with optimism, confidence, and arrogance, and it looks like his next appearance on the big screen will be no different. In an exclusive interview with IGN, Corenswet reveals that the hero of his new movie Mr. Irrelevant, which hits theaters this December, has a lot in common with the Big Blue Boy Scout.

"John Tuggle is a Superman-like character in many ways," Kornzot says. I want to see movies that give me hope, optimism, energy. When the lights come up in the movie theater, I want to look at the people next to me and say, Wow, we should be a little nicer to each other.

Mr. Irrelevant tells the true story of John Tuggle, "the last player selected in the last round of the 1983 NFL Draft." The film stars Cornett as Tuggle, with supporting roles from Michael Shannon (Knives Out, Man of Steel) as legendary football coach Bill Parcells and Isabelle May (Scream 7) as Tuggle's love interest Cathy.

Along with Corenswet, I sat down with May, who says playing Cathy was a bit of a reprieve for some of her upcoming roles.

"Of course I want to be a part of movies that make people feel good," says May. But after this movie, I made movies that make people feel bad.

"I haven't made another movie from this movie except for a Superman movie," Cornsot adds. "Isabelle has made so many films and it expands that range. It's a wide range of characters and all kinds of emotions that people get away with.

“[In one of the upcoming films] I play a very pathetic person,” May says. "But I want to play everybody, with every kind of taste. I'm really happy to be here talking about this film because I'm proud of it."

How David Kornzot Prepared to Play John Tuggle

The real Tuggle died of cancer in 1986, and Mr. Irrelevant tells the story of his health struggles and treatments in addition to trying to make it in the NFL. Cornsot, whose father died of cancer, says the previous storyline was a more difficult and personal challenge for him as an actor.

"The second half [of the film] was harder for me because it was all me. The first half of my football double is Yaqub, who hit all the hard shots over and over again. I would make a few tackles, but we all knew that when I got tired Jacob would be the one to see it to the finish line. If you're doing a scene where you're coughing, it might be on screen for 30 seconds or a minute, but you cough all day as an actor.

In that regard, it's the kind of movie where you almost hope you end up with a scar or injury to remember how much he gave it all. "There's a lot of hard work that goes into all of this, but I was excited to go to work every day on this film."

David Cornzot and Isabelle might beat Mr. Irrelevant's shower scene

While both Kornzot and Kornzot say John's health issues were difficult to portray at times, there was one simpler scene that was the hardest for them.

"I only remember one thing," May says.

"I wonder if we're thinking the same thing," adds Corenswet.

"We probably are," May says. There's a scene where I'm in the shower and David was justifiably having a really hard time trying to figure out how to not be creepy and go in and not have someone shower and annoy him and make it feel romantic. But still, it wouldn't be nearly as much fun if he didn't shower. So we were trying to figure out how to do that."

"That's the story I tell when I try to explain to people how good you were on set," Kornzot says. "We had discussions about blocking, but when we woke up, we tried to solve the problem. [Director] Jonathan [Levine] said to me, 'This is the scene where everything falls apart and we're not going to make the movie because you can't figure out how to get in and not get in the shower, but you have to go to the bathroom?'

We basically got to the point where Jonathan and I said to each other, "We don't know how to do this." “What if I don't open the curtain?” Isabelle just piped under the shower. "Wake immediately solved everything."

While neither May nor Kornzot spoke to John Tuggle's family during the making of the film, they did reveal that both Kathy (whom Tuggle was engaged to before his death) and people close to Tuggle had seen the film.

The reaction of John Tuggle's family to Mr. Irrelevant

"I didn't get to meet Kathy," May says. All I know is that he really, really loved her. He never remarried and being close to this family and being willing to have these conversations with people after all these years about this boy was very supportive of making this film. Our producers showed the footage to his sister and family and to Kathy, and they all said it felt like they were actually watching John. They must see him again. So David did something extraordinary."

"[Cathy] said it was completely in the spirit of John and the spirit of what happened," says Corenswet. “And for a movie like this about a guy who's not a household name, the point is that the spirit is right. "This was a man who made everyone around him feel that there was more to be done and that there was a reason to smile and a reason to laugh, a reason to hope, a reason to get up and keep fighting."

As for whether the film will bring more attention to John Tuggle's life and accomplishments on the field, Cornets says he hopes it does more.

"We could all do with a 'Mr. Irrelevant' movie about [someone like] San Francisco," Cornsot says, "about the guy who was picked last, who ended up being the star, the winner, the unlikely hero, the one whose name everybody knows and whose story everybody knows." When John begins his story, there is an element to it. But what he learns, and what most of us learn, and probably even the people who end up in the record books, is that the biggest impact a person makes on the world isn't in the record books and on glass trophies. It's about the people you connect with and get inspired by."

Mr. Irrelevant hits theaters on December 25.

Michael is the Global Head of Partnerships at IGNE, where he leads all third-party partnerships across games and entertainment studios, including for major events like IGN Live, San Diego Comic Con, Gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He has worked in the games and entertainment industry for 20 years, and his adventures have taken him everywhere from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Follow him on Bluesky @MichaelPeyton