David Corenswet Says Most Set Dogs Are Real Fakers, But Opened Up About Working With Superman’s Krypto Actor

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When you’re playing a hero in a new superhero movie, sharing the screen with a scene-stealer is inevitable, but if you’re David Corenswet, the latest actor to play Superman, that might just be his dog. In a new interview, the newest Man of Steel opened up about working alongside the real-life counterpart of the loveable scene stealer Krypto, from the 2025 movie release, and it’s clear the actor has as much affection for his four-legged co-star as Clark Kent has for Metropolis.

In a new GQ feature interview, Corenswet told the interviewer he’s worked with dogs before, but most trained movie pups have one thing on their minds, and that’s snacks. He explained:

I love every dog, and any chance to work with a dog is a great time. But sometimes the trained dogs are a little teamwork-oriented, and you can just tell the connection is not real—that they’re in this for the treats. They’re all business.

It’s a funny and oddly relatable observation from an actor stepping into one of cinema’s most iconic roles. After all, if anyone knows about balancing power and humility, it’s Superman, and the Look Both Ways actor seems to have found that same mix in his canine co-star. He continued:

This dog, though, really felt like the perfect blend of well-trained and disciplined, but also a real living, breathing adventure dog. So a lot of the moments we caught when we were shooting were really just us kind of running around and hanging out, which is a good day in my book.

Fans who’ve already seen the new DCU movie know exactly what the Lady in the Lake veteran means, and that’s that the chemistry between Clark and Krypto practically leaps off the screen. The off-screen moments the Pearl star described paint an equally heartwarming picture of a guy in a cape, laughing and playing with a dog between takes. That’s the kind of warmth the Man of Steel has been missing on the big screen, and now that James Gunn’s Superman has flown from theaters to streaming, it’s clear Corenswet, with a bit of help from his four-legged co-star, has brought it back.

The scrappy Kryptonian pup, affectionately dubbed “the worst dog in the world with superpowers,” first melted hearts when the Superman trailer dropped last December, and the film only confirmed his scene-stealing status. Krypto’s design and personality were modeled after director James Gunn’s own rescue dog, Ozu, who was adopted from a hoarding situation and promptly destroyed everything from furniture to laptops, and behavior that clearly inspired the character’s chaotic charm.

Bringing Krypto to life took more than one good boy, as production designer Beth Mickle revealed. Another pup, a white-haired sweetheart named Jolene, served as the on-set color reference for Krypto’s fur, often twirling to Dolly Parton’s “Jolene” during lighting tests. It’s unclear whether or not Jolene was the dog David Corenswet is talking about, but it’s probably a safe bet.

In a summer overflowing with superhero fatigue, the DCU’s Chapter One kickoff stood out precisely because it remembered what makes the hero super in the first place. Sure, there’s strength and superpowers, but there’s also kindness and the capacity to love. If Corenswet and his canine co-star proved anything, it’s that this Superman doesn’t just save the world, he’ll stop to save the dog, too.

Superman is now streaming for anyone with an HBO Max subscription.