Christopher Reeve’s kids wanted to be ‘honest, raw and vulnerable’ in new documentary ‘Super/Man’

Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Christopher Reeve’s children say they made a point to include all the complexities of their father’s life — his strengths and weaknesses — in the new documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” — because that’s what he would have wanted.

The film includes family home videos, mixed with interviews and movie clips of Reeve, who famously played Superman in four films, in addition to other acting and directing roles later in his career. Reeve’s three children, Matthew, Alexandra and Will Reeve, say there were no restrictions on topics or video used in their father’s story.

“He wouldn’t have wanted to be viewed through rose-colored glasses. He would want art and cinema and factual, comprehensive storytelling and that’s what he got,” Reeve’s youngest son, Will told The Associated Press. “It’s important to us to be honest and raw and vulnerable and give a 360-degree view of a very human life, of a very human family.”

Known as the Man of Steel, Reeve — an avid athlete, sailor, skier and horseman — was nearly killed in a 1995 horse-riding accident that left him paralyzed for the rest of his life. He used his platform to become an advocate for people with disabilities, starting a foundation in his name.

Directors Ian Bonhôte and Peter Ettedgui were able to access some never-before-seen home movies of the Reeve family before and after the accident. “When we started to make the film, one of the things they were adamant (about) is that they will share everything. They will share the archive, but they will share their emotional states … everything,” Bonhôte said. “That was the first time they were going to do it, and they were going to go all out.”

Reeve had recorded audio of his memoir before he died in 2004, so his narration is used in parts, adding to the film’s intimacy. The actor became a father to Matthew and Alexandra with his first partner, Gae Exton, and the family was living in the U.K. before Reeve decided he needed a break and moved back to the U.S. alone. Exton, who is interviewed in the film, shares compelling memories of that time, and Matthew and Alexandra admit their father was not around regularly during their childhood.

Other interviews include Susan Sarandon and Glenn Close, who befriended Reeve after he graduated from the Julliard School and started taking on acting roles in New York. Close suggests in the film that Reeve and Robin Williams — Julliard classmates and close friends — had a deep connection and that if Reeve were still alive, Williams likely would be too.

Reeve’s kids say the process of going through their archives and being interviewed for the film gave them a new perspective and appreciation of their dad. Will Reeve was only 12 when his father died. His mother, Dana, was diagnosed with cancer and died less than 18 months later. Now an ABC News correspondent, Reeve says he was fortunate to have had family and close friends help raise him and considers himself “pretty well-adjusted.”

“There’s a scenario in which things could have turned out differently,” Will Reeve said. “But because of the values instilled in us by our parents, because of the way that they let us into their lives, the good and the bad, the joyous and the tragic … that prepared us for life’s difficulties and life’s joys.”

One thing that impressed the directors most in their research was Reeve’s commitment to help others even after he was physically limited in his own life. After becoming a quadriplegic, Reeve and his family were shocked at the lack of resources for people with disabilities and started the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation to help improve quality of life and fund research for a cure for people with spinal cord injuries.

“He allowed him(self) to have 10 or 15 minutes of self-pity, and then he was on a mission to change the world. And I think that’s very, very inspiring because … the family as a whole, Dana and the kids, they faced a huge amount of difficulties, you know, 24-hour care, the cost,” Bonhôte said. “So he would fight for those that are less privileged than him.”

Alexandra Reeve Givens has kept up the advocacy in the family, working on the foundation and as a Washington attorney and CEO of the Center for Democracy and Technology. She said reflecting on her father’s life was powerful.

“To see those elements of his character that stayed constant throughout his life: the commitment, the intensity, the passion, the strength,“ she said. “Those things changed after the accident and manifested in new ways. That strength suddenly meant something totally different. It was a strength to get up every day.”

The film is being widely released Friday to coincide with the 20th anniversary of Reeve’s death this month.

Matthew Reeve— a writer, producer and director —says the film reemphasized lessons the family learned from their parents, including the fragility of life.

“I think what it also instilled in us very early on was this deep sense of gratitude of everything, from being thankful that he survived the accident to an enduring gratitude that tomorrow is not promised and that you have to really value the present,” he said.

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This story has been updated to correct that Christopher Reeve died in 2004, not 2005.