We now know who’s going to be co-starring with Melissa Benoist in the latest superhero drama, and his name is Mehcad Brooks. Melissa Benoist was previous announced to play the title role of Supergirl. Now Mehcad Brooks will play the familiar Superman character, Jimmy Olsen.
The hourlong drama, which received a hefty series commitment, centers on Kara Zor-El (Benoist), Superman’s cousin, who was born on the planet Krypton and escaped amid its destruction years ago. Benoist will play Kara, who after arriving on Earth was taken in by a foster family, the Danvers, who taught her to be careful with her extraordinary powers (which she shares with her famous cousin, Superman).
Now 24, Kara feels un-empowered, a slave to having repressed her innate abilities. She’s still pretty, but with her face hidden behind glasses and her hair pulled back, she doesn’t know it herself. An unexpected disaster forces her to use her powers in public. Energized by her heroic deed, for the first time in her life, Kara begins embracing her extraordinary abilities. She begins helping the people of her city and they soon take notice — and she’s even given a new moniker: Supergirl.
Mehcad had roles in previous TV shows, including The Game, Desperate Housewives, True Blood, and Necessary Roughness in which he played a troubled football player with who has to go to counseling to deal with his past.
You also might’ve noticed him in various stages of undress as he is also a Calvin Klein underwear model. That’s not usually something associated with Jimmy Olsen.
It’ll be exciting to see what they have planned for this new Jimmy Olsen, but it seems his character is going to have a strong presence on the show.
Jimmy Olsen has been been played by many actors in television and in film, most recently as a gender-switched version named Jenny in the last Superman movie, Man of Steel. However, that is debatable since Jenny was never credited with a last name in the movie and I’m not sure if it was ever confirmed. Sam Huntington played the photographer in Superman Returns, and most prominently by Marc McClure in the original 70s/80s Superman films starring Christopher Reeve.
On the small screen, he was played by Aaron Ashmore in the WB/CW’s Smallville.
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