Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with Superman & Lois’ Jordan Elsass

Jordan Elsass is a rising young star whose career is skyrocketing up, up, and away. From stealing our hearts as Trip Richardson in Little Fires Everywhere to joining the DC Universe, Jordan is a dynamic performer who’s bringing the most complicated characters to life with ease.

For his latest project, Jordan steps into Jonathan Kent’s shoes in Superman & Lois. He takes audiences on a journey with his character through his growing pains as he struggles to find his place in the world after moving from the big city to Smallville.

Pop Culturalist caught up with Jordan to chat about Superman & Lois, where he’d like to see Jonathan’s storyline head in Season 2, and shares the show he’d like to see Jonathan make an appearance on (spoiler alert: it’s surprising!).

PC: You were a fan of the DC Universe before joining the cast of Superman & Lois. Did that bring any added pressure to your audition?
Jordan: Definitely, I would say so. I’ve always pegged myself more as a DC guy. Going into it being a fan of Smallville, being a fan of the Dark Knight trilogy, and DC in general…I wouldn’t say it added any pressure; I’d say it added excitement. There are things that I’ve auditioned for before that were equally pressure-inducing, but in all reality, I was fine. It was definitely nerve-wracking, but no more than any other big audition. It was just really, really exciting to even have the opportunity to audition for a role like this.

PC: We’ve seen a lot of different iterations of Superman depicted on both the small and silver screens. How does this show differentiate itself?
Jordan: It differentiates itself in several ways, but first and foremost, seeing Superman and Lois with kids, especially two twin boys, is something we’ve never seen before on screen or in live action—that’s a big thing. Then, seeing Superman/Clark Kent deal with these real human problems because he’s not human—he’s Kryptonian—is different, too. He’s an alien, but he’s dealing with these real grounded human issues. He’s dealing with these problems that every parent has to deal with.

On top of that, he’s Superman. He has to save the world all the time. We’re going to see things thrown at him that we’ve never really seen before. Lois, as well, faces some new challenges. It’s going to be cool to see. I think people are going to appreciate that even more as time goes on.

PC: Like you were saying, the family dynamic is something that we haven’t seen depicted on the screen yet. Which of Jonathan’s relationships has been your favorite to explore and why?
Jordan: Jonathan’s relationship with his brother is super interesting, because they really love each other a lot. They get along for the most part, but they also have their moments. As time goes on and the story progresses, you’re going to see some interesting stuff with their arcs and how their paths cross. We’re going to see some really interesting interactions and conflicts between them as time goes on. That’s going to be my favorite relationship to dive deeper into and continue to evolve.

PC: In the first couple of episodes, we see how Jonathan’s life is impacted as a result of moving to Smallville. As an actor, how did you prepare to tackle that arc?
Jordan: Definitely. I think just reminiscing on when I’ve had to move from a big city to a small town and friends that have ever had to make the same move. For me, living in small towns and having friends that move from the city, it really made me cognizant of the changes that have to be made when someone attempts to move like that, especially as a kid going into high school. It’s tough, because you have this group of friends that you were so close to for so long, and you’re just torn away from all that. It’s really difficult to sometimes stay in contact with friends when you make an abrupt move like Clark Kent did.

Luckily, I moved around a lot when I was younger. There were times when I would be in a place for a year, like in Seattle for a year, then I moved back down to Arkansas, Texas. I’m pretty used to moving and going with the flow and making quick changes. I know how it feels; I’m very used to that feeling. I think I brought that to the character, my own personal anecdotal experience.

PC: Audiences will recognize you for your breakout role in Little Fires Everywhere. What did you bring from that set over to Superman & Lois?
Jordan: Going from Little Fires Everywhere to Superman, I wanted to differentiate the two characters because they’re similar in a lot of ways—they’re both jocks, they both play sports. The thing is Jonathan doesn’t just play football. That’s primarily what he plays now in high school, but I imagine he grew up playing different sports. He grew up playing probably baseball, probably basketball to some degree—he was a very active kid. He probably swims, runs, hikes, bikes, so I think that’s something that was a commonality, but then I wanted to make sure that when we were actually talking about the characters and their personalities that there was a big difference there.

With Trip, he’s a little more naïve, he’s a little less intelligent, and he’s also a little more of a follower than a leader. Jonathan has a big heart. He’s a leader and he’s pretty smart—he’s a sharp kid. He definitely has his blind spots, but overall, he’s a whole different person. We’re going to see that as time goes on. I wanted to make sure that I was bringing that. At the same time, coming from Little Fires, I wouldn’t have been as comfortable on set if I hadn’t just come from such a big show. It really helped me bring a hundred percent of the character to set.

PC: The CW is well known for its crossover events. If you could pick a show that you like to see Jonathan make an appearance on, which would it be and why?
Jordan: Honestly, this is going to surprise you because you’re going to think I’m going to say Arrow, Flash, or Supergirl, but I want to be on Whose Line Is It Anyway? That’d be dope. You asked. [laughs] But if it was one of the superhero shows, probably Flash, because Arrow just ended.

PC: We’re only a couple of episodes into Season 1, but if you had to choose a hashtag to describe the back half, what would it be?
Jordan: That’s a good question. To be fair, I don’t have all the episodes yet. I only have up to 8, so I can’t speak to the entire thing, not that I can give any spoilers anyway, but I would say #intense, #twistsandturns, and #cliffhanger. It’s going to be dope.

PC: The show has been incredibly well received. What do you think is resonating most with audiences?
Jordan: I think people want something that’s wholesome and shows real people. They don’t want any BS. People are smarter than what is pandered to them. A lot of people are sharper than that, and they want to see something that’s real, grounded, raw, and displays and shows real issues, like mental health, parenthood, childhood, and growing up. They don’t want to see something that’s a facade of what people really want; they want to see real human interaction.

That’s something that the show has so far been able to pull off well. That has to do partially with the writing, and also with amazing actors like Tyler [Hoechlin] and Bitsie [Tulloch]—they’re freaking phenomenal in every scene and they bring that to life on screen. There are a variety of factors that are playing into why people are enjoying the show.

PC: Final question for you! The series was recently picked up for Season 2. Congratulations.
Jordan: Thank you!

PC: Where do you want to see Jonathan’s storyline head?
Jordan: I would love to see Jonathan continue to mature, regardless of whether he gets powers or not—that’s a big thing people have been talking about. I still genuinely have no idea if that’s going to happen or not. But even if he does, I want to see him continue to grow as a character and become more of a hero, regardless of what happens to him in his environment, regardless of whether he gets powers or not.

I think it would be really cool, even if he doesn’t get powers, to continue to see him grow as a person and maybe become more like Lois. Maybe he just has that big heart, and he continues to save people in other ways how Lois is trying to expose the corruption of Morgan Edge. It would be really cool to see Jonathan go that route.

To keep up with Jordan, follow him on Twitter and Instagram. Watch new episodes of Superman & Lois every Tuesday at 9/8c on the CW.

Photo Credit: Arthur Bryan Marroquin