All language subtitles for suparman

[dramatic music playing]

[screams]

[music intensifies]

[presenter] We are
about to meet someone

who made the whole world
believe that he could fly.

[Christopher Reeve] There
is something about America,

which is very short on heroes.

We need something. We need
all the heroes we can get.

Good afternoon, Mr. President.

Mr. President, and
ladies and gentlemen,

Superman may be make-believe.

But, the qualities of courage,

and of character, that make
him unique are very real.

[reporter] He starred
in four Superman movies,

making him one of the most
famous faces in Hollywood.

How you doing?

[Chris] Superman has
changed everything.

Any more at home like you?

Uh, not really, no.

Today, Superman.
Tomorrow, what?

[Chris] I've got another
20, 30 years ahead,

and a wider range
of roles to come,

and more interesting
parts to play.

Do you prefer to be called
Chris or Christopher

or Mr. Reeve?

- Or sir? Or Your Excellence?
- [laughs]

No. Chris is fine.

[nostalgic music playing]

[Chris] For the first time,

my professional
and personal life

seemed perfectly balanced.

[woman] Don't they always?

[Chris] Our plans for the year

were falling into
place beautifully.

Just take a second to really
make a wish for the new year.

Think about a nice
wish for the new year,

and then we'll all blow
out the candles together.

One, two, three...

[music stops]

[Chris] And then,
in an instant...

[ventilator hisses]

[Chris] ...everything changed.

[slow inspirational
music fading in]

- [playing gentle music]
- [Chris singing]

♪ Yes, my dear
Yes, my dear... ♪

[Will Reeve] Most of what
I remember about my dad

comes from stories
and photos and videos.

It's coalesced in
my brain as a memory

and it's kind of a perfect day.

Love you, too, Daddy.

[Chris] Why don't you climb
up on the bed with Mommy?

[Will] My childhood
bedroom shared a wall

with my parents' bathroom,

and when I was a
little two-year-old...

when I woke up, I would knock
on the... on the bathroom wall

and my dad, he would knock back.

Yeah.

And then he or my mom would
come around and carry me in.

My mom was out of this world.

No.

[Will] A hug from my mom was
like being wrapped up by the sun.

Forever and ever, we will know

that this is how I
look in the morning.

- I love you.
- I love you more.

- [Chris] Hey, Matthew.
- Yeah?

[Chris] Hi. Merry Christmas.

[laughter]

- [Chris] Al... Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas.

[young Will] Merry Christmas.

[Will] Matthew and Al
are my half siblings,

but, as we say,
"There's no half."

They're my brother and sister.

[Al] Dad and my mum
separated when I was three,

and so, pretty early on,
we had two households.

During the school year,

my brother and I
would be in England

and then every vacation, we
would come over to the States.

- Oh! Thank you.
- [laughter]

- [Chris] Aw!
- Did you get that? The kiss?

- [Chris] Great.
- Yep.

- Oh, my God.
- Oh, we got that.

[Matthew Reeve] Usually,
you know, we'd get

like, ten days or
a couple weeks.

[Dana] You ready for
your close-up, Mr. Reeve?

[Matthew] Doing
things with my dad,

it was all about
activity and action.

Riding bikes, playing soccer,

skiing, swimming, horse
riding with my sister.

Hi.

[Dana] A few words
from Al's trainer.

- How's she doing, Coach?
- Doing good.

She's getting ready. I think
we're going to go for Saratoga,

and jump the big ones this year.

I mean, she really...
could be in the money.

- [Dana] Good to hear.
- Thanks.

[Dana] Thanks very much.

Learning how to ride
horses was strange for me

because I've always
been allergic to horses.

[Al] He was cast
in Anna Karenina

and there were riding
scenes, and he realized,

"If I'm going to do
this and be on a horse,

I have to do it for real."

He injected himself with
antihistamine every day for months.

[Chris] I sort of
took a crash course

enough to get me
through the movie.

If you look, that's actually me

in the middle of the Hungarian
national equestrian team,

doing a steeplechase.

Come on!

I was in the middle
for a good reason,

because if I was about to go,

they could catch
me and keep me on.

- [audience laughs]
- But anyway,

my wife and I have
riding in common.

It's become a very
central part of our life.

[Al] He just
absolutely adored it.

[Will] He was an intense guy.

He didn't do
anything half-assed.

[Matthew] You could
not fail and quit.

It was like, you try,
you fail, you try harder.

[Chris] Back in
the Superman years,

I always used to joke about
needing to be very careful,

because I didn't want
to read a headline

in the New York Post like,

"Superman hit by
a school bus."

I was getting to be
a pretty good rider.

[woman] In first place,

Denver, ridden by
Christopher Reeve.

[crowd cheers]

Our latest entry,

this is Will Reeve. Say, "Hi."

- Hi.
- Hi.

[laughter]

[Will] It was Memorial
Day weekend, 1995.

My dad was competing

in a cross-country horseback
riding competition.

[Al] And was just so
excited to get down there.

[man] What?

[Matthew] And my dad had been
in London for some reason

a few weeks before.

We said, "Goodbye," and I
ran upstairs to, like...

I guess, watch him...
you know, walk away.

And I remember him turning,

I guess, instinctively,

knowing I would do that
and, um... [voice breaks]

[smacks lips]

Yeah. He gave this wave and...

[inhales sharply]

Um, that was the last time
I saw him on his feet.

[newscaster 1] Rumors
have been flying

since 42-year-old
Christopher Reeve

fell off a horse
this past weekend.

Well, tonight, many of the
worst reports are true.

Wendy Rieger joins us
now, with the latest

from the hospital
in Charlottesville.

Today, we're hoping
to get an update

on Christopher
Reeve's condition.

[newscaster 2] Doctors
aren't saying too much

about his chances
of pulling through.

Millions of people
around the world

are praying and
remembering tonight.

[reporter] The Reeve family

has refused to talk
about the injury.

Their silence prompted
much speculation

that he was near death.

[Susan Sarandon] I
just remember thinking,

"That's impossible."

We just kept trying to call
and find out what was going on.

And was it true and how
could that have happened?

I mean, there was
so much disbelief.

[Al] Matthew and I
flew over with my mom.

It was circus mode
at that point.

And we still didn't know a thing

because nobody knew
what was happening.

It was this big
cloud of confusion.

We saw Dana and she
just burst into tears.

First time I'd seen
her cry, I think, ever.

What a horror show.

It wasn't clear what
was gonna happen.

[reporter] His
doctor met the press.

The news is not encouraging.

Mr. Reeve currently
has no movement

or spontaneous respiration.

He may require surgery

to stabilize the upper
spine in the near future.

You know, he almost
died. His heart stopped.

He flatlined certainly twice.

He was given basically
a 50/50 chance

of surviving to
the end of the day.

[sniffles] Um...

You think of your parents
as completely invulnerable.

And he was always so careful
and so capable and...

I mean, he was just Dad, right?

Like, this constant that you
never even have to think about.

[Will] The surgery
that they did on my dad

had never been done before.

They reattached his
head to his body.

Tragic news for the actor

known for his role
as the Man of Steel.

Virginia doctors
now confirm that

Christopher Reeve
is indeed paralyzed

and unable to
breathe on his own.

Superman? Crazy.

Just that simple little
thing over the horse.

It's just crazy.

[gas hisses]

[machine alarm beeping]

[ventilator hissing]

[Chris] I lay on
my back, frozen,

unable to avoid thinking
the darkest thoughts,

because it had dawned on me
that I had ruined my life

- and everybody else's.
- [tense music playing]

I won't be able to ski.
Won't be able to sail...

Won't be able to
make love to Dana.

I won't be able to
throw a ball to Will.

I won't be able to do a thing.

- [plays chord]
- Again.

[Chris echoing] This
can't be me. Why me?

There's gotta be a mistake.

Oh, I'm an idiot. Oh,
God. I'm trapped! No life.

What am I gonna do?
I've spoiled everything.

I'm going to be a charity case.

[music fades out]

He was in and out
of consciousness.

He was having clearly what
were horrible hallucinations.

[Chris echoing] I'm
in prison. I've got

a life sentence.
Please let me out.

For some reason I
didn't get my hands down

- and break my fall.
- [horse neighs]

[echoing stops]

Witnesses said that Buck was
absolutely willing and ready.

That I was going not
excessively fast.

[horse neighs]

Apparently, Buck started
to jump the fence,

but all of a sudden, he
just put on the brakes.

It was what riders
call a dirty stop.

And I landed right on my head,

six feet four inches
and 215 pounds of me.

This break is what happens
when the trap door opens

and the noose snaps tight.

Half an inch to the
left, dead instantly.

Half an inch to the right,
an embarrassing, scary fall

that he got up and
walked away from.

♪ [Reeve family singing]
Happy Birthday, dear Will ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

- [applause]
- [Dana] Go on!

[Will] We had my third
birthday party outside the ICU.

[Matthew] Dana threw like,
a birthday party for Will,

complete with, like, a
really annoying clown.

[in high-pitched
voice] I told you

I brought my suitcase! Here!

[Matthew] And he had,
like, a really good time

and really enjoyed himself.

Hi.

She tried to keep
things normal for Will,

to try and protect him
as much as she could.

[Will] There was some
fighting within the family.

My dad's mom wanted to
take him off life support.

He has low moments.

I think anybody, um, with
an injury as severe as his

is bound to have low moments.

My mom did not want to do that.

[Dana] He's a fighter.

But this has to be
the toughest challenge

that he's ever faced.

I know it's mine.

[Chris] Dana came into the room,

she knelt down next to me
and we made eye contact.

And then I mouthed my
first lucid words to her,

"Maybe we should let me go."

[machine beeping]

[Chris] Dana started crying.

She said, "I'm only
gonna say this once.

I'll support whatever
you want to do

because this is your
life and your decision.

But I want you to know

that I'll be with you
for the long haul,

no matter what."

And then she added the
words that saved my life.

[emotional music playing]

[Chris] "You're still
you and I love you."

I think if she had
looked away or paused

or hesitated even slightly

or if I had felt there was
a sense of her being noble,

I don't know if I could
have pulled through.

"You are still you.
And we love you."

So, out of that discussion of,

"Is it going to make sense
for him to stay alive?"

came that capsulation, in a way,

of the value of... of living.

Everyone is devastated.

But it was not without
moments of grace.

One that was just incredible
was Robin Williams.

Hello, I'm Robin Williams,

and if you don't
know that... Hahaha!

[Al] Robin Williams
had been Dad's roommate

and had this deep
relationship with him

going back so many years.

[Chris] I think Robin is one of the great
human beings that was ever put here.

I'm the godfather of
his son, and everything.

What you got with Robin
is just waves of humanity

and respect come from him.

[Will] His wife, Marsha,
became my mom's best friend

and is like a sort of
fairy godmother to me.

And Robin's approach was
a little bit different

than other family
members. [laughs]

They had just taken him off,
you know, the heavy sedation

and I think he was
just coming back,

and I came in as a
Russian proctologist.

[audience laughs]

[Oprah Winfrey] He didn't
know you were coming in?

No, I put... Well,
they put me in scrubs,

- so I just had the face.
- [Oprah] Uh-huh.

And I said, [in Russian
accent] "If you don't mind,

I'm going to have to
put on a rubber glove

and examine your
internal organs."

[in normal voice] And
I, and I kind of said,

[in Russian accent] "Oh, look
at the size of this baby."

[all laugh]

[in normal voice] And I
saw he started to laugh

'cause his eyes lit up
and he knew it was me.

[audience applauds]

[Chris] My old friend
had helped me know

that somehow, I
was gonna be okay.

I mean, life's gonna
be very different,

but I can still laugh.

And Robin is a
really good friend.

Anything, if you needed
anything, he would be there.

I think he and Robin
were such good friends

because they could
match each other.

I mean, Chris didn't
have Robin's...

you know, but he could...
he could keep up with him.

[applause]

All right, somebody's fantasy.

[laughter]

And not many people
could do that.

[gentle music playing]

[Chris] As I started to face
reality in intensive care,

moments from my former life
kept popping into my head.

It was like a slide show,

but the pictures were
all out of sequence.

- [audience cheers] - [Chris]
My most cherished memories

when I was whole, healthy, free.

[upbeat disco music playing]

[car horn blaring]

[Chris] After
graduating from Cornell,

I had planned to go to New York

and join the ranks
of young hopefuls

trying for a career
in the theater.

Juilliard is one of the
best schools in the country,

and you learn how to move,

mime, tumbling,
acrobatics, acting.

You and Robin Williams
were classmates?

[Chris] That's right. We
were in the advanced program.

And we were training to
be Shakespearean actors

in the English tradition,

able to enunciate for no reason.

[Chris] There was certainly
nothing they could teach him.

Yes, I've already
cleared the theater

with the rehearsal schedule.

In the lights, you will
think it was a proper...

[Chris] John Houseman

had just won the Academy Award
for best supporting actor.

He said, "Mr. Reeve,
it is very important

you become a serious
classical actor.

Unless of course, they offer you

a load of money to
do something else."

[all laugh]

It's all yours.

[Chris] I probably gravitated
towards the theater

as a way out of
uncertainties growing up,

that the theater became a
neutral kind of territory,

but that felt like home.

I had grown up
between two families,

and neither one ever
seemed truly secure.

The family backstory is...

is complicated.

Uh, I'm not sure how much

I want to get into the
whole Reeve side because

they were just so fucked up.

[Chris] My father, the poet
and scholar, Franklin Reeve,

courted my mother, Barbara
Pitney Lamb, ardently.

But there was a widening
gulf between my parents

when I was born.

When I was three years old,
my parents got divorced

and there was a kind of
acrimony between them,

- that was really painful.
- Okay.

It was sort of, you had to
call out the National Guard

to keep peace between
them, you know?

[Matthew] Both his
parents remarried twice

and had other children.

So, it was a big
family, quite fractured.

[Al] I think it felt like
he lived on shifting sands,

because he had
gone back and forth

between his mother's
household and his dad.

He never really felt
that sense of home.

Franklin, even if
he wasn't around,

he played a big part
in my dad's life.

[Kevin] I'm sure there
was an element of,

you know, how do you satisfy

the father that, in
a sense, left you?

[Chris] So, there's this
really charismatic man

who could do anything from
translating Dostoevsky

to sailing a boat and chopping
trees and playing tennis.

And it was really scary.

I thought, I'm never
gonna do anything

to impress him, you know?

I'd say, "I was in this
play," he'd say, "Eh."

"I got good grades
here." "Eh."

Nothing, nothing seemed
to make any difference.

[Chris] But I found relief
from all this uncertainty

in playing characters.

[nostalgic music playing]

I like knowing the
entire storyline.

Beginning, middle, and end.

[Jeff Daniels] We were cast
in the same play in 1977.

He was just another, you know,

good-looking young
actor when I met him.

He had the whole
movie star thing.

You're going, "Oh, well."
"Yeah, great." You know?

What really impressed
me was how smart he was.

Now, I ain't stupid.

I may have been in Dumb and
Dumber, but I ain't stupid.

In the play was another
new guy named William Hurt.

Second to last
weekend, Chris says,

"I'm going to London tonight.

I have to screen
test for a movie."

For someone to say that

in an off-Broadway
dressing room,

[imitates explosion] it
just, "What are you...

What, when, where, huh?"

And Bill said, "What movie?"

And Chris said...

"Superman."

And Bill went right
into, "Don't go.

You're going to sell
out. You're an artist."

And Chris said, "No, I just...

Brando is gonna
play the father."

"I don't care. I don't
care. You're selling..."

I mean, he just
was really on him.

[upbeat disco music playing]

[Pierre Spengler] We
were frantically looking

for a Superman...

and the casting director

had lined up many, many
people, dozens of them.

The most strange, like,

Neil Diamond wanted to
be Superman, you know.

[chuckles]

Robert Redford.

We made an offer,
immediately got a "no."

[commentator] He goes on now.

Bruce Jenner.

Yeah, that's right.

- [commentator] There he goes.
- Ahhh!

[Spengler] Physically,
he was very good,

but the acting, not so much.

Schwarzenegger was
running after us.

- The main man is back.
- Yes.

He had, theoretically,

the physique of the comic book.

[chuckles] We cannot
have Superman say...

[in Austrian accent]
"Truth, Justice,

and the American way."

[bleep] you, asshole.

[Spengler] The idea came,

rather than casting a
well-known Superman,

we should go for an unknown
and have stars around him.

[Richard Donner] We
had made a costume

out of a blue leotard

and Chris was sweating
like a stuck pig.

I took black shoe polish, and
we blacked his whole head,

and this skinny little kid did
a scene with various ladies

who were up for the
part of Lois Lane.

I mean, why are you here?

'Cause I'm here to
fight for truth...

for justice, and
the American way.

[whistles]

[Daniels] He flew Sunday night,

screen tested in
London on Monday,

and then flew back Monday night.

Bill said, "How'd it go?"
Chris said, "I got it."

[Chris] I realized that if
I could pull off this part,

it would change my life.

It's urban myth in our family

that Dad got the
part of Superman

and told his father, and
Franklin ordered champagne.

This is a very
un-Franklin thing to do.

"Cheers. Congratulations.
So proud of you," da-da-da.

There was a miscommunication.

[Al] His dad thought
that he was talking

about the famous play

Man and Superman, by
George Bernard Shaw.

[Matthew] Not the legendary
comic book character.

Franklin didn't approve.

[interviewer] How
did he tell you, uh,

that he got this
part of Superman?

It was after the
contract was signed.

It was not serious enough.

It wasn't academic enough. It
wasn't intellectual enough.

It was...

embarrassing.

[Chris] I was extremely
anxious to please my father.

It was difficult to be myself

or literally breathe
easy when he was around.

[moody music playing]

Since the accident, I've
had time to look back.

Much more time than
I would've liked.

[reporter] Reeve took to
the skies this afternoon.

He was transferred from
Charlottesville, Virginia,

to the Kessler Institute.

[reporter 2] In a terrible twist
of fate, the actor's last role

was as a crippled policeman
in the movie Above Suspicion.

[applause]

[Chris] The physical therapy
nurses would work with me and say,

"This is how you get in
and out of the bathtub.

This is how you get in and
out of a car." You know.

Then every time I left
that rehab center, I said,

"Thank God that's not me."

I was very smug about it.
And I regret that so much,

because I was
setting myself apart

from those people
who were suffering.

Without realizing that in
a second that could be me.

Yeah, left is hard.

[Dana] Christopher now faces

what hundreds of thousands

of disabled men and
women face daily

in this country and
around the world.

Limitations, frustration,
sorrow, anger,

humiliation, injustice.

[Chris] When Doctor
Kirshblum took over

the responsibility for my care,

it was a tremendous
psychological boost.

[Kirshblum] I
know it's tedious.

Feel that here?

- No. Nothing, okay.
- No.

[Kirshblum] After this idea

of "Will I live
or die? Now what?"

"What is life gonna be like?"

[moody music playing]

[Matthew] You think
it's just about,

"Oh, you can't move, or
you can't breathe..."

but there's so much shit

that comes with such a high
level spinal cord injury.

[Kirshblum] The bowel,
the bladder, the skin,

speech therapy,

how to maintain a relationship,

husband and wife relationship.

[Dana] You can't feel?
[Chris] No, I can't feel it.

Nope.

That is tough. Because
I can feel him,

but he can't feel me.

[Kirshblum] To
re-learn the skills

that people probably
don't even think about.

[Chris] I was still in
a state of disbelief

and very afraid.

I couldn't take a
single breath on my own.

And the connections of the hoses

on these ventilators
are tenuous at best.

And you lie there at
3:00 in the morning,

in fear of a pop-off.

When the hose just comes
off the ventilator.

- [machine alarm beeping]
- [gas hissing]

After you've missed two breaths,

an alarm sounds.

[clicking convulsively]

And now they're saying,
"Okay, where is everybody?"

Because they have
no air going in,

they can't even scream for help.

[nurse] I need
assistance, please.

You just hang on,
okay? You hang on.

[Chris] You can last
a couple of minutes,

but those are very,
very anxious minutes.

[doctor] There it is.

Okay.

- Oh, God.
- [machine beeping steadily]

[Close] I saw him
when he was in rehab.

He was so terrified that
he could die at any moment.

[Al] At first, he
really resisted

spending time with
anybody else there,

because in his mind
he was still thinking,

"I'm just a temporary
visitor here

in this land of disability."

And over time, what changed
is the magic of rehab.

[Chris] Little by little, I began
to emerge from my isolation.

I found myself talking in depth

with people I wouldn't
ordinarily have met.

And connecting
with many of them.

[Kirshblum] Chris had just
started to wean himself

off the ventilator

and he started to recognize
a little bit of success.

And there was this one young boy

who had tried to
wean but failed...

and I would try to speak to
him and speak to his mom.

But he was just adamant.
He was so clear.

"I don't want to fail again."

And Chris went and spoke to him.

And the boy simply said,

"Christopher Reeve spoke to me.

I'm going to wean."

It just showed you the
quality of the individual,

that it wasn't all about him.

And I wonder if a case
like that made him think,

"I can probably do more

in helping other people
with spinal cord injury,

not just myself alone."

[Dana] Much of his
day is spent listening

to messages sent
from well-wishers.

I can't begin to express

how important these...
these things are to him.

[Matthew] One letter from
England, it just said,

"Superman, USA."

[Al] And they'd come every
day in these delivery boxes.

And they went the whole
way down the hallway.

And then that's when I
got the call from Dana

and she said,
"Michael, we need help.

I can't manage."

- When we first met in 1985 or whatever...
- A ton.

I said, "You look so much like
that actor, Christopher Reeve."

Isn't that funny? I
just, I get it all...

and more particularly
when I'm with him

and my hair's
longer, they're like,

- "Are you his brother?"
- "Are you his brother?"

[Manganiello] She
was just funny

and could tell a
really good dirty joke.

We had crushes on the same
boys. It was... [laughs]

She was just a riot.

I started getting things
organized and cut.

So it was like other
celebrity letters,

famous scientists...

politicians, nuts... the nuts.

Other people who are living
with spinal cord injury.

200,000 people in the
United States alone

have the same problem as me.

If the public will demand

that the politicians spend
that little bit of money,

make that investment,

I'll be up and
walking around again.

[Manganiello] Chris wanted out
of that chair. that was it.

[inspirational music playing]

[Chris] I couldn't give up

because nerves can
find new pathways.

[Kirshblum] He had
tremendous work ethic

and would push himself.

[Robin] Brother Chris
is fighting like crazy.

When you find people
who fight like that

but still keep their humanity,
that gives you great hope.

[Chris] My mind wandered back

to my weight
training for Superman

when I could bench-press
more than my own weight.

[Matthew] He trained
his ass off bulking up.

Two weight sessions a day.

[Chris] The guy, actually,
who played Darth Vader

in Star Wars,

Dave Prowse, developed
a program for me.

He's a former Mr. Universe.

The point is, is
that when I started,

I was a string bean.

And Superman's not
a string bean, so...

Everybody else said,

"You just flushed your career
down the toilet. Goodbye."

Nobody thought I was
in my right mind.

How are they ever going
to pull this picture off

and make the man fly?

And "It's a cartoon."

And very, very skeptical
about the whole thing.

[Spengler] When we signed
the deal for Superman,

the head of production
at Warner Bros.,

who shall remain nameless,

said, "It will
never make a movie."

[Chris] The idea
was new in 1977.

Superman I was the first film

to try to make this
comic book sort of real.

[Spengler] Christopher
is unknown.

He was going to be
playing with Brando,

playing with Hackman.

Brando was considered

the greatest actor of his time.

Gene Hackman wanted to be
in the film with Brando.

[Chris] Hackman, his dressing room
was across the hall from mine.

I was very gung-ho, 24
years old and all excited

and I remember
knocking on his door,

asking him if he
wanted to rehearse.

And he was shocked. He
was like... you know.

[man] 626, take one.

This is California.
It's the richest,

most populous
state in the Union.

I don't need a geography
lesson from you, Luthor.

[interviewer] Marlon Brando.

Was it exciting to
work with him though?

- [Chris] Not really, no.
- [audience and Chris laugh]

The man didn't care.

I'm sorry. He just, you know,

took the two million
and ran, you know?

Yeah, well, he's
here tonight, Chris.

- Is he here?
- [audience laughs]

[applause]

[Chris] I just care so much

that it hurts when
someone's phoning it in.

[Al] He was taking
it so seriously.

[grunts]

For Dad, Superman
needed to be art.

Everyone, stand back.
Please stand back.

It's all right. Nothing
to get worried about.

[Chris] Think about
it in emotional terms.

What is it to be an orphan?
What is it to be different?

What is it to be an alien?

What is it to have
lost one home?

Now you're acting something
you can understand

rather than just posing.

[screams]

I must give credit to Donner

who really supported
him, helped him.

Hands down, he was
Superman from day one.

- Say "Hello" to Clark Kent.
- Told you, one "p."

- Hiya.
- Hello, Miss Lane. How are...

[Chris] What I liked
was trying to play

two people at the same time,
Superman and Clark Kent.

There's a kind of

calculated schizophrenia
between the two of them.

There's this amazing scene.
It's my favorite scene

of my dad's film work,

and he was playing Superman
playing Clark Kent.

Uh, hi, can I come in?

Kind of like, takes
his glasses off

and he transforms.

[Lois] Put some blush on and...

[slow heroic music playing]

[breathes deeply]

Lois, there's something
I have to tell you.

I'm really...

Um...

Uh, I mean, I was at first
really nervous about tonight.

[Matthew] Puts his
glasses back on

and he's Clark again instantly.

I mean, he absolutely nailed it.

Hi.

The magic was that you
absolutely believed

in their love story.

[Chris] I really
think that out there,

hopefully around the world,

that romance is what
they want to see.

[interviewer] Do you have that?

Oh, God, yes. But I found it.

I'm very lucky.
I met this girl

while I was making
Superman in London.

- Hi.
- Welcome.

- Thank you.
- Introduce me

to your lovely lady here.

- Yes, this is Gae Exton.
- Hello. How are you?

It looks like somebody gave you
a kiss before you arrived here.

- Did they?
- [all laugh]

My mum and dad met
in the lunch line

at Pinewood Studios.

[Exton] I knew
there were big films

being shot there, like
James Bond and Superman.

They had this amazing
dining room there

and it was sort of
like a big buffet.

The people, obviously in costume

with robes on and stuff.

And the chap in front of me

was wearing a robe
and had black hair.

And I thought it
was Richard Kiel.

From James Bond,

the one with the teeth.
Because he was so big.

And this guy turns around

and it's this
amazing-looking guy

with an American accent.

He needed something from the bit

that I was at and
he turned around

and he knocked me. And
he said, "Oh, hello."

I said, "Like, what?
Excuse me? Hello?

You're supposed to
say, I'm sorry."

And I had to go and
clean myself off.

And a few days later,

I saw Dick Donner,
and Dick said,

"Oh, here she is. Hi,
Gae, how're you doing?"

And he said, "This
is Christopher."

And Chris just
stopped and said...

That I was sorry, and
the rest is history.

[Matthew] My mom
worked as a model agent

and was super plugged in

to the London scene
in the late '70s.

They started a
whirlwind romance.

[romantic music playing]

[Chris] It was good fun.

I dragged myself to
the set many a morning

and then it's up, up, and away.

That's funny.

Maybe, I don't know.

[interviewer] You believe
he could fly? Yes.

"I'm not feeling
very well today."

[Exton] Just fell
desperately in love.

At the weekends, we were
doing all sorts of things

that he should not have
been doing. Like gliding.

[Chris] Thousands
and thousands of feet

up above the world.

There's a kind of clarity
that comes with that

and you cannot concentrate

on anything that's
wrong in your life.

And all you can
hear is "shh, shh."

He said, "Trust me,
I'll get you back.

I'll get you back."

[Chris] I have
always loved flying.

It's my number one
passion in life.

[Matthew] He'd flown across
the Atlantic twice, solo.

Christopher was determined
that, come hell or high water,

he was gonna make it look
like this character could fly.

We're doing something
with this picture

that no one's ever done before.

There is a team, there's
a hundred of them

called the Flying Unit.

They didn't have it all
figured out in advance.

It was a kind of "learn
as you go" process.

[Donner] The first time I
ever saw Chris really fly,

he came at camera,

and for some reason he
actually banked his body

and he flew past us.

[dreamy music playing]

The camera stopped rolling
and there was dead silence.

And then, like, 50 people

all of a sudden
started to just cheer.

[Chris] The flying
happens in the eyes.

It must happen as
a state of mind.

You've never seen a man
fly like that before.

The one which I
really had to work

to sort of achieve the
grace that it needed.

It called for me to
do a flip in the air

as I'm going up on a crane,

arch backwards and wave
all at the same time.

Bye.

He convinced me when I first
met him that he would fly.

He's also convinced
me he'll walk again.

[Chris] I began to
face my new life.

I had tried to cover up my
feelings as best I could.

But when I saw our
home again, I wept.

[nostalgic music playing]

[Matthew] I do wonder
what it was like

for him to look out and be like,

"That's the pond
that I skated on."

[exclaims]

"Now I'm just staring
out at the past."

Beautiful day in the Berkshires.

[laughter and chatter]

[man] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

- All the way!
- No.

- Get it!
- Carpe diem, Al!

People often ask
me what it's like

to be confined to a wheelchair.

I would say the worst part of it

is having to make the transition

from participant to observer

long before I would
have expected.

[Matthew] Dad was 42
when he had the accident

and Will was almost three.

I'm 42 right now
and my son's three.

Yeah, it was really only
after becoming a parent myself

that it really hit home...

how hard it must
have been for him.

[Dana] It was a typical scene.

[Dana laughs]

It's the haircut movie.

Oh. And there's Dad
waiting in line for his.

[Will] He was still
the same, bright,

quirky, thoughtful man.

But my mom, she was
doing everything.

[Dana] Still got it, honey.

[Will] She was playing
the role of mother,

physical father...

[Dana] Whoa, whoa.

[Will] ...and
caregiver to a husband.

[Dana] Papa is doing
his breathing exercises.

We do adjust because what
are the alternatives?

I mean, it would be
miserable not to,

but do we long for
our other life?

Yes, every day.

I mean, it's... it's
a drastic change.

Two, three...

[Chris] Even in my own house,

I'd never be able
to be alone again.

[Will] He needed
24-hour nursing care.

His care was running
around $400,000 a year.

While they were
better off than most,

they weren't better off
as most people thought.

Our insurance cap,
as a matter of fact,

will run out in two years.

[interviewer] What
will happen then?

[Chris] Then we have to
do some heavy thinking.

[Dana] But it is daunting.

A lot of people in
Chris's condition

go right to nursing homes

with... on a
respirator, it's...

You just can't...
People can't afford it.

[Matthew] There was this fear.

"I'm an actor, it's
a physical job.

How am I going to
make a living?"

[Chris] In February of '96,

I was asked to make
a special appearance

on the Academy Awards.

[Al] It was almost a full
year since his accident,

and I think that's a hard
invitation to turn down.

[Chris] No sooner had I
agreed, than it dawned on me

how challenging this
trip was going to be.

[Al] Dad described how
torn he felt about doing it

because it really was
such a public moment.

This thing is being telecast

to two billion people
around the world.

But I gotta get to my seat.

It was a production

just to get my dad
out of the house.

But Robin and Marsha bought us

the specialized retrofitted van.

He needed to be physically
tied down to the floor.

[tense music playing]

[Al] It was this huge kind of
cloak-and-dagger thing to get him there,

keeping it completely
under wraps

because they needed the freedom.

That if Dad had some type
of medical emergency,

he could pull out.

[Chris] Maybe I have
the opportunity now

to make sense of this accident.

I felt I needed to do something

not just for myself,

but for everyone else
in the same condition.

[tense music intensifies]

[presenter] Academy
Awards, Whoopi Goldberg.

[applause]

[Goldberg] You know,
it's hard when you hear

that somebody's had
that kind of accident

and then you read
all these stories

and you're just...
You don't know.

Uh, people were very nervous.

[applause]

[Chris] Well, it was time for
me to prepare to go on stage.

I wondered, would I spasm,

my body jerking into
an awkward position?

Would I have a pop-off?

[tense music building]

[announcer] Ladies
and gentlemen,

Christopher Reeve.

[applause]

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you.

[applause dies down]

What you probably don't know

is that I left New
York last September...

and I just arrived
here this morning.

[audience laughs]

[applause]

And...

And I'm glad I did.

Because I wouldn't have missed

this kind of welcome
for the world.

Thank you.

- [applause]
- [emotional music playing]

You know, the... [chuckles]

the strength to have to deal
with lots and lots of people

trying not to look
at you with pity.

[Close] And I
think the fact that

Superman was in a wheelchair

and was willing to go
public with it was huge.

[Brooke Ellison] For
people with disabilities

to be so visible

was almost unheard
of at the time.

Disability was
really not understood

as a part of humanity
worth including.

And for Chris to be helping
to change that narrative

was life-changing.

Well, I know it was for me.

[reporter] Robin, this
is his first appearance.

This must make you
feel good to know

that he's getting out like this.

Yeah, it does.

[Al] That was just
a hugely important,

pivotal moment for Dad,

to then move on and say,

"Okay, I'm back
out in the world."

[Chris] Another completely
unexpected benefit

came during my
stay in Hollywood.

I entered hotels and buildings
through garages, kitchens,

and I met cooks, waiters,

and maintenance
crews along the way.

Many of them said they
were praying for me.

Christopher, we all love you.

- Chris, I love you.
- We love you, Christopher.

[Chris] Others looked at me
right in the eye and said,

"We love you, Superman.
You're our hero."

The fact that I was
in a wheelchair,

unable to move
below my shoulders

and dependent on the
support of others,

had not diminished the fact

that I was and always
would be their Superman.

[heroic music playing]

- Say, "Jim"! Whoo!
- Excuse me.

That's a bad outfit.

- Whoo!
- [man] Okay, Bresslaw, move these people out.

[women screaming]

[gasping]

[screaming]

[man] God. Look up there.

What the hell's that?

Easy, miss. I've got you.

You've got me?

- Who's got you?
- [chuckles]

[Chris] You've never seen a
comic book brought to life

and they all thought
it was gonna be a joke.

We, the filmmakers, felt
we could win our way

into people's
hearts, and we did.

[Spengler] When
the film opened,

huge success immediately.

Superman did $425 million.

[chuckles] It was 1977.
That was a lot of money.

[Johnny Carson] The
film critics said

the young actor chosen to
play the lead in Superman

is the best reason
to see the movie.

And he is with us this morning.

[Susan Sarandon] I saw it.
I wish I had been Lois.

Clearly, that would
have been fun.

Somebody that is that masculine

and asked to do that

could easily slip into some
kind of toxic masculinity.

But he always struck
me as being gentle.

[Goldberg] I don't think
I was lustful like that

until I saw him in
that, you know...

little outfit.

He really will always
be the Superman.

Yeah, and I like that
little curl thing

that was going on.

For the Superman opening,

even the President of the
United States is here.

[Spengler] And so
Chris was introduced.

I mean, for someone who,
just a few months before

was actually off off-Broadway,
he was now a star.

I'll talk. They went that way.

Hey, yeah, go for it.

[Exton] He and Robin were
walking down the street,

and Robin was like,
"God, I love this city.

Nobody bothers you. They
don't know who we are."

And I'm trailing behind,
and everybody's going like,

"Did you see who that was?"

- "Superman and Popeye."
- [laughter]

"Forget Popeye. I
want to know Superman.

Yeah. He ain't got tights on,

but I know he can
fly. Come on."

[interviewer] Are you
feeling like a star?

[Chris] Don't know much about
it, I'll tell you in a year.

[interviewer] And you're
enjoying it though? It's fun.

Are you kidding?
It's fantastic.

Hi, how you doing?

Hi y'all. Hi, how you doing?

[Daniels] I was very
happy for my friend

in a way that maybe
you aren't with others.

Usually, it's, you know...
[imitates puffing cigarette]

"I fucking hate him!"

And it was a great example
on how to handle it.

Because it is a
freight train, fame.

♪ [both singing] Of the moon ♪

And it hits you head-on.

[Kevin] As he became
more and more famous,

Gae gave him a
security and an anchor

and a support through that.

[Chris] Everybody wants
to be around with somebody

who they think has the juice
at the moment, has the power.

It's an aphrodisiac, you
know, for men and women,

and for some people,
it's too hard to resist.

Listen, if Gae
hadn't been around,

really, the temptations
were enormous. My God,

not only do they think I'm
an actor in a lead movie,

but they think I'm
Superman, for God's sake.

You know, you just
can't do wrong.

Matthew Reeve.

Matthew Exton Reeve.

Mr. Potato,[chuckles]
we call him.

He's the light of my life.

[Exton] I had Matthew in London

when Christopher was
shooting Superman II.

[Chris] Becoming a
father, I really thought,

"Boy, I don't know
whether or not

I'm gonna be up to it."

[interviewer] Are there things
that you'd like to make sure

that Matthew has that
maybe you never had?

[Chris] Basically,
not a broken home.

Having been in a home

that got ripped
apart very early,

I'm quite determined that
this won't happen to him.

[interviewer 2]
Is he old enough

to have any awareness
that Dad plays Superman?

[Chris] Oh, sure.

[Matthew] There's
evidence [chuckles]

that I impersonated him.

I called myself
"Soup Man." [laughs]

You know, his little
lunchbox with soup in it.

And he'd go like this
everywhere. Soup Man.

It was just
hilarious. [laughing]

- [heroic music plays]
- [wind whooshes]

General...

would you care to step outside?

Superman. Thank God.

I mean, get him.

[Spengler] Superman
II did very well.

A lot of critics said
it was a better movie

than number one.

I don't agree, actually.

I think number one was a
masterpiece of its genre.

[reporter] Christopher,
were you thrilled

about the reaction this
evening to the picture?

It was terrific.

Played very nicely.

And, uh, I think
people really like it.

So, I'm happy. Very happy.

[Al] My earliest memories

are from when I
went to set with Dad

and was actually
in Superman myself.

[Exton] Alexandra
arrived on the scene,

and then we just grew.

It just became this family.

[Chris] I was elated over
the birth of Alexandra,

but confused and anxious

about the direction
my life was taking.

[interviewer] Christopher,
are you married?

- [Chris] No, I'm not.
- [crowd] Yeah!

[interviewer 2] Now, a
lot of people might think

that you are not an
old-fashioned romantic

because you two are not married.

[Exton] We talked about marriage

when I was expecting Matthew,

but then later, it just...
it just was ignored.

We happen to feel that...
or I happen to feel,

that marriage is a
sort of a license

to take the other
person for granted.

You don't do any
more work on it.

You let things sort
of disintegrate.

Well, do you think everybody?

- 'Cause I don't feel that way at all.
- Okay.

Uh, we were criticized, um,

but quite frankly,

you live your life,
and we'll live ours.

[Matthew] She wanted us to have
as normal a life as possible,

but he was at the
height of his career.

Oh, it's terrific, really.

[interviewer] Twenty
years from now,

what do you hope will
have happened to you?

[Chris] That I
would have tackled

an increasing variety of roles

with greater and greater
depth all the time.

And that I would've
moved into directing.

And action.

The appearance on the Oscars

gave me the courage
to go back to work.

[interviewer] Were you scared?
I mean, this was the first thing

you had directed. Am I right?

Nothing scares me anymore.

Yeah, I mean, not
to be melodramatic,

but I've been to
the edge and back.

[Goldberg] He said, "Listen,

I have something I want to know

if you'd be
interested in doing."

And I was like, "Yes."

And he said, "But you
don't know what it is."

I said, "Doesn't matter.
Whatever it is, yes."

So, he told me and I
said, "Oh, quadruple yes."

I play a very uptight
WASP, [chuckles] basically,

which I know something about.

Whose son comes home
and is dying of AIDS.

So, he's made his choice,

and the best thing you
can do for him right now

is love him.

[Close] Those of us in
the theater community,

Chris was certainly
part of that,

lost so many people to AIDS.

[Chris] What I'd learned
in my own experience

is you come out of
something like that

not wanting to blame anybody.

Now that you realize
life is too short

to want a complete
accounting of everything.

By looking death so
squarely in the face,

I think he had the sensitivity

to really do a
beautiful job with it.

I feel that, while
I'm sitting down,

I've actually landed on my feet.

I was stunned by his
readiness to go out

and be proactive, to
be able to direct,

to be able to act even.

[Al] Rear Window
was his first time

in an acting role
after the accident.

[machines beeping]

[Chris] One of my
missions, really,

is to make people more
aware of the disabled,

less afraid to look at
the disabled, and, uh...

this movie, in a sneaky way,

I think, accomplishes that.

[Kirshblum] He
went back to work.

He succeeded in a industry
that really wasn't

a disability-friendly industry.

[Chris] Just imagine
what it's like

to be me for one day.

And I have it better

than most people with
spinal cord injuries.

He wanted to change
the entire picture

for everybody with disabilities.

[Manganiello] The vice
president asked Chris

to come speak at the
Democratic National Convention.

And the vice president sent
up his head speechwriter.

He was a brilliant,
beautiful speechwriter.

[laughs] And Chris
kinda dismissed him.

[announcer] From
the United Center

in Chicago, Illinois,
live coverage

of the Democratic
National Convention.

[applause]

[Chris] Thank you
very, very much.

You know, over the
last few years,

we've heard a lot about

something called family values.

And, like many of you,

I've struggled to figure
out what that means.

I think it means that
we're all family.

[applause]

And that we all have value.

[cheers and applause]

One in five of us has
some kind of disability.

You may have an aunt
with Parkinson's disease.

A neighbor with a
spinal cord injury.

And if we're really committed
to this idea of family,

we've got to do
something about it.

[applause]

[Kerry] Somehow, the
injustice of what had happened

just seemed so
unfathomable to people.

And it sounds silly, I know,
but there he was, Superman.

One was so big and
powerful and invincible,

and the other was
so, now, vulnerable.

Now, one of the smartest things

we can do about disability
is to invest in research

that will protect us from
diseases and lead to cures.

That combination
moved mountains.

That's how it was.

America does not let
its needy citizens

fend for themselves.

[applause]

[inspirational music playing]

[inaudible] Thank you.
Thank you very much.

[interviewer] First
Superman picture came out.

People considered you Superman.

Oh, everybody's
looking for a hero.

Everybody, not just
five-year-olds.

That was a part.
I played the part.

I'm not that man.

It's an image that is
created by other people

but it's pretty
far away from me.

Outside of Superman,

he seems to have chosen
very opposite roles.

Like Somewhere in Time,
which was extremely romantic.

Then he did Deathtrap
with Michael Caine.

Deathtrap.

[Spengler] Then he
was a crooked priest.

None of the films he
did outside of Superman

were successful commercially.

[Chris] Worst review I ever got

was from the New York Times .

[Exton] He was very
sensitive to bad reviews.

"Mr. Reeve looks like
a helium-filled canary.

One more movie like this

and it's back to
the cape forever."

[Exton] He was contracted
to do Superman III ,

but his heart wasn't in it.

Hollywood suffers from
a very bad disease,

called sequel-itis.

You take what grossed 100
million domestically last year

and get the key
ingredients back again

and try to pump it
up a few more times.

Of course, the quality
is a sliding scale

of diminishing returns.

[dramatic music playing]

[Exton] In the back of
his mind, he thought,

"This might not be as good."

He was struggling.

[choking]

[Chris] Everyone should
be allowed in life

to close the door
on certain times

and open other doors.

[Daniels] If you
hit big, that big,

that's who you are.

That's what you are and
that's what you can do.

And Chris came back

and did Fifth of
July on Broadway,

and I was his lover.

[Kevin] Some in the
audience were so surprised

to see Chris kiss a man.

Someone yells out, "Say
it ain't so, Superman."

I mean it was just... it
was hard for the audience.

He wanted to prove to everyone
that he was a good actor.

And I don't think he had
the chance to find out.

"You're Superman."

[man] Cut it. Lovely.

[Exton] And Superman
IV came along.

- I think he thought...
- Yeah.

[Exton]... "I don't think
I should be doing this."

[Chris] Superman IV was
simply a catastrophe

from start to finish.

When I was young, the only
cooler movie star father

would have been Luke
Skywalker, Mark Hamill,

or maybe Indiana
Jones, Harrison Ford.

He was one of the biggest
movie stars in the world,

but by the time I was ten,

he was kind of doing, like,

TV movies of the week
to pay the bills.

[Exton] And that's
when our relationship

actually started to struggle.

We were living in
London, principally.

We had the apartment in New York

and we talked about

maybe he should just go
over to America for a while

and, um, reflect on things.

[man] All together now. Right
here, right here. Right here.

I think he was testing the water

to see what it was
like to be single.

- We're just good friends.
- Okay. I'll take that one.

Thank you.

- [laughter]
- [kissing]

We're just good friends.

He came back to
London for a while.

He says, "This isn't
going to work, is it?"

[somber music playing]

And so, we decided that

maybe it was time that we
went our separate ways.

[sniffles]

So sorry.

[Matthew] It was hard on my mom.

You know, it wasn't like,

"Yeah, this isn't working
out for the both of us."

I think he was like,

"I don't want to
do this anymore."

I think that was hard for her.

You know, my dad
had a big issue.

He would not commit.

Every marriage he'd seen

in his own family
life had failed.

His parents' marriage.

His father's marriage
to his stepmother.

He had no experience with
a successful, healthy,

long-term marriage.

[Chris] Lives repeat themselves
in succeeding generations,

often in the worst ways.

And patterns of behavior
can be difficult to break.

[Matthew] He was
away so much anyway.

It wasn't like he
suddenly stopped

picking me up from
school every day

or something like that.

It was just...

He kind of stopped coming home.

For most of my childhood,

she was effectively
a single mom.

So, the day after
I was born, he, um,

flew to...

France and went skiing
with friends. [chuckles]

We weren't, you
know... that close.

Relationships come
down to small moments,

not just big events.

[interviewer] When you've
done a role like Superman,

people tend to put
you up on a pedestal.

They tend to think
you are that person.

And that, morally,
you are that person.

[Chris] Yeah.

I get Bibles and letters sent
to me from clergymen saying,

"You must think about your
religious responsibility.

Superman is a pop culture
version of Jesus Christ."

I'm going, "Wait.
Whoa, wait a minute."

I don't have all the answers.

I don't know what I'm
supposed to do all the time.

I'm not a hero.

Never have been, never will be.

[applause]

To people who are watching
from hospital beds

or any place where
they feel shut in,

help is on the way.

[Ellison] When
Chris was injured,

it was either a death sentence

or this was the way your
life was going to be,

without any treatment or cure.

Impossible and unsolvable...

are no longer in the vocabulary

of the scientific community.

And it took a voice
like Chris' to say,

"That's not good enough."

[Manganiello] So, Chris
started the foundation.

It was called the
Christopher Reeve Foundation.

He's like, "You're
Executive Director."

I'm like, "Okay."[chuckles]

The board was Barbara Walters,
Robin Williams. It was just...

We are here to help my friend

and 250,000 other people

to get back on their feet again.

[Manganiello] He
just wanted to fund

the best science no
matter where it was.

[Kirshblum] He understood
the importance of advocacy.

He was an advocate
before his injury.

Chris was serious about
pursuing environmental issues

and also human rights issues.

Animal rights terrorists
or will not pardon...

[Sarandon] We would go to D.C.

Occasionally, Chris flew us

in an airplane, not on his back.

[Chris] Okay, so what I
used to do politically...

taking all those contacts
I made in Washington.

I'm gonna go back there and
beat up on them about this.

He made it bipartisan.

He would take it to Republicans.

He would take it to Democrats.

[reporter] After meeting
with President Clinton,

he was told...

[Chris] There will be
a $10 million increase

in funding specifically
for spinal cord injury.

[Manganiello] People were
just throwing money at us.

[Kirshblum] In the early 1990s,
spinal cord injury was known

as a field of doom and gloom.

By making it a hot area,
his impact was tangible.

[presenter] There
is no question

that Christopher
Reeve has become

a quite stunning icon for
the paralyzed community

and for the disabled
community in general.

Hi, Dr. Peterson.

How's everything
going in Cambridge?

[Al] One of the areas
that he really believed in

was stem cell research.

[Laurie Hawkins] Chris
would get all excited.

He's like, "It's going
to change science.

It's going to change
people's lives."

[Chris] You can
make a new heart,

you can make a new liver.

You can replace the nerves

that were damaged in
spinal cord injuries.

[Ellison] Juvenile diabetes,
ALS, Parkinson's disease.

A cure for almost everything.

[Will] My dad was obsessed
with tomorrow's cure.

[Chris] I think it's probably
the greatest breakthrough

in the history of science.

He would have been the
first for any human trial.

[inspirational music building]

[applause]

Disabled groups have reacted
angrily to a commercial

in which the paraplegic
actor, Christopher Reeve,

is made to get out
of his wheelchair

and walk using
computer technology.

[reporter] Millions
saw it go out,

some of whom rang
in wanting to know

where Reeve had been treated.

People with disabilities
seem to be very upset

by the message that Christopher
Reeve is handing out.

[Manganiello] Chris was
incredibly galvanizing

and he was incredibly
polarizing at the same time.

The concept of cure is
a very, very dicey one

in the disability community.

Cure connotes the fact

that there's something
wrong with you,

something that
needs to be fixed.

Christopher Reeve has not
gone through the process

of grieving over his loss.

[Manganiello] Absolutely thought
it was the right thing to do.

I think he could do whatever
the flip he wanted to do.

The guy got up every day
fighting for everybody.

Time is absolutely critical.

Someone once said, "Oh, you
give people false hope."

Chris said, "There's
no false hope.

There's only hope."

[Hawkins] There's a group
of disabled community

who were against
all the research.

[Manganiello] And they
said he didn't care

about people living
with a disability.

Only he wanted out of his chair.

They're so used to
being in a chair,

they can't imagine
anything else.

And I sympathize with that...

But I'm not gonna buy into it.

That's when Dana stepped
in and she's like,

"No, they actually
have a valid point."

That's how we started the
Quality of Life program

at the Reeve Foundation.

- And so...
- [Manganiello] It could be everything

from a summer camp
for disabled children

to making a theater accessible.

I mean, there's a million things

that you could give money to.

I'd like to
introduce Dana Reeve.

She's on the Board of Directors

of the Christopher Reeve
Paralysis Foundation,

and she's the Chair of the
Quality of Life Grants program...

and I must say,

she's the heart and soul
of this resource center.

Dana Reeve.

Well, about seven years ago,
my husband had his accident...

and I will say, because
Chris is who he is,

information poured in.

That doesn't happen

for the vast majority of people.

Having never actually done this,

having never been
a beauty queen.

[laughter]

[Will] Tomorrow's cure,
that is all my dad.

Where Dana comes
in, is today's care.

Because her whole life became
dedicated to caring for my dad

and for me and for our family.

[Chris] She rescued me when
I was lying in Virginia

with a broken body,

but that was really
the second time.

The first time she rescued
me was the night we met.

[piano playing]

♪ Yes, I'm with you always ♪

♪ I'm with you rain or shine ♪

[Dana] It was June, 1987,

and right at one
of the front tables

sat a movie star.

She was warned against me.

The word was, "Look
out. He's on the prowl."

Um, because I guess I
had a reputation of...

Love 'em and leave 'em or...

[Chris] Little bit. Yeah.

It was in the old
days. I mean...

[Manganiello] She called and
she said, "I'm dating someone."

And I said, "Great."

She goes, "It's
Christopher Reeve."

[laughs] And I'm like, "Wow,
you're dating Superman?"

I had lots of questions,
which I... Never mind.

[Chris] But I had to spend
a certain amount of time

trying to disclaim
my reputation.

But it's just slow and
I gotta tell you that,

anybody out there who
has not been involved

in an old-fashioned
romance, it's thrilling.

[dreamy music playing]

They went at night, and
something about a pond

and them going in and wading

and their first kiss
under the stars.

It all seemed very movie-like,
to be perfectly honest.

That was the way
I saw the evening.

[crowd laughs]

But to hear Chris tell it...

[piano playing]

♪ I was walking along ♪

[crowd laughs]

♪ Minding my business ♪

[Chris] I went down
hook, line and sinker.

All my friends who were
there saw it happen.

[Close] They had a
wonderful connection.

They both were extremely happy
to be in each other's lives.

- You couldn't see 50 yards.
- It was bad.

Yeah. It was
inside-a-milk-bottle time.

Anyway.

How much film do we have?

- We're only on day one.
- Okay.

[both laugh]

I think that the heroic
Kevin Johnson role

- has not yet been described.
- [Chris and Dana laugh]

Yeah, that's it.

With Chris it was the excitement

of the pieces of his life

that she really
matched him with.

Partly it was the acting
and the artistic element,

but it was beyond that.

It was the ability to share
passionately-intense fun

and activity together.

[laughing]

[dreamy music continues]

[inaudible]

[Matthew] I think from the time
it was fully over with my mom

and the night he first met Dana,

was like five months.

Yeah, not long at all.
It was pretty wild.

- Hold on, I think I'm...
- [Chris] I do remember

meeting Dana for the first time.

I didn't really know,
like, [laughs] who she was

or why we were meeting her.

Firstly, her smile, like,

it's just this really
warm, bright smile.

Oh. [chuckles] Hello.
That's kind of...

- [Chris] Hello.
- Christmas never ends.

[Al] It was just so clear
how Dad felt about her.

She was his sunshine
from day one.

- [Chris] Who's that going to?
- It's going to Michael.

[Al] You know, she was
26 years old.[chuckles]

Like what a world to come in

and suddenly have, you
know, a three-year-old

and a seven-year-old
hanging out with you.

[Exton] She wrote
to me, and she said,

"Your children are amazing.

But I'm not going
to be a stepmother.

I want to be their friend."

So, I wrote back
and said, you know,

"Thank you. Really
appreciate that.

Look out for Alexandra.
She's the only girl there."

Do you see they have this...

[Sarandon] There was
a real attempt by Dana

to make sure that
the kids were around

as much as possible.

You have to decide that
you're gonna do that.

That doesn't happen naturally.

Dad, she's messing
up the cardboard.

- How far across? I don't know.
- Did you read it?

[Al] And she was also the one.

My dad was very competitive

and he didn't
necessarily slow down.

[Chris] Come on.

[laughs] Like when we'd
go skiing, you know,

we'd all go up in the
chairlift together,

and then he'd, like,
[blows sharply]

you know, bomb down the hill
and wait for us at the bottom.

And we're like...

He used to say, like,

"Aren't you glad I'm not
like Franklin?" [chuckles]

I put much less
pressure on my children

than my father put on me.

[laughing] But Dana
would be, like,

"Yeah, you know,
there's a couple...

"You know, you're not
completely unlike him."

[Al] Pretty quickly it
was Dana saying,[laughs]

"Let's actually go at a pace

so that Alexandra and
Matthew can come out."

[Matthew] She was so
kind from minute one,

as was her whole family...

warm and welcoming and,
you know... [chuckling]

I'm not knocking my own
family on the Reeve side

but there was some contrast.

[young Matthew] Oh, my God,
Dad. You'll crack the screen.

- Come on.
- [laughter]

Hey, man.

- What a dork.
- "Dork"?

[young Matthew] I
wasn't talking to you.

I'm going to read a
poem by Alexandra Reeve.

Oh, Dad, please.

[Chris] Alexandra's
gonna read a poem

- by Alexandra Reeve.
- No, I'm not.

[Chris] I'm gonna read a
poem by Alexandra Reeve.

- [young Al] No, Dad, please.
- "My poetry. By me."

[all laughing]

[Chris] It's finally only in
this relationship with Dana,

where I began to see
marriage is a freedom.

It's an opportunity.
It's a team, you know.

Is there anything
missing in your life?

A hit movie would be nice.

[Dana] And we got
married, eventually.

[audience laughing]

Five years later.

The "I commit" part
took a little while

to, uh, work itself out.

- [audience member laughs]
- [laughs]

One person laughing.

The rest of you are
all like, "I know."

[audience laughs]

[romantic classical
music playing]

I love you. [chuckles]
I marry you.

I give you this ring
as a symbol of my vow.

[guests cheering]

[Jay Leno] Gonna start a family,

you've got the
whole thing planned?

Yeah, well, actually, we
have a son on the way...

who's coming late in June.

I see you've sort of
started the family.

We have started the family.

[Dana] Action.

Action, Will.

- Can't you tell?
- [laughs]

[Dana] Oh, God, honey,
you'll hurt yourself.

You won't be able to get it off.

We were talking in the office.

He was so angry, and he said,
"I wish I could do something,

move a piece of
paper, anything."

And it was, um,

where you would
normally gesture.

And I was noticing that
when he would do it,

he would go... You know,
his finger would move.

[Matthew] He hadn't moved
anything in six years.

I don't know what it means,

but it, like, it means
something surely.

[Al] They had fun with it, too.

I remember one day Matthew
came home from college

and he had bought a little
gift for Dad's wheelchair.

An eject button

that we put under his finger.

[stirring music playing]

[Al] Dad started regaining
elements of movement.

And they were small,
but so meaningful.

[people cheering]

Hours' worth of gym right here.

[laughter]

- Push, push, push.
- Push.

[man] There he
goes. There he goes.

[laughter]

Oh, my God. [laughs]

[woman] Go hard. Real hard.

[Chris] My spirits rose

with the possibility that I
was on the road to recovery.

[Dana] You do have to
learn to walk the fine line

between hope
without expectation.

As soon as you start
expecting something,

the disappointment is
so much more ferocious.

You know, I think
if he could have

just gotten off the ventilator.

Oh, my God, and he
practiced so much.

It was brutal to watch.

[machine beeping]

[grunts softly]

[grunts]

But the strength of the
muscles weren't present

to give him enough ability
to wean off completely.

All right.

[brooding music playing]

[Al] He wanted to
give people hope.

But it was really hard

and he did not show
that to the world.

[Chris] What's really curious

is that in all the
time since my injury,

I've never once had a dream

in which I've been
in a wheelchair.

It's easy to sink
into a depression.

And you have to get him out.

We had a list of
people we'd call

if we weren't good
enough. [chuckles]

We'd call brother Robin.

[laughter and chatter]

- Oh, God. What?
- No, they were sliding down.

Now, every time you move this...

[Close] Another thing that
Robin and Marsha did was that

on the anniversary
of the accident,

every year, they
would get a chef

at Chris and Dana's house

and have a great party.

Made it into a point
of celebration and...

appreciate life.

That was Marsha and Robin.

[Chris] Robin and I, we
laugh as much as ever,

but we hardly ever
talk about disability.

We hardly ever, ever
talk about the chair.

[Sarandon] Robin
also had struggles

that he dealt with
his whole life.

And I think that there...

Despite the way they
look and their facade,

that they both were
aware of darkness.

[tapping on back]

One, two, three.

[Manganiello] You know,
Chris' level of injury

was so dramatic and so severe,

I just think it's
a lonely existence.

[Will] Which must've
been hell for him.

And must've been
hell for my mom, too,

knowing the man she
fell in love with

had this whole part
of him taken forever.

I found this in one
of her journals.

"I've been studying
the difference

between solitude and loneliness.

Telling the story of my life
to the clean, white towels

taken warm from the dryer
and held to my chest.

A sad substitute for a
body pulled in close.

The whole man took his last walk

away from me five
years ago today,

leaving only mind, soul,
heart and heartache behind.

I think of him in
certain lights.

Dawn, late afternoon,

bright, windy days that would
be perfect for sailing."

[sighs]

"I miss most, even
now, his hands,

the expressive grace
and heft of them.

The heat of his
hands on my skin.

The wrap of his arms,

two becoming one.

I carry the stack
of towels upstairs,

carefully cradling them so
as not to let them tumble.

Save one still damp,

the top one I had
pressed against my face,

which needs more
time for drying."

That's what she was enduring.

That's what she had lost...

when my dad got hurt.

- You good?
- [Chris] Mm-hmm.

- But...
- [both laugh]

You gotta grab on.

I know.

- Ha ha.
- [Dana laughs]

- God.
- Come on, let's go in.

[Al] Dana did what Dana does,

which was find ways
to rally around him.

And Dad did what Dad did,

which was go down
through the valley

and then go back up
to the hilltop again.

[Chris] I see it's
like a game of cards.

And if you think the
game is worthwhile,

then you just play
the hand you're dealt.

I think the game's
worthwhile. I really do.

I thought it would
be a good thing

for me to tell one
really good story

about a family dealing
with a devastating event.

[Ellison] The phone rang
and it was a man saying,

"I have Christopher Reeve
here on the line for you.

Would you like
to talk to him?"

And he said,

"I have long wanted to
tell the story of somebody

who lived with
ventilator-dependent quadriplegia.

So people have a
better understanding

of what it's like to
live with quadriplegia."

[Chris] She's an
extraordinary person

because her mind
is sharp as a razor

and the devotion and
loyalty of her family

is totally amazing.

She applied to Harvard,
and she got in.

Her mother, Jean, went
with her every day.

They lived together.
They ate together.

Brooke graduated with a
degree in neuroscience.

Both my mother and I

have learned so much
from all of you.

What we hope you
can learn from us

and from each other

is to take no one in
your life for granted.

[woman on screen]
What we really hope

you can learn from us...

is to take no one in
your life for granted.

[Chris] It would be
great if this film

would cause families everywhere

to think about how they're
really doing in their family.

You know, what are the
bonds? Is the love there?

- [chuckles]
- I think it probably happened.

[Matthew] There was a
huge shift in my dad

from the time
after the accident.

Happy Father's Day, Father.

- Hey.
- [Matthew] Hello there. Is it in?

His entire approach
to parenting changed.

He started really to see us

and to connect to us as people.

[Matthew] Being
together and talking

was far more valuable
and meaningful

than doing all those
crazy physical activities.

[Chris] I was a sailor. I
was a skier. I was a rider.

I traveled everywhere.

And you realize that
is not the definition

or the essence of
your existence.

What is the essence
are relationships.

[Dana chuckles] You're
gonna regret this.

[Chris laughs]

Daddy's in his off-road vehicle.

[Will] My dad taught
me how to ride a bike,

which is quite remarkable

considering he
wasn't able to move.

[Dana] How does it feel to
be riding your bike, sir?

- Good.
- [Dana laughs]

[Chris] If someone had
told me before my injury

that you could teach a
kid to ride on his own

just by talking to him,

I would have said that
that was impossible.

In my case, a catastrophic event

was probably necessary
to change my perspective.

I needed to break my neck
to learn some of this stuff.

[man] Matthew Exton Reeve.

[cheers and applause]

Oh, so proud of you.

[Exton] It was the accident

that brought us closer together

without a shadow of a doubt.

Together like this.

[Chris] For the first
time since the accident,

I've seen my life as
a continual timeline

instead of before and after,

being on my feet
and being seated.

It's all part of
the total story.

[sentimental music playing]

Things were good. Things
were going well enough

that Dana actually took
a play in California,

leaving Dad and Will at home.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

[Matthew] She had, like, two
nights off. She came home.

We had a very totally
informal, just dinner.

- [Dana] Some of them are sparklers.
- [Matthew] He turned 52.

[Dana] If you blow one
out, I'll do the rest.

Put it a little closer.

- Oh, yeah!
- [kids cheering]

[Al] Things were good, and then

they weren't.

All right, here comes
Will, here comes Will.

[Will] He mentioned
this infection

that wasn't going away.

He was frustrated.

I came home.

Our favorite baseball team
were playing in the playoffs,

so I would rub his
head for good luck.

The Yankees came back and won.

At some point, after midnight,

my bedroom door slammed open
and it was the nurse on duty.

"Will, something
bad has happened.

Your dad has fallen
into a coma."

[Al] It was the
middle of the night

and it was Dana calling.

She just said, "Al,
it's really serious.

You need to go home now."

She was trying to
hold it together,

but she sounded so scared

and I'd never heard
my mom scared before.

She was getting home
as fast as she could.

I called my mom, told her.

We were on a plane
a few hours later.

[Al] There we were,
back in an ICU again.

Both Michael and I go
in, Chris is unconscious,

and we just start holding
his hand, chatting with him.

The hope was that they would
somehow turn it around.

But he just wasn't stable.
His body would keep crashing.

I think he died three
or four times that day.

Um, and the doctors
kept him alive.

They kept resuscitating him

to make sure that
Dana got there.

And, uh...

And then in front
of me steps my mom.

She came flying in. [sniffles]

And she just yelled, "I
love you, I love you."

[sobbing]

Over and over again,

making sure he could hear it.
She was going to reach him.

Certainly, a part
of her had just died

in that moment as
well. [voice quivering]

And...

I told him

that I loved him.

I would do whatever I could

to make him proud.

[soft music playing]

And then he was gone.

[sniffles]

Um...

I was in the back of a taxi
on my way to the hospital

when my sister called me
and said he was gone. Um...

[sighs deeply]

[somber choral music playing]

[newscaster 1] Good
morning, everyone.

Christopher Reeve is being
remembered this morning

as a courageous and
inspirational person

who provided hope to
millions of people.

[newscaster 2] Condolences
are still pouring in

around the world today
for Christopher Reeve

two days after his
death at the age of 52.

Friends and admirers alike

all have one word
to describe him.

"Hero."

[Manganiello] He never
rested. He just didn't.

And I think, you know,
after all those years,

people were looking
for some answer.

It was a bedsore,
it was... It wasn't.

It was just system breakdown.

[Hawkins] We knew
this day was coming.

You know it's coming
at some point.

It's inevitable.

But we'd gotten so used to Chris

just outliving everything.

[applause]

[crowd laughs]

Just have to water
the stem cells there

- for a moment.
- [crowd laughs]

But I've always considered
him basically, uh, my brother.

I was his fool, but that's it.

[laughter]

Someone's got to do it.

As ordered and as
all things were...

that he knew were precise,

I was chaos for him.
And that was joy.

[Hawkins] I don't know
that I've ever seen

a sadder person in my life...

like, just, I mean, I
look at him and I just...

You wanted to break down in
tears. He was just so sad.

I've always felt if
Chris was still around,

Robin would still be alive.

I believe that.

Goodnight, sweet prince,

flights of angels
send thee to thy rest.

[applause]

[Dana] I made a vow to
Chris when we married

that I would love him.
And I would be with him

in sickness and in health.

And I did okay with that.

But there's another vow
that I need to amend today.

I promised to love,
honor, and cherish him

till death did us part.

Well, I can't do that.

Because I will love...
[crying softly]

honor and cherish him forever.

Goodbye to you.

[birds chirping]

[pensive music playing]

[Will] After my dad died,
it was just me and my mom.

It felt strange.

[Al] We gave the van to
a boy in New Hampshire.

Absolutely changed his life

because he couldn't go
anywhere before that.

[Matthew] It was hard
'cause the foundation lost

its biggest advocate,
its biggest magnet.

But Dana stepped in and
helped fill that void.

[cheers and applause]

[Kerry] Despite the
sorrow, the loss, the pain,

she thought it was
important for her

to make Chris' voice
heard through her.

I've been trying to
help the children

start to piece together
a life without their dad.

[Will] She was so full
of life and full of hope

that while she had
lost a part of her soul

when my dad died,

I think she stayed
true to her belief

that there's not enough time
in the day for self-pity

and you gotta get
on with things.

[Hawkins] A Broadway
composer asked her to sing.

- ♪ His is the only... ♪
- [piano playing]

Really, it's like... urgh.

It feels...
it's... how does...

It feels like it's maybe
just a little tight.

I think it's from
my... [forces a cough]

[Hawkins] And she has
this little cough.

[coughing]

♪ Never let him go ♪

[Al] She couldn't figure
out what was going on.

It just wouldn't go away,
and her back was hurting.

[Hawkins] I was like, "Dana,

I'm getting you to a doctor."

And sure enough, came
back lung cancer.

We got the first results,

and Michael called
me up, and he's like,

"Did you guys go to,
like, Labs"R"Us?"

Like, "No, we're
going to a real lab."

The diagnosis was stage
four non-small cell.

[Al] And she got that diagnosis

less than a year after
we'd lost my dad.

[Hawkins] I'm still in shock.

"You've never smoked
a day in your life.

You're so healthy."

I mean, it was just so wrong.
It was really, really wrong.

[Manganiello]
Dana was so brave.

I mean, she was just like, "Okay,
I'll do whatever I need to do."

Because the last
thing on this planet

she was gonna do
was leave that kid.

Wasn't gonna happen.

[Oprah] What are
you most proud of

in this past nine
and a half years?

- [laughing] He's sitting right there.
- [Oprah] Yeah.

That's what I'm most proud of.

- [Oprah] Yeah. Yeah.
- [applause]

I'm so... I'm so proud.

[Oprah] Yeah.

I am. We have extraordinary...

We have extraordinary kids.

[Will] Matthew moved home
and was unbelievable.

He was acting as a dad. He
was acting as a brother,

as a best friend.

He took care of me.

And he took care
of my mom and he...

he made life feel
normal. Um...

[Matthew] Dana had sat us down

and she made it very
clear kind of what...

she had in mind for,

you know, should
anything happen to her.

I think we were all in denial.

You know, I don't know what it
is with that family and hope,

but it's like Chris knew
he was going to walk again.

Dana just knew she was
gonna survive this.

[Dana] Well, I
had a great model.

Um, I was married to a
man who never gave up.

He taught me so
much about courage

and about going forward,

and he really lives
with me in this.

She got sick pretty quickly.
It got serious pretty fast.

[Will] Marsha Williams put
us up in a hotel in New York.

Matthew, Al, and I in a
room. I was on the cot.

At some point,
the phone rings...

with the news

that my mom had died.

And I remember being awake

but pretending I was asleep.

Because

I didn't want to face it.

[melancholy music playing]

And so, I waited
for the sun to rise

and then shook him
on the shoulder

and we told him.

So, in 18 months,

Will lost his dad,

his grandmother, who he was
really close to, and his mom.

Despite the love
and security that...

my siblings provided me
and my family provided me

and my adoptive
family provides me,

that was the moment,

March 6, 2006, that was...

I've... I've been alone
since then. [sniffles]

[slow inspirational
music playing]

[Chris] You can say that the
universe is totally random.

And it's just molecules
colliding all the time,

and, you know,
it's totally chaos.

And our job is to
make sense of chaos.

Or you can say, sometimes
things happen for a reason,

and your job is to
discover the reason.

[Al] Suddenly, there we are,
and it's just three kids.

You start to pick up
the pieces and think,

"All right, what does
the future look like?

How are we gonna
navigate this together?"

[Will] My dad and my
mom and their values,

the way that they were,

the role models, through
their words and their actions,

their unwavering love and
support and encouragement.

That's how we found our path
forward and our meaning.

My brothers and I
joined the board

almost immediately
after Dana passed away

to help give continuity
of the family.

[Will] It is now the Christopher
and Dana Reeve Foundation.

[Kerry] Chris and Dana.
They've made a difference.

They are making a difference in
the continuation of the foundation.

[Kirshblum] Both Chris and Dana

did a really good
job. Clearly,

because now these children
aren't children anymore,

and look at what they're doing.

Fifty-six and a half
million Americans

living with disabilities.

Over $130 million in funding
to labs around the globe.

[Will] What's
happening right now

is the beginning of
the end of paralysis.

[Hawkins] People who
became disabled after Chris

are literally walking
because of him.

A man paralyzed from the
neck down walking again.

He wanted to push
everybody to think bigger.

[Goldberg] That's the fire
you want to put under people,

and nobody did it better than
Christopher Reeve. Nobody.

[Ellison] He helped us say,
"There are lives to lead.

People with disabilities have

an integral role to
play in society."

Chris wanted to change the
fuckin' world, and we did.

The Christopher and
Dana Reeve Paralysis Act

is the first piece of
comprehensive legislation

specifically aimed at
addressing the challenges

faced by Americans
living with paralysis.

Matthew, come on up here.

He looks like his
dad, doesn't he?

[inspirational music continues]

[Chris] When the first
Superman movie came out,

the most frequently
asked question was,

"What is a hero?"

And my answer was that a hero

is someone who commits
a courageous action

without considering
the consequences.

Now my definition is
completely different.

I think a hero is an
ordinary individual

who finds the strength
to persevere and endure

in spite of
overwhelming obstacles.

- [wind whooshes]
- [music fades out]

[gentle music playing]