Dean Cain Puts The 'Super' Into SuperMegaFest!

Dean Cain does not like being reminded that it has been 19 years since the actor first donned the tights to play Superman in "Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman."

But fans attending SuperMegaFest in Framingham, Mass., over the weekend have not forgotten.

Truth be told, the 46-year-old Cain does not mind, either. He was having a little fun with a fan who asked him about continuing to carry the legacy of the Man of Steel some 15 years after "Lois and Clark" ended its four-year run. The still-handsome Cain - ask any female in the audience at his question-and-answer session - shook his head in good-natured horror at the reminder.

Dean Cain has a way of making fans laugh with him and at him. Asked whether his Japanese ancestry ever posed a problem for him as an actor, he recounted how he laughed for 25 minutes after being cast as Superman when one fan wrote, "We wanted Superman, not Sushi-man."

But Cain is not all about laughs. Or even about entertainment. That's why his appearance has to be ranked among the best I have ever seen at any convention by an actor.


Cain spoke lovingly of his 12-year-old son, Christopher Dean Cain, and how he arranges his professional schedule so that he can be fully committed to his real-life role as a single parent. It seems obvious that Cain would just as soon be dropping his son off at school as battling supervillains on a Hollywood set. He talked about the struggle between being his son's friend as well as his father. He talked about not pursuing time-consuming projects, such as a lengthy movie shoot or weekly TV series, so that he can spend more time raising his son.

In short, Cain talked like a mere mortal.

Dean Cain greets one of his many female fans.

And the fans loved him even more for it.

Cain also used his appearance to discuss his short athletic career - a knee injury ended his hopes of becoming a professional football player with the Buffalo Bills. He remains friends with former quarterback Jason Garrett, currently the coach of the Dallas Cowboys (talk about a team that could use Superman on its roster). He offered trivia - the other finalist for Superman was none other than Kevin "Hercules" Sorbo, also appearing at SuperMegaFest. He praised Tom Welling's portrayal of a young Superman on "Smallville" and has high hopes for next summer's "Man of Steel," starring Henry Cavill in the tights.