Margot Kidder, Amy Adams & More Strong Women Who Played Lois Lane on Screen (original) (raw)

As Rachel Brosnahan prepares to pick up the reporter's notebook, take a look back at the other stars who took on the iconic Superman role

Updated on June 27, 2023 04:58PM EDT

Photo: Everett

It takes a tough woman to stand up to the Man of Steel.

Through the years, dozens of actresses have portrayed Superman's love interest and confidante Lois Lane, an award-winning reporter both perplexed and entranced by the man also (secretly) known as Clark Kent.

Most recently, it was announced that Rachel Brosnahan will be filling her shoes in the upcoming James Gunn film Superman: Legacy. Here, a look back at some of the talented women who've gone before her.

Joan Alexander

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Although her turn as Lois Lane never made it to the small (or big) screen, Alexander did have the honor of playing Clark Kent's leading lady on the radio serial The Adventures of Superman, which aired from 1940 to 1951.

Noel Neill

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Neill became the first actress to portray the intrepid reporter reporter onscreen, playing Lane in a 15-chapter film serial in 1948 and again in Atom Man vs. Superman. The actress also starred in the 1950s TV series Adventures of Superman.

Phyllis Coates

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Coates starred in the first TV show adaptation of Superman from 1952 to 1953, shortly following her big film debut as Lois Lane in 1951's Superman and the Mole-Men.

Teri Hatcher

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Years before starring in Desperate Housewives, Hatcher played the award-winning journalist opposite Dean Cain's Superman in the '90s TV show Lois & Clark.

In April 2018, Hatcher spoke of being down for a reboot of the show, telling Entertainment Weekly: "I know I have a lot of fans that would like to see the whole show rebooted, so maybe that’ll happen. Dean [Cain, who played Clark Kent] and I both still have really warm feelings about our whole experience on the show. So who knows!"

Erica Durance

Everett Collection

Durance, who played the part in Smallville — about the early days of Clark Kent — told PEOPLE about her interaction with the original Lois Lane, Margot Kidder. "The first thing Margot ever said to me was, 'You really hit it out of the park kid,' referring to my performance as Lois Lane on Smallville, a compliment I cherish to this day," Durance shared.

Kate Bosworth

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"She's definitely the type of woman that — she doesn't think she needs to be saved, ever," Bosworth said in an interview, recalling the time she portrayed the reporter in 2006's Superman Returns. "She'll just take care of things on her own. She's very independent, very driven, very strong-willed — which can be slightly frustrating for the men in her life."

Uma Thuerman

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In one of her lesser known roles, Thurman played "Fake Lois Lane" during a "Super Hero Speed Dating" scene in 2013's wildly inappropriate and hilarious Movie 43.

Amy Adams

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Adams took on the iconic role in 2016's Batman v Superman and its subsequent films — and just like the actresses before her, she knew what it meant to portray such an important character in pop culture. "Lois Lane was so outside of the world that I lived in," the actress told Parade. "This idea of living in a metropolis and being an independent woman putting herself in peril for the truth was kind of awesome. Lois was groundbreaking."

Rachel Brosnahan

Rachel Brosnahan. ANGELA WEISS/getty

In June 2023, news broke that The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel herself will be the next Lois Lane in James Gunn's upcoming Superman: Legacy.

Brosnahan addressed casting rumors one month prior when asked about them on The View, saying she would be excited to play the part.

"It would be extraordinary," she said at the time. "I grew up watching Lois Lane, this incredibly talented journalist who is far from a damsel in destress. And I would jump at the chance if it arose."