'It was a brilliant cast': Superman II actor reflects on career, looks ahead to new movie release

Superman Villain reflects on acting career

Tucked away in his St. Petersburg home, Jack O'Halloran keeps a trove of photos that tell the story of an impressive Hollywood career. Aaron Mesmer reports.

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Tucked away in his St. Petersburg home, Jack O'Halloran keeps a trove of photos that tell the story of an impressive Hollywood career.

What we know:

While O'Halloran's career included roles in hits like ‘King Kong’ and ‘Dragnet’, the defining moment of his life in Hollywood is when he played the towering villain ‘Non’, first in a brief appearance in Superman I and then as one of the stars in Superman II.

The two films gave O'Halloran, now 82, the chance to act alongside Christopher Reeve as Superman, Gene Hackman as Lex Luthor, Terrance Stamp as General Zod, and Marlon Brando as Superman's Kryptonian father, Jor-El.

"You got to understand, it was a brilliant cast," O'Halloran said, during a sit-down interview with FOX 13's Aaron Mesmer. 

"Richard Donner was a brilliant guy and a great director. It was such a treat working with a guy like that," O'Halloran said. 

O'Halloran is honest about preferring to work with Donner, who was replaced by Richard Lester during the filming of Superman II.

Still, he has countless memories of his time filming the movies, including the famous scene where the villains are trapped in the "Phantom Zone."

"We were making all the gestures, like 'How do we get out of here? How do we get out of here?" And then they spun it around, and it looked like we were twirling out into space," he said.

O'Halloran is now preparing to watch the new Superman movie, which debuts this week. He believes the Man of Steel is important, not just for Metropolis, but for the real world too.

"Having the statement of the all-American way, bringing back the American way of life and that's what needs to happen," he said. "If they use Superman correctly, they can accomplish that."

The backstory:

O'Halloran's road to Superman was a somewhat unusual one. He was born into the mafia world in Philadelphia, but he chose a different path, focusing on sports.

He became a professional boxer who started out 16-0 before fighting eventual heavyweight champions George Forman and Ken Norton.

"I still beat a lot of ranked fighters," he said. "They made me a ranked fighter and put me in the [California and New Jersey] Boxing Hall of Fame."

O'Halloran's boxing career introduced him to some Hollywood heavyweights, helping land his first role in ‘Farewell, My Lovely’, with Robert Mitchum.

What's next:

O'Halloran plans to get his first viewing of the new Superman movie Thursday before traveling to a Comic Con event this Friday out of state.