Christopher Reeve wanted to die after he was paralyzed in a riding accident.
The “Superman” star, who died in 2004 at the age of 52, suffered a life-changing spinal injury when he fell from a horse during a horse riding competition in Virginia in 1995 and has been unable to move from the neck down since then. The new documentary “Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story” has now revealed that he thought constantly about death after the accident.
In a trailer for the film, Reeve says: “(I thought) ‘I’ve ruined my life and everyone else’s. I’m not going to be able to ski, sail or throw a ball to (son) Will. I’m not going to be able to sleep with (wife) Dana. Maybe we should let me go.'”
However, the actor admitted that the kind words of his wife Dana helped him change his mindset. He added: “And then she said the words that saved my life: ‘You’re still you. And I love you.'”
The new documentary includes interview footage from Christopher and Dana – who died in 2006 – and their three children Matthew, 44, Alexandra, 40, and Will, 32, as well as famous friends such as Whoopi Goldberg, Susan Sarandon, Jeff Daniels and Glenn Close.
The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January and Will Reeve said the family was thrilled with the end result.
At the screening, he told the audience, “We knew…if we were ever going to do this, it had to be the right time and the right team. And we would give out our archive and our home movies, make ourselves available for some raw and vulnerable interviews, and then put all our faith in the team that had assembled around us and see what they would get back.”
“And the end result is remarkable, so our trust has definitely been rewarded.”