Tim Blake Nelson was at work on a complex, sophisticated novel about the making of a Hollywood superhero film when he got the offer to star in one. The consummate character actor, known for everything ...

Imagine the novel itself as a character in a story, as Edwin Frank does in his exciting literary study “Stranger Than Fiction.” At the start of the 20th century, change is the order of the day. Max ...

But don’t mistake ‘Superhero’ for a tell-all: “I know that many people are going to look at me and say, ‘Why doesn't he stay in his lane and just be an actor?’” he says. “The ambition here is to write ...