Yea, that was the intent in the first place. They wanted someone relatively unknown over a well known face. He's made a guest appearance in Will & Grace and stars in a sitcom called 'one life to live' if im not mistaking it with the sitcom Chris Reeve starred in before becoming Superman.
Well, on physicality alone, obviously to me, he cant match Chris Reeve, but if you see him independently, then i guess he has the potential to do a good job, if he puts his heart to it. And why i say this is, because more than being a good actor, this role demands physicality. The actor himself, can be staccato in his verbalisation skills.