From 2001 to 2010, Smallville was watched by millions of viewers every week. The series chronicled the coming-of-age of Clark Kent, an alien raised by his adoptive parents on their farm in Kansas. Over the course of 10 seasons, the Kryptonian dubbed Kal-El has navigated the many challenges of this time of life while learning to master his phenomenal powers.
It was finally during the final episode that Clark Kent put on the blue suit and the red cape. Tom Welling has therefore only very little embodied Superman. We still believed that he could tell us about the most famous superhero on the planet. We were wrong.
“I don’t think I played Superman,” he blurts out. Smallville was not a show about Superman, but about a high school teenager trying to figure out what trajectory his life will take. I don’t think Clark knew he was going to be Superman. »
Before we continue, let’s note that Tom Welling couldn’t have been nicer on the phone. And that’s despite our insistence on talking about Superman – he has no advice for David Corenswet, who will play the Man of Steel in James Gunn’s Superman: Legacy in 2025. will be good.
The 46-year-old understands why he’s associated with the 1938 superhero and is always happy to answer questions from Smallville fans. What he prefers, however, in these encounters are the stories that are told to him. “Because it’s been over 20 years, a lot of fans tell me they used to watch the show as a family. Sometimes their parents are no longer there, but they have precious memories of them,” said Tom Welling.
For his visit to Montreal, the American comedian is accompanied by Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang), Erica Durance (Lois Lane), John Glover (Lionel Luthor), Laura Vandervoort (Kara Zor-El) and Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor).
Tom Welling co-hosts the podcast Talk Ville in which they come back to the episodes one by one after having reviewed them. They finished the second season about a month ago.
In addition to being entertaining, the experience allows Tom Welling to dive back into his memories. His most cherished is his meeting with Christopher Reeves, the most memorable big screen Superman, who played a different character in an episode called “Rosetta”. “It was a great moment,” he recalls. There is also John Glover, who is one of the best actors I have worked with. He won a Tony Award and I put him on a pedestal. »
From December 2019 to January 2020, the universes of five series broadcast by The CW intertwined for five special episodes grouped under the Crisis on Infinite Earths narrative arc. In this multiverse story, there are different versions of the same characters. Thus, in Batwoman, we see Tom Welling in the skin of Clark Kent on his farm in Smallville. We learn that his years of Superman are behind him since he gave up his powers in order to live peacefully with his daughters and his wife Lois Lane – Erica Durrance also took over her role.
“It was the perfect way to come back,” Welling said. When it was offered to me, I was looking for reasons not to do it, but I couldn’t find any. It was really a good idea! My favorite moment is when Jon Cryer tells me he’s Lex Luthor and I snap back, “You’re not Lex Luthor.” It was excellent ! »
In addition to the podcast and various conferences, Tom Welling has just finished shooting a film on Vancouver Island. “It was great, but I’m not allowed to talk about it,” he apologizes.
Although Tom Welling doesn’t consider himself a Superman, this interview showed us that he is a super nice guy!