Montreal Comiccon | Interview with an actor who did not play Superman

Six cast members of the 2000s series Smallville are in Montreal this weekend for Comiccon, an annual celebration of culture geek. The Press spoke with Tom Welling who played Clark Kent. But don’t call him Superman.

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 very little embodied Superman. We still believed that he could tell us about the most famous superhero on the planet. We were wrong.

« Je ne crois pas que j’ai joué Superman, laisse-t-il tomber d’emblée. Smallville n’était pas une émission sur Superman, mais sur un ado au secondaire qui tente de déterminer quelle trajectoire prendra sa vie. Je ne pense pas que Clark savait qu’il allait devenir 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 Superman: Legacyby James Gunn, in 2025. However, he is sure that he will be good.

The 46-year-old actor understands why he’s associated with the superhero created in 1938 and is always happy to answer questions from fans of Smallville. 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 watched the show as a family. Sometimes their parents are no longer there, but they keep precious memories of them, ”underlines Tom Welling.

back in time

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 with him Talk City in which they return to the episodes one by one after rewatching 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’s also John Glover, who is one of the best actors I’ve worked with. He won a Tony Award and I put him on a pedestal. »

One last time

From December 2019 to January 2020, the universes of five series broadcast by The CW intertwined for five special episodes grouped under the narrative arc Crisis on Infinite Earths. In this multiverse story, there are different versions of the same characters. Thus, in batwoman, we see Tom Welling again 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,” said Tom Welling. 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 does not consider himself a Superman, this interview showed us that he is a super smart guy!

Montreal Comiccon continues until Sunday.