America's fascination with Superman began when the comic-book hero first appeared in 1938. In his newest incarnation on the WB's "Smallville," though, the Man of Steel is still just a bright-eyed teenage boy struggling to pass English class and get a handle on his superpowers.
TOM WELLING, the new millennium's Clark Kent, talked to ET all about the role that's launching his Hollywood career! Catch the show Tuesday nights at 9 p.m. for more!
ENTERTAINMENT TONIGHT: What is your take on Superman? Have the numerous renditions prior to this series influenced you?
TOM WELLING: No, I made the choice when preparing for this role not to do research on anything else that has been done with this character -- really take it from a fresh standpoint. There's really no comparison. We're showing you these characters at an age you've never seen them before.
ET: What is Clark's situation as far as his knowledge of who he is and what he can do?
TOM: The show is really about him finding out who he is and what he's here for. He's got these abilities that he doesn't understand, and it alienates him in a lot of ways from just being a normal high school kid.
He has got the strength; he's got the speed. His body is indestructible. But there are things that he doesn't always have control over [yet].
He is a teenage kid, but he doesn't really have anyone to turn to. He's not able to go out with his buddies and be like, "I can't hurt myself. Let's go to the top of that building and jump off!"
It makes him very unique. The relationship between Clark and his parents -- JOHN SCHNEIDER [who plays Mr. Kent] brought this up the other day. What would happen if Clark had been found by Lex's father? What kind of person would he turn out to be? At what point did he learn values and morals? Why not rob the bank instead of stopping the guy?
ET: Here you are in the center of this pretty big show, and you don't have extensive credits. Do you feel a certain amount of pressure?
TOM: There's pressure that comes from just having to be there every day and having to work, but then there's also the added pressure of being one of the central characters. I just take it day by day.
I feel fortunate that we're shooting in Vancouver and we're able to focus on what we're doing a bit more. And I think it's a great show, which takes a little bit of the pressure off.
ET: Some actors who have played this part have found afterwards that it was somewhat limiting to their careers. Did you have any hesitancy?
TOM: Of course. Who wouldn't? When I was talking to my father [about it], he said, "You do your job, do it well and people will see that."
ET: Your bio says that you had a little [acting] experience in New York and then you came to Los Angeles. What gave you the courage to try out acting?
TOM: I had gone on a few auditions in New York and had some really good feedback, which kind of helped out with the confidence level, but I just really threw myself into it.
I said, "I'm going to give it a shot and work as hard as I can." It's paid off.
|
