Smallville ran for ten seasons from 2001 to 2011 and inspired devotion from legions of nerds and dorks for its original approach to the origin tale of Superman, but over 5 years since the CW show ended — we have to ask: what ever happened to the cast of Smallville?
It’s safe to say nobody from the cast became household names. You’d be fully aware if one of the Smallville regulars was on the level of Chris Pratt or Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson, but that isn’t to say the cast faded into complete obscurity.
Tom Welling as Clark Kent
Welling played the main character in the superhero series and despite earning praise for his square jaw and darkly handsome looks, the New York native is one of the least successful cast members.
Welling’s biggest success post-Smallville comes in the form of an appearance in the Kevin Costner-Jennifer Garner flop Draft Day from 2014.
Come on, Tom. You can do better. Even the plank of wood Brandon Routh parlayed playing Superman into a mediocre career.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
Kristin Kreuk as Lana Lang
Kreuk portrayed Lana Lang, the relatively obscure cousin of the more popular Lois Lane, for the the first 8 series, appearing in 158 episodes as the primary love interest.
In 2012, Kreuk starred in The CW’s remake of Beauty & the Beast (not the Disney one) as the titular beauty and the poorly received series ran for four mediocre series before finally getting cancelled in 2016.
Fun Fact: George R.R. Martin was a writer on the original Beauty and the Beast.
Allison Mack as Chloe Sullivan
The popular Allison Mack appeared in the most episodes of Smallville after Welling and won two Teen Awards for her part.
Since the show wrapped, though, Mack has mostly been a jobbing actress, appearing in episodes of The Following, American Odyssey and Wilfred on FX.
Her career was better before Smallville. At least she got to appear in an episode of 7th Heaven.
Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
The main villain of the first 7 series of the show, TV Guide included Rosenbaum’s Lex Luxor on their 2013 list of The 60 Nastiest Villains of All Time. That’s enough to make it superior to Jesse Eisenberg’s autistic portrayal of the character in Batman v Superman for me.
Rosenbaum’s biggest success since leaving the show came with Impastor, a TVLand sitcom that ran for two series before being cancelled. Not anything to write home about.
DESERVED BETTER
John Glover as Lionel Luthor
Another obscure relative of an iconic character, Glover played the father of super villain Lex and was nominated for two Saturn Awards for his troubles.
Glover has since appeared in 5 episodes on The Good Wife and has done one episode appearances in show such as The Blacklist and Perception.
Erica Durance as Lois Lane
Durance won the memorable role of Lois Lane against “dozens” of actresses according to executive producer Greg Beeman , which makes you wonder why they didn’t bother to do a chemistry test with Durance and Welling before signing a contract. Trust me, opposite magnets have better chemistry than Durance and Welling in Smalville.
Despite lacking chemistry with her leading man, Durance has enjoyed the most success out of the main cast, finding consistent work on the Canadian medical drama Saving Hope and bagging a recurring part in The CW’s Supergirl as Alura Zor-El.
MOST SUCCESSFUL
Rosenbaum also served as the narrator on a reality show called Hunted on CBS.
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Wow. He’s so fucking A list.
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Hunted? As in what the sock cucker does to get ahold of his agent! Tsk. Tsk.
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Another CW Show of pretty people that couldn’t act.
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This article is a study of what happens to said “pretty people that can’t really act” after they lose their looks.
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Evidently not very much, dear!
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Are there CW shows that consist of people that can act?
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This ran for 10 seasons? LOL
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Do the last 8 count if nobody watched?
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At least 4 million viewers every episode until the final 2 seasons when the viewership averaged 2.5 to 2.9 million.
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That’s the most shocking part of the article…
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Smallville and Heroes were the go to superhero things before Nolan brought Batman back. Fucking crazy to think of it like that. Neither have aged well obviously.
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Certain shows age like shit. Footballers Wives in the UK is one that springs to mind. Loved it when it was on. Can’t get through an episode now.
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Dynasty suffers too. I wanted it to age like Joan Collins and instead it aged like Linda Evans 😦
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Wasn’t Dynasty the paragon of “80s television show”? I wouldn’t expect a show that defines an era to age as well as shows that have more timeless qualities.
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They were considered gold compared to the state the Batman movie series had been left in. Remember the Bat nipples? I’m trying to forget the Bat nipples.
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Tom Welling sucked so bad as an actor that even his looks couldn’t make up for it.
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You know you’re bad at acting when you look like that and still can’t get work.
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Gossip Girl next please and thanks, GL!
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Police are currently searching for the missing person that is Leighton Meester.
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I look forward to the article in a few year about the cast of Empire…
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I used to love Smallville so much. Not as much as I loved the first season of Heroes, because that’s the best out of them all. One of the shows that went on for way too long and stretched out the premise so much that the narrative and the timeline no longer made any sense. I remember it took Superman years and years to learn how to fly. Frustrating.
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Heroes was a high profile victim of the WGA 07-08 Strike.
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That’s a question I’ve truly never asked myself, dear!
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I knew so many girls with crushes on Tom Welling in high school….
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I still kinda have a crush
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Usually at least one of the cast become a big name. Jensen Ackles might be the biggest name from Smallville and he only appeared in one season.
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Allison Mack was cute back then
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Chloe and Lana are members of some shady cult.
http://www.timesunion.com/local/article/NXIVM-courts-rich-powerful-and-influential-3253818.php
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