MSN News: Small World
MSN news payed a visit to the Smallville set while they were filming A episode. there they had the oportunity to talk with actor Justin Hartley and Tom WellingWelcome to Season 6 of the hit CW series "Smallville" and the bachelor pad of Oliver Queen, played by the boyishly dashing Justin Hartley ("Passions"). Oliver is the latest DC Comics character to visit Smallville and the young Clark Kent, future Superman, played by Tom Welling. Like Clark, Oliver has a secret: By night he darts into a secret compartment of his penthouse and suits up to become the Green Arrow, who, like Robin Hood, robs from the rich to give to the poor.
In the scene being filmed today (part of the sixth episode, "Reunion"), Oliver is giving a disbelieving Clark some nasty background about the Luthor family -- part of the reason Oliver has come to Smallville -- to persuade Clark to join forces to fight evil, forming the embryonic stage of the Justice League.
"I thought it was an act of kindness," Oliver says, relating a story about Lionel Luthor's sparing no expense to save the life of a schoolmate mortally wounded by his son, Lex. "Now that I'm older, I realize it was just an act. Lionel was trying to cover up what had happened between Duncan and Lex. Keep the stink off the Luthor name." As the story sinks in, Clark begins to realize the breadth of the evil of the Luthors -- including his onetime friend, Lex -- and he sees that he will need to step in as the past has come back to haunt Smallville.
Naturally, all of this leaves Clark somewhat tortured, which, of course, is part of the deep appeal of the series.
Life After High School
The premise of the series is brilliant: Focus on the young Clark Kent, wrestling with his powers, keeping an agonizing secret, even as he tries to fit in at high school -- where everyone is struggling.
In Season 6, Clark is a young man who has graduated high school and is beginning to take shape as the adult he will be, but the turmoil remains.
Unlike other series that sparkled while their characters were in high school, only to peter out after graduation day ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Beverly Hills 90210," "Gilmore Girls"), Welling believes "Smallville's" focus has allowed it to grow along with its young cast members.
"The show rarely focused on the actual academic school year," Welling says during a break between takes, in an interview conducted, fittingly, in the nearby set of the newsroom of The Daily Planet. "It's been about the human drama ... about trying to be normal. I think a lot of people can relate to that. There is no normal."
Welling says he's excited about this season's development of the Justice League and Clark's coming more to terms with his destiny. And he's looking forward to his second stint at directing (his debut aired in April 2006) episode 16 of the new season.
"It's wonderfully fulfilling," Welling says of directing. "I really enjoy it; I learned a lot more about the cast and crew." After being on the set for nearly five years, he says, "I met a lot of people here I never knew before."
Season 6 will also signal subtly that Clark is leaving boyhood behind: less plaid. His plaid jacket will rarely be seen as Clark's focus moves away from the family farm. But the royal blue and red T-shirts, which showcase Welling's fighting-trim form, remain. So how many royal-blue T-shirts does Welling reckon he's worn over the course of the show? The star lets out a hoot of laughter.
"Thousands, as opposed to hundreds, really," he says. He tells of going to the T-shirt wardrobe trailer, having spilled something on a shirt and needing a new one, and watching the wardrobe coordinator scrutinize "racks and racks" of seemingly identical blue shirts, finally selecting "this one perfect one."
So at least some choices Clark will face won't be agonizing.
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Labels: Interview
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