Tom Welling is a top-class American actor famously known for his portrayal of Superman in the TV show Smallville. Apart from being an actor, he is also a well-known director and producer in the Hollywood industry. Welling was initially a model for many top-class brands like Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein but later moved on from being a model to the acting business as it was his true passion. Tom Welling appeared in multiple small roles throughout his career but his breakthrough role was when he was cast for portraying Superman in the show Smallville which aired first in 2001. He then decades later reprised his role as Superman in another universe but had a weird condition for his return.
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Tom Welling’s Weird Condition for Returning as Superman
Tom Welling portrayed the role of Superman in the Smallville series for a complete decade, from when the first episode aired in 2001 to the last in 2011. But he was called later on to portray the role of Superman again in the sixth Arrowverse crossover event and it occurred 8 years after he had completed the role of Superman in his tv show. Tom Welling was happy that he called back to make a cameo as Clark Kent but he had no intention of donning the cape as he said in the Fan Expo via Newsweek,
“If they had started the conversation with ‘So, Clark is in the suit,’ I’d have been like [click]”
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Though he was only called back for a small role in the crossover event, Welling had a weird condition for returning as he did not want to put on the suit of the Man of Steel. Tom Welling had hoped that he would portray Clark’s role more like Jonathan Kent than he did as Clark Kent.
“I don’t know if anybody picked up on this, but somehow I got in the back of my head that I wanted to act more like Jonathan Kent, in that scene than I did Clark, because that’s his father, and that’s probably who he would have been influenced by.”
In the show Smallville, the series ended by showing that Welling’s Clark Kent had fulfilled his long-lived dream of donning the cape to save the people and fulfilling his destiny by becoming Superman. The show had a very hasty ending and by Welling’s return as a parent in the crossover event, fans were completely thrilled and this time around, Tom Welling’s Superman got a proper send-off.
Smallville: Tom Welling’s Superhero Television Series
Smallville shows a version of Clark Kent who from his early life had to lead a normal life, was forced to hide his powers from society, and his friends, and had to always be cautious of the Kryptonite that was present in his city. Tom Welling was cast to play this young Clark Kent and he was a perfect choice for this role as he was widely known as one of the best Superman casts out there.
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The show was an immediate success as it had enormous ratings of 8.4 million viewers on its debut episode, the pilot. The show had a very generous run as it was rated around 4.35 million viewers per episode for the whole 10 seasons and was one of the longest-running tv shows out there. The show has also received multiple accolades during its time such as the Primetime Emmy Awards thrice, in 2002, 2006, and in 2008 along with numerous other awards and nominations.
Tom Welling is currently prepping for “Deep Six”, an action-thriller movie that is scheduled to be released in 2023.
Smallville is available for streaming on Hulu Plus.
Source: Fan Expo Vancouver
