Tom Welling Interview Super-Natural May 30th 2005 04:51am | Posted by: Robert Falconer HNR Senior Editor Super-Natural A Conversation with Tom Welling By Robert Falconer | HNR Senior Editor Sitting at a table comprised of more than a dozen entertainment journalists – in town to cover the remake of John Carpenter’s 1980 film, The Fog (which you can read about here) – Tom Welling seems especially jovial and utterly relaxed. The strikingly tall yet disarming actor jests with reporters. “Don't let the title fool you,” he quips. “This movie is all about the fog.” Indeed, it’s little wonder that Welling seems so ebullient. After all, in addition to landing a major role in the new John Carpenter remake, his hit series Smallville is set to return for a fifth year. Despite a fourth season of sporadic ratings, the finale was suitably rousing, as the sleepy Kansas hamlet was once again bombarded by a meteor shower—this time depositing an obsidian spacecraft of unknown content (General Zod, anyone?). Meanwhile, Clark fulfilled his destiny by recovering all three of the coveted Kryptonian ‘stones’ – and upon combining them into a single crystal – found himself standing at the North Pole, presumably where he will use it to build the Fortress of Solitude. Season five holds the promise of being exciting indeed… So, while the writers of Smallville huddle away during the hiatus to ruminate, cogitate and conjure all things Kryptonian for what may be the series’ penultimate season, Welling is taking the opportunity to stretch his acting muscles in a ‘super’ genre of another kind—a supernatural one. In The Fog, which Welling actually began shooting before wrapping Smallville, the young actor plays Nick Castle, a role originated in the 1980 film by veteran character actor Tom Atkins. Though sworn to secrecy regarding details about The Fog, the natural, unaffected Welling sat down to chat with us about the significance of Smallville, the unorthodox way in which he landed the coveted role of Clark Kent, and what acting means to him. Robert: In your estimation, what’s made Smallville such a success? Tom Welling: For one reason or another, I think people have been able to identify with this group of characters. I believe people can watch a show – and they might think it’s great – but then they don’t tune in the next week. I think that when you can identify with what a character is going through, I believe that’s what brings people back to watch a show on a weekly basis. In my estimation we also have things that no other show on television really has, that is to say we have the drama, we’ve had a little bit of the comedy this year, we have action, and we have superpowers—five huge elements that allow us to do so many different combinations of things. Robert: It’s been stated before in the press that when Smallville was in its early stages and casting was underway, that you initially turned down the role when it was offered to you. Can you tell us a little more about that? Tom Welling: It’s true. Everybody was very guarded in the beginning concerning what this show was going to be about…very strongly. I remember in the early phases we couldn’t get any information about that. Our best guess was Superman in high school. That was honestly not something I was interested in doing. After a long, detailed conversation that David Nutter – the director of the pilot – had with my manager at the time, he explained a very different scenario. He said, “Hey, if you come in and audition, we’ll let you read the script. But we can’t let you read this script unless you audition.” It was this weird ultimatum. So I went in and auditioned, they liked what I did, and they said, “Come back tomorrow and you can read the script.” And when I read the script I thought, “Okay, now I get it.” It was amazing; I mean I really thought it was great. Robert: It certainly sounds as though it was a bit of an unconventional process. Tom Welling: Yeah, somewhat. The simple reason I turned it down originally was the lack of information I had about it. Personally, I don’t see how anyone can commit to any kind of a deal when you don’t know what you’re signing up for. And that’s all I needed in the case of Smallville…some clarification. Robert: I’ve noticed that there’s always a lot going on in most episodes of Smallville—several character arcs are usually playing themselves out and the pacing is quite fast. Tom Welling: You’re right. I’ll watch an episode sometimes, and all of a sudden it’s over because everything is so fast and they’re packing so much in, and it almost seems like one needs more time to appreciate things because there’s so much that goes on in the show. Robert: Is there a lot that ends up on the cutting room floor? Tom Welling: I can tell you that very often they’re cutting things out just so that we can fit the time constraints. Robert: Is it challenging to play a character who is roughly ten years younger than yourself? Tom Welling: I think maybe it is a challenge. At the same time I find that this particular character is hard to limit by way of age. Up until the end of this season he’s been in high school, but I don’t know that we’ve ever really hung an “age” on Clark. I will say that in some ways he’s wise beyond his years and at the same time he’s emotionally challenged in a lot of ways. But I think his maturity equals out his immaturity, which gives you this character who is just really trying to find his way. And for me, more than trying to create someone who’s ten years younger than myself, I tend to tap into someone who’s really trying to figure out who they are. Robert: So perhaps the age really isn’t that relevant to your portrayal, then? Tom Welling: I honestly don’t think so, no. Rarely does it happen that anyone consciously tries to determine how old Clark is unless called for in a script. But that’s very unusual on a character level. Robert: Is it cool having John Schneider and Annette O’Toole play your mom and dad? Tom Welling: I’ll tell you, with John and Annette, you couldn’t ask for better parents. In their real lives they have much experience in the actual family system and in raising kids. They’ve been there, they’ve done it, and they know what it is in their own reality. They both have very strong and wonderful lives at home and they bring that to the table in our scenes; a great deal of understanding of what it’s like to raise teenagers, since they’ve both done it. Robert: They’ve both been in the trenches, as it were? Tom Welling: That’s an even better way to put it. You can quote me on that. Robert: Clark Kent is obviously a very physical role at times. How much of the stunt work do you do yourself? Tom Welling: As much as I’m allowed to do [laughs]. They definitely have limitations about what they’ll let me do. But my credo to some extent is that as an actor I’m here to give the director options. And if I’m able to do something – be it in the scene physically or in the scene emotionally, that will give the director that option – then that’s what I’m here to do. I also enjoy the physical aspect. Robert: Are you able to find sufficient time in-between shooting to keep in shape? Tom Welling: The short answer is no [laughs]. I don’t find sufficient time to workout. I do the best I can. That’s sort of how it is with this production and its demands. You do the best you can and try to get through it, because as I mentioned before, you’re moving at such a rapid pace. Robert: Tell us about when you first became interested in acting. I understand you were modeling first for a while, but did you have any burning desire to be an actor when you were growing up? Tom Welling: I believe I did without really knowing it. The reason I say that is that I watched a lot of movies when I was younger, and many times I found myself wanting to be “that guy.” And of course, what I didn’t know when I was really young, was that it was an actor. I just thought it was real. And as I grew up, I began to think, “Wow, I’d love to do that.” But it wasn’t till I was in New York and someone I know said to me, “Hey, maybe you should go into this casting session; maybe you should check this thing out. You’ve got nothing to lose and this person is a friend of mine.” So I went in – just on a whim – and even in the audition I thought, “Hey, this is great, this is fun…there’s so much room for expression.” And it went from there. I got some good feedback from that, and then I made the decision to move from New York to Los Angeles with the idea that I’d give it a year. Fortunately, I think it was within nine months or so that I found myself auditioning for Smallville. But I did plays and I did the theater when I was really small, so yeah, I think there was an element of it there all along. Robert: Different actors have different ways of preparing for a scene or getting into character. Is there any sort of a methodology you use to imagine yourself as this particular character? Tom Welling: Now that we’re through a fourth season, I can say that I take on the character with perhaps a bit more ease than I did in the first season. It really falls into place now. I won’t say that I don’t prepare, because I do. In fact, I‘ve always remembered a great line from Sidney Poitier in which he said, “Know your lines, hit your marks and hang up your wardrobe.” And in essence, that’s what I’ve always tried to follow. Beyond that, again, we’re shooting at such a pace that it’s just go, go, go. I think the preparation comes in just being able to adapt to any given situation at any time, because for myself, I work nearly every day and am in nearly every scene. I don’t have weeks or days of rehearsal or preparation time to get into character. However, I think what I’ve developed is a sense of learning to roll with what you have in front of you. There’s times when we have actors who are great, and times when we have actors who aren’t so great and you have to roll with it. Or we have sets that aren’t quite ready, or things that break and so forth. You’ve just got to go…and it’s crazy. Robert: So flexibility is just as important as preparedness. Tom Welling: Absolutely. It’s like a train going down a track—it’s just got to keep going. Robert: Given how heroic your character is intrinsically, is it more interesting to you to play villains? Tom Welling: The quick answer is yes. I’m not sure if that comes out of an ultimate understanding of playing villains as being more fun, or if it’s because I rarely get to play them and the few times that I have, I had such a great time because it’s so much different from what I ordinarily play. Obviously, people say that change is as good as a holiday, but at least in the case of our show, I think when you have characters like Lionel Luthor – who have so much going on, and it’s dark and it’s dirty and it’s conniving and it’s manipulative – there’s a lot more you can do in a scene. On the other hand, if you’re playing a person who is just trying to help all the time, I find you’re following…you’re not leading so much. A character like Lionel Luthor can just make things happen. A character like Clark is always trying to figure things out and make things better. It’s a trick to make the hero more proactive than reactive. Ultimately, I think playing different characters – whatever they may be – is always good. Robert: Many actors I’ve spoken with in the past who have become identified with “hero” roles, have told me that while it’s fun to be the hero, playing deeply flawed characters is even more interesting. What are your thoughts on this, and what other sorts of parts interest you? Is there any particular type of character or role that you’d really like to play? Tom Welling: Another actor I’m fond of, Jeremy Irons, was asked once how he plays and “gets into” different characters, and he said he looks at characters as the keys on a piano, and that you can play all these different keys, from a murderer to a saint…and everything in-between, and that in your real life you make a choice as to which keys you’re going to play. Now, the way I look at acting is that there are as many roles as there are keys, and as many keys as there are human emotions, and, again, you choose which keys you want to play. It’s the nature of the artist to never be satisfied and to always stretch, and I think that stretching means moving away from what you know and what is comfortable. So when I look at scripts I naturally try to look for roles that are different from what I play nine months out of the year. Robert: Thanks for taking the time out to talk with us today, Tom. Before you go, one last question: How do you enjoy working here in Vancouver? Tom Welling: It’s been great. I can literally sum it up that way. It’s a great city, great crews and great people. I absolutely love it here. Source: HNR In: Interviews |Visit the HNR Forums

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