Tom Welling remains a fan-favorite of the Superman canon to this day, thanks to his 10-season run in Smallville; yet his time on set wasn't always perfect, according to the actor. Tom played Clark Kent from 2001 to 2011 alongside Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor, and Erica Durance as Lois Lane. Smallville is considered one of the best versions of the Superman story, and experienced a rise in popularity recently after the release of James Gunn's Superman, starring David Corenswet.
Looking back
Tom shared on his former co-star Michael's podcast Inside of You that he had conflicting feelings about his time on the show. "I tend to remember more good things than bad things, whereas I think when I was going through it, I wasn't very happy most of the time," he said in the recent interview. The 48-year-old added that his "good moments" on set and "feeling like [he] had a responsibility to every single person" in the cast and crew helped him to continue working despite his struggles.
© Getty ImagesTom also revealed on the podcast that it took years before he could finally be proud of his work in Smallville, despite its positive critical reception. "I'm proud of it now. Where I don't think I was proud of it [was] when we were doing it. And I'm not sure why, because it's hard," he said candidly.
Second chance
The father of two previously opened up about returning to the Superman universe and being hesitant to don his costume again for the Arrowverse's Crisis of Infinite Earths crossover in 2024. "I got some calls, but they weren't [about] me acting on these shows," Tom said at Fan Expo New Orleans in 2025. "It was me playing Clark on those shows, and I really felt protective of the fact that Clark wouldn't exist on those shows."
"Finally, I got a [call] from someone connected to it who said, 'Listen, please just read it. It's one scene. Just please read it,'" he recalled. "And I read it and I was like, 'This is good.' It was just the one scene, and I was like, 'Man, this is actually a good idea. This is the way to do it.' And you know, Clark didn't have his powers, and one of my ways into that scene was, I wanted to play Clark as if he grew into Jonathan Kent."
Smallville 2.0
© Getty ImagesFans have begged for a Smallville reboot for years, and the idea has taken root inside Tom and Michael's heads as well. "We haven't gone to Warner Bros. yet," the Cheaper By the Dozen actor said on Inside of You. "It just doesn't seem like our show is the type of show where that would happen. I'm smiling and saying it will probably never happen. But I love the idea!"
© Getty Images"It just doesn't seem like our show is the type of show where that would happen," Michael chimed in. The show's original creators, Al Gough and Miles Millar, are still holding out hope for a potential reboot, against the odds.
© Getty Images"The problem with most projects in development in any studio and/or any network is regime change," Al said on the TalkVille podcast. "Warner [Bros.] has obviously gone through a lot, and I think the fact that they are in the process of rebooting Superman again, kind of unfortunately, keeps our thing off the table for a bit. Everything comes around in one form or another. I just read the other day that they are rebooting Buffy for Hulu."
