2001 TV News Archives

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May 25, 2001: "I'm Not Superman!" says Tom Welling

Tom Welling, the actor who will play a teenage Clark Kent in the up-coming Warner Bros. TV show "Smallville", spoke to TV Guide recently and wanted to make one thing clear before he gets typecast like Adam West, Lynda Carter and Dean Cain... What is it Tom wants to make clear? In his own words... "I'm not Superman! I'm Clark Kent, before he was Superman."

The actor told TV Guide that he was initially reluctant to appear in the show for fear of being typecast early in his acting career. "But, then I read the script, and there's so much to it that I'm not worried. It's quality stuff," Welling said.

The stakes are high for the young actor on this high-profile TV show. The show was the subject of an intense bidding war between the WB network and Fox TV, the final outcome of which was a record-setting per-episode fee for a first year drama. It's been closely scrutinized by the genre press and is already the subject of many fan-sites on the internet.

Welling, however, seems to be taking it in stride.

"I know that there is a lot of money and a lot of time and concern invested in this by the WB, but I think it's all worthwhile."

"Why should I feel pressure? You only feel pressure if you don't think you can perform. I think this is going to perform."



2001 Television News

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