More Than A "Remember Him" - Eric Johnson Looks Back On Smallville

Interview by Craig Byrne

The CW is re-airing the very first episode of Smallville on Friday, April 8.

In ten years of covering Smallville, between KryptonSite and the series of companion books, I had managed, at one time or another, to interview - even briefly - every single opening-credits cast member of the show... except for one.

The "one that got away" in this case is Eric Johnson, who played Lana Lang's boyfriend and "that guy who hung Clark up like a scarecrow," Whitney Fordman, for all of Season One plus two appearances in later seasons. I'd always heard great things about Eric - who now stars in ABC's summer series Rookie Blue - but never got the chance to meet or talk with him.

The first lesson I learned from speaking with Mr. Johnson is, much like John Glover who is nothing like Lionel Luthor, Eric would never hang up anyone in a cornfield with kryptonite tied around their neck; he's a very nice guy who - even ten years after the Smallville pilot first shot - still is appreciative of the fans who supported his character.

For those people who may not have seen the Smallville pilot before, and are wondering who that blond guy with Lana might be, here's your chance to find out more. For those of us who watch those classic episodes and think "hey, you know Whitney was actually kind of cool," this interview is also for you. Maybe you'll learn some show trivia you never knew before!

Thanks again to Eric Johnson for taking the time to speak with KryptonSite, and again, everyone... be sure to check out the re-airing of the Smallville pilot Friday, April 8 on The CW. Enjoy the interview!

Questions to Eric Johnson are posted in bold letters; his answers are not. Please do not repost this interview on other websites; instead just link directly to it. Thanks!

Ten years after the pilot shoot in early 2001, is there anything that still stands out for you to this day?

The thing that really sticks out for me was our director, David Nutter, and his absolute passion and enthusiasm for the project, and just how much he really cared. He had done a show before called Superboy, so he knew the Superman mythology. It was really important to him, and his enthusiasm was just infectious.

Part of me felt completely overwhelmed, being a part of the Superman legacy. No matter what happened with the show, even if we did a pilot or twelve episodes, you knew you were going to be at least a footnote in the history of Superman.

The scope of our pilot was so huge, compared to most of the things that you do for television. We had a twenty day shoot, and there were big stunts, like the car going off the bridge. The stuff we did was incredible, and my eyes were wide open when we were doing it.

Is it true that you had originally auditioned for other characters?

Yeah! The first character I actually went in on - believe it or not - I sent tape in of me doing Lex Luthor. [laughs] And then they said no, and then they wanted to see me read for Clark Kent. And I was like "ummm, you know I'm blond, and I'd need to go to the gym, like, 24 hours a day for months." But David Nutter was really kind. I had auditioned for him for other shows before, and I think that's where that familiarity was. He had always been really generous to me, and put me in front of really good people, and so when they asked "would you read for this other part of Whitney," I said absolutely. It seemed like a really good fit, and I was just thrilled to be a part of it.

What attracted you to the project?

I liked the scope of it. I liked that it was big TV. It was already part of something that was pre-existing; you just knew that it had a built-in audience, and the people that were behind it really cared. It wasn't just filler. It was a passion piece for a lot of people, and like I said, I had auditioned for David Nutter before. He'd always been so supportive and so kind that getting a chance to actually work with him was a dream. He's such a great filmmaker and director. That was such a huge part of it. And it was shooting in Vancouver! I'm Canadian, and shooting in your home country is always great, and it was a tremendous opportunity.

At what point during the first season did you get the idea that Whitney might have a limited life on the show?

[Laughs] It was actually pretty early. It was evident from the get-go that whatever they intended, what the result was, was not exactly what had happened. Things hadn't gone as planned. The character started off on such a negative note - and they really tried throughout the season to redeem Whitney to a large degree, making him more of a sympathetic character - and I think that it just ended up alienating him further. It wasn't for a lack of trying, and not something I would ever take personally. If you string the main character up in a cornfield in the first episode, you've got a long way to go for redemption.

When I found out that I wasn't going to be coming back as a regular, and then once they got into the next season arc, it was disappointing, right? But you could also see the writing on the wall at a certain point.

How did you take some of the online response to Whitney at the time?

It was interesting. Of course, this is the first big thing that I had done in the age of the Internet, where you could actually go and read what people were thinking about your show. I liked it when people didn't like me or liked me, but the only thing that was a little unnerving is when people blurred reality, like "I hate Eric Johnson for what he did to Clark!" It was like, we're missing something here. I had some really great fans that were in my corner and that was always nice to see, that somebody was out there championing for the misunderstood high school jock.

Do you think if the role had continued, that people might have finally started coming around to Whitney some more?

It all depends. There are a lot of variables that go into play with that. They could have gone in any number of directions with the character, right? That's all speculation. They could have turned him into a complete bad guy, but the danger in doing that, is it makes Lana not look very bright for being with the bad guy. I don't know; it's tough. To turn a character around takes a lot of screen time.

What if Whitney had been the one to find out Clark's secret?

It would have been kind of cool. I know that they pushed a lot of ideas around, but ultimately, it's tough to say. There are so many different variables. If he had learned about Clark's secret and become an unlikely ally, it puts a different dynamic on it. But whenever you have something like that, you're taking screen time away from somebody else. Now you're not having nice scenes with Chloe or Lex.

Interview continues on the next page!