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This
was the first interview conducted by KryptonSite with Smallville
executive producer Alfred Gough, back before many people
had even heard of the series. In many ways it got the "first
word" out about the show.
As
many of you who have been reading this website already know,
Smallville is an upcoming TV series that will tell
the tale of a Clark Kent in his adolescence; as his powers are
developing, before he was "The Man of Steel." The
show is set to star Tom Welling as the young Clark Kent, with
Kristin Kreuk (Edgemont) as 16-year-old Lana Lang.
Also in the show will be such actors as John Schneider, Michael
Rosenbaum, and John Glover.
Smallville was a concept developed by the writing team
of Alfred Gough and Miles Millar. Gough and Millar have worked
on several projects together, including the TV series Martial
Law and Timecop, and the movie "Shanghai
Noon."
Mr. Gough was kind enough to share some of his time and answer
some questions about the upcoming series, and what fans should
expect to see in this series about a very interesting Kansas
town.
Special thanks goes out to Dana, for being all-around awesome
and helping make this interview happen; to the folks who helped
come up with good ideas for interview questions (Hi, Donna and
Russ!); to Brian Selzer for the initial editing of this interview;
and to Al Gough and Miles Millar for the time and for giving
this interview the final look-through. This is an excellent
team with a great amount of enthusiasm for this series.
PLANET KRYPTON EDITOR CRAIG BYRNE: Tell us about who
you are, and what your duties will be for Smallville.
SMALLVILLE EXECUTIVE
PRODUCER AL GOUGH: I'm Al Gough, and I'm one of the
creators and executive producers of Smallville along
with my partner, Miles Millar. Miles and I are a writing team,
and on Smallville we are the "showrunners,"
which means we will be responsible for all of the scripts, hiring
the writing staff, overseeing the look and tone of the show,
and the day-to-day operations. Basically, the buck stops with
us.
CB: When you took on this project, were there things
that you were instructed to keep away from?
AG: Not really, we got a call from Peter Roth, who
is the president of Warner Bros. TV, and he said he wanted to
do a show about young Clark Kent. We were intrigued, but also
had reservations. We weren’t interesting in doing Superboy,
we wanted to do something that was cool and character driven.
Unlike, say, Batman, Superman has always been the goody two
shoes of super-heroes. We wanted our Clark Kent to have angst
and edge, without losing the essence of who he grows up to be.
That’s why in the series Clark doesn’t wear the suit,
doesn’t wear glasses and can’t fly.
We also altered the mythology. When Clark crashes to
Earth in the ship he’s accompanied by a meteor shower of
Kryptonite. In the pilot you see the meteor shower raining down
on Smallville and Clark’s arrival as a three-year-old.
Then we cut to 12 years later and discover that the Kryptonite
is in the soil and is causing all these strange things to happen.
CB: Kryptonite is also showing up in peoples' necklaces
too, right?
AG: Yeah, Lana Lang has a piece of Kryptonite in her
necklace. It is actually made from a piece of the meteor that
killed her parents. The thing with Smallville is that it appears
normal and picturesque on the surface, but because of the kryptonite
it’s really "Twin Peaks"-like underneath.
CB: Is this anything like the "Hellmouth"
underneath Sunnydale in Buffy the Vampire Slayer?
AG: It's along those lines, but it's not as specific
because that's really only about demons and things like that.
Our stories are more bizarre and offbeat, more X-Files
than Buffy. We are also very much a relationship show.
For example, we’ve got a whole new take on Lex Luthor.
He's in his early 20’s and he's been sent to Smallville
to run a division of his father's company. In the pilot you
see him befriend Clark. It’s an intriguing relationship
to play with because everyone knows where the story ends, but
you’ve never really seen how it started out. I think it
will be fun to watch.
CB: So you're approaching Superman quite differently
from the way Lois & Clark handled the material?
AG: While Lois & Clark has a lot of fans
and was a very popular show, we wanted to re-interpret Superman
for today and make him more relatable. We’ve humanized
him in a way you haven’t seen before. We really wanted
to get inside Clark’s head and show that he’s just
as vulnerable as any ordinary teenager. This is a kid who's
not only going through puberty but is also struggling with his
emerging superpowers.
CB: So everything's going to develop as the series
develops?
AG: Definitely. We liked the idea of his strength growing
incrementally since he was a kid. For example, when he was 4
he could lift a coffee table but not a pick-up truck. I think
that borrows a little from the John Byrne revamp. The difference
is in those comics Clark seemed very well-adjusted and he played
football and he hid it, and nothing was a big deal. We're actually
playing that "Guess what? Getting these powers is a huge
deal!"
CB: Tell us a little bit about Tom Welling and Kristin
Kreuk. What was the magic about them that got them the roles?
 AG: We
cast Kristin first. It's one of those things, when you're sitting
in a room, hearing a million people read a scene and then someone
comes in and nails it. She’s from Vancouver, Canada and
is a total natural. When we saw her audition tape we just knew,
"this is Lana". She has a wonde rful, delicate beauty. When you look
into her eyes you immediately understand why Clark Kent pines
for her.
It took us longer to find Tom Welling, who plays Clark. The
challenge was how do you find Superman before he was Superman.
It’s like looking for Harry Potter or Anakin Skywalker.
We really wanted a fresh face, someone who wouldn’t be
identified with any other role. We had casting directors all
over the country looking, and we saw 100s of actors in person
and on videotape, but nobody popped for us. Then Tom came in.
He's just one of these guys who has star quality. Not only did
he have the right look, but he also had that right sort of spirit
-- you could see him becoming Superman. There's a gentleness,
but also real strength. We had him read with Kristin at the
network - wow - talk about chemistry. We couldn't be happier.
The rest of the cast is quite extraordinary as well. Sam Jones
who plays Pete Ross is a real find. Together with Allison Mack,
who plays Chloe, they light up the screen. As for Michael Rosebaum
- he is Lex Luthor - charming, funny, charismatic. I think this
will be a break-out role for him.
CB: Are there any actors that you'd specifically like
to see guest starring on the show?
 AG: We'd love to write a role for Christopher
Reeve, which I think would just be really cool. Another thing
is to find people like the Jimmy Olsen [Marc McClure] from the
movie. It's fun to do that. I remember when I saw the Superman
movie; the Lois Lane from the old George Reeves series [Noel
Neill] was Lois Lane's mother on the train. We're always looking
for interesting casting ideas. There are a lot of [famous] Superman
fans out there, so hopefully, if they watch the pilot and like
what they're seeing, they might be willing to be a part of the
show.
CB: You might not want to go there, but how about John
Shea as Lex Luthor's father from Metropolis?
AG: I think we are going to respectfully steer clear
of Lois & Clark. We really want to distinguish
the show. That said, John Shea is a very good actor.
CB: Regarding the other members of the cast [not yet
finalized], are there any names we've seen other places?
AG: Yeah there are. John Schneider, who plays Jonathan
Kent. He’s fantastic and really helps ground the show.
CB: Will we see Lois Lane in the series?
AG: Yes you will, I can't really say how, but with
DC Comics' blessing, she will definitely feature somewhere down
the road. She could potentially visit Smallville or our gang
could meet up with her in Metropolis.
CB: Will filming remain in British Columbia?
AG: We're shooting the pilot there, we're not sure
about the series. It could be Los Angeles, it could be up here.
CB: What was the appeal that brought you to the "Smallville"
project in the first place?
AG: Superman is one of those characters who has made
an indelible impression on popular culture. You see the "S"
everywhere, Bon Jovi has it tattooed on his arm for God’s
sake. The really great super-heroes, like Batman and Superman,
have lasted so long because they can be reinterpreted for each
generation. There was the radio show in the 40s, the George
Reeves show in the 50s, the Christopher Reeve movies in the
70s & 80s and Lois & Clark in the 90s. We liked the
idea of introducing Superman to a new generation. Because he
doesn’t wear the suit in "Smallville" it’s
going to allow us to explore the human side of Superman. That’s
what really attracted us. If there was ever a way to exemplify
what it's like to be a young person trying to find his way in
the world, Clark Kent is your guy The fact that nobody's really
explored that aspect of the character is what really attracted
us. We also liked the fact that Smallville hadn’t been
mined.
CB: That was one of the most popular parts of the movie.
AG: It's terrific, it's a wonderful part, I think it
was so memorable because when Jonathan (Glen Ford) dies you
really feel for Clark, you’re totally invested in him as
a person rather than a superhero. That’s what we hope to
get across in the series. What’s interesting about focusing
on this part of Clark’s life, is watching him go through
the trials that will ultimately lead to him becoming the man
of steel. If he had crash landed in a different town and had
been picked up by different parents, he'd be a completely different
guy.
CB: How old will Jonathan and Martha Kent be this time
around?
AG: In their forties. We didn't want to be like Buffy
or Roswell where the kids have all the secrets and
the parents are sort of out of it. We want "Smallville"
to be multigenerational. So you've got Clark and friends, and
you've got Lex who's a little older, and you've got the parents.
CB: There will also be new characters such as Lana's
aunt Nell, correct?
AG: Lana's aunt is Nell, and she's friendly with the
Luthors, and she and Jonathan used to date in high school and
she sort of has feelings for him. Basically it's creating levels
of relationships. This is not a "slamming lockers"
show. The parents will play a significant role, obviously because
Jonathan and Martha are the only ones who know Clark's secret.
CB: Is there any possibility of Pete Ross figuring
it out?
AG: Potentially down the line, I think anything's possible.
CB: Will there be an attempt to keep from becoming
campy like Lois & Clark did toward the end?
AG: Yes. The minute we become campy like that we are
dead.
CB: What kind of villains will Clark face?
AG: They certainly won’t be larger than life villains.
We want to keep the show grounded in reality. Like all rural
towns, Smallville is going through change; LuthorCorp's come
in, housing developments are eating up the farmland. There are
people like the Kents who are trying to hold onto their traditional
way of life, and then you have Lex who really sees Smallville
as a new beginning and really wants to bring it into the 21st
century, so you have those stories as well as the weird things
that are happening.
CB: So what about [a seriously played] Brainiac or
something like that?
AG: I would say certainly not for the first few seasons.
I think you have to earn your audience, and you don’t want
to start there.
CB: What kind of costume will Clark wear before there
is a costume?
AG: He just wears regular clothes, he isn't in disguise,
he just has to keep his powers secret. He won't be wearing glasses.
I always thought the glasses and that sort of persona that he
plays in Metropolis is to disguise the fact that he is Superman
in the costume. Here he's a kid dealing with these sort of extraordinary
powers and trying to get through high school. Part of it is
keeping these things secret. It's more along the lines of the
movie where he didn't have the costume until he went to Metropolis.
Basically, we're not doing "Superboy."
CB: Say ratings went down and the WB demanded changes,
would the costume show up sooner?
AG: <laughs> The plan is not to put
him in the costume.
CB: Will the show definitely be on the fall schedule?
Could it be bumped into midseason, for example?
AG: It has an episodic commitment from the WB, which
means yes, but a lot of things can happen. The only thing that
could potentially affect Smallville, and the entire
season, are the writers' and actors' strikes, which could definitely
throw a wrench into when the show would air.
CB: Could this series be a possible lead-in to a new
movie franchise?
AG: That would be great.
CB: There was a very well received Bruce Wayne
pilot script floating around a few years ago. If Smallville
is a success is there any chance Bruce Wayne could appear
and spin off?
AG: That’s for DC and Warner Bros to decide.
CB: And for the final question... Will we believe a
boy can fly?
AG: <laughs> At some point, yes. But
one must be careful to walk, and then leap, before they can
fly.
Don't miss the 200th episode of Smallville Friday, October 15 on The CW!
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This
interview is copyright 2001 Craig Byrne. Please
do not reprint this interview without permission. Those interested in referencing or linking to the interview
are welcome to do so by acknowledging the source.
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