Superman & Lois returns with new episodes tonight (May 31) with an episode titled “Lies That Bind,” and they’re not all that’s back: Kyle Cushing as played by Erik Valdez also returns! We know that a big part of the episode deals with the fallout of Lana learning Clark is Superman… but what’s going on with Kyle? We spoke with Erik Valdez about the episode and what might be coming up beyond. You can read our interview below.
KRYPTONSITE’S CRAIG BYRNE: Kyle is back this week. Did you end up watching the episodes that your character doesn’t appear in?
ERIK VALDEZ: Of course! I’m a fan of the show. I’m not just gonna watch myself and be like ‘all right, cool. Let’s move on.’ No, I really like the show, so yeah, I tuned in! I also read every single script whether I’m heavily in it or not; it’s just how I am… because I’m part of the show, it’s important. Since I hadn’t filmed either one of these episodes, I didn’t remember them as much as I do the ones that I’m involved in, so going back and watching them, it was truly like being a fan and watching it like everybody else does. It was really cool! Especially with episode 10 “Bizarros In A Bizarro World.” It was a dramatic departure from everything that also still tied everything in was was really great. It was fun to sit back and watch simply as an audience member, having not been on set for those. It was pretty cool.
Were you curious at all what Kyle was doing in Bizarro World?
Of course I’m curious! I’d love to see that. We didn’t get to explore that. I’m okay with that, but I’m curious. It’d be nice to see if we ever revisit all of that; to see what Kyle’s doing over there. I feel like with it being Bizarro World, he’s definitely much louder, flamboyant and more obnoxious in other ways than he would be on Earth[-Prime]. He’s a pretty meat-and-potatoes, wearing the same jeans for 20 years kind of guy in the real world, so it’d be nice to see what he’s doing over there.
How might Kyle react if he ever were to meet Lana-Rho?
Oh, man…[laughs] He would be scared! He would probably wonder in his mind, ‘okay, yes, I know this isn’t my Lana. But she knows some of the things that I’ve done to my Lana, and she’s got powers, and she can kick my ass!’ I think that would be some of the internal dialogue in his head, of what would happen. It would throw him for quite the loop, and I think he’d be a bit terrified.
Despite anything that Kyle has done in the past couple of years, is Lana still though the one for him?
Oh, yeah. 100%. I don’t think Kyle has ever felt like he fully deserved her. I think that in his mind, she is out of his league and he was probably second choice to Clark in high school. I feel he feels like he was a consolation prize. I think that’s why he tried to suppress so many of his flaws and so many of his bad decisions – in this case one of the worst – for so long, because he didn’t feel like he deserved her in the first place. Then he made all these mistakes. In his head, he knew that he would probably just lose her forever, if that ever came out. Now he’s dealing with that in in real time, and he’s doing the best he can to navigate the situation at hand. He’s struggling a bit internally and wondering what’s going to happen and needing to know the answers. Kind of like me in a real life, he’s one of those people that likes to know things and have definitive answers, even in situations where there is no definitive answer because it’s constantly evolving. I think the focus has been on himself, trying to improve. Basically, he has nothing to lose at this point. He is throwing everything out there to be the best version of himself that he probably should have been 20 years ago, just to have any sort of hope of her coming back or even forgiving him.
Can you preview anything that Kyle and Sarah do together in Tuesday night’s episode?
They bond over music. I think their relationship is getting stronger throughout all of this, ironically. Sarah, obviously, she is very upset with her father for tearing the family apart, for lack of a better term, but she’s an accepting person, and she’s also very much like him. I think that she sees him making progress, and wanting to be a better version of himself, and having nowhere to go, really. We saw a little bit of that when Sarah showed up at his apartment. I feel like she went into nurturing mode and decided to make that her project, being there for her dad, and now she’s struggling with her own relationship and life issues. They’re finding common groundsin their own flaws and things that they’re dealing with. We’ve seen these little Easter eggs here and there of their love for music. They had these very emotional moments in season 1, and her wearing rock t-shirts. I think music is a really great way of bringing them together, with Sarah writing music as a coping mechanism and everything. I love the way that they’re tying all that together.
How do you think Kyle would react if he was the one to find out that Clark was Superman, if he were to find out before Lana or anybody else?
What’s interesting is there was a world early on where that idea was thrown around! We are always talking about different ways of bringing stuff together and having these shocking moments.
I personally love the fact that it was Lana that found out [before] Kyle. I just think it makes so much more sense. It’s such a big moment in both the show and in comic book history, so to speak, so I am glad that it happened that way. But I think had Kyle been the one to find out, it would have played out a lot differently. If he had found out in the current situation where he’s [dealing with] everything and his marriage is completely on the rocks, I feel like it would have been this other thing that he now had to struggle with, like ‘okay, do I now continue to keep secrets or do I share this?’ I think that he would have had to tell Lana. Whether he told his daughters as well, he would have had to tell Lana this, and I felt like it would have played out completely differently.
There would have been her not necessarily believing him, maybe. All of this is make-believe, because it was never written that way, but I think that would have been an opportunity for him to come clean without harboring secrets or keeping things from her. I think that he would have felt this sense of responsibility and pride in the fact that maybe he found out before anybody else, but I don’t think he would have been able to keep that from Lana.
Do you have any things you’d like to say about what we have to look forward to for the rest of the season?
In general, the show is a bit of a roller coaster ride from here on out, on so many levels. It’s going to be extremely exciting to watch play out. I think from a personal standpoint, with Kyle, Sara, and Lana, I thinkwe’re far from getting to a point where everything is hunky dory again, but we’re going to see moments of closeness in dealing with this situation that they’re in, in a very true life form. I think it’s going to be very nice: you’ll have some gut wrenching moments, you’ll have some tearful moments, but I think it’s going to be a very nice way to watch that story evolve for the next few episodes in season 2 and and then we’ll see where everything goes beyond that.
Looking for more Erik Valdez Superman & Lois content? Check out our interview with him from PaleyFest below!