Michael Rosenbaum paid a visit to his friend Katee Sackhoff‘s podcast Blah Blah Blah with Katee Sackhoff for an hour-plus-long discussion about careers, life, on-screen kisses, and more. The part that might matter most to Smallville fans, though, is that Michael talked about his departure from the show after Season 7 as well as being known as the best Lex Luthor (a sentiment shared on this very website).
On the podcast, Michael discusses how he was originally only contracted for six seasons but did extend it to include a seventh. When the time came to sign on beyond that, he was ready to leave, but Warner Bros. Television President Peter Roth wanted to meet him for lunch, ostensibly to make an offer. Even though Michael had worked for Roth for over a decade, the interaction was “like the first time he ever met me,” Michael says.
According to Michael, Peter Roth proposed a three-year deal… for the exact same amount of money he was getting on his previous contract. “That was it,” he says. After that, he didn’t want to counter, and didn’t care what they’d offer afterward. “That was it. I knew I had to respect myself, and it wasn’t worth it,” he recalls.
Which isn’t to say Smallville was a bad experience, despite having to play the same character for so many years. He always committed to and respected the role… and if people say he’s “known mostly as Lex Luthor,” that’s okay.
“F**k, yeah,” he says about that response. “If I’m known for that, and that’s the only thing in my life… that’s not awesome? I used to think ‘I’ve gotta do something better…’ How are you going to be better than playing a great character like that on a great show for so many years? Just to be lucky enough to be on a great show and be good in something is amazing. I honestly like that that’s how I’ll be remembered. That’s the best thing ever.”
At one point, Katie Sackhoff brings up the notion that many have named Michael as their favorite Lex Luthor — while Michael himself lists Gene Hackman as his favorite, the topic did also cover how even new DC Studios head (and personal friend to Michael) James Gunn has said that he was his favorite Lex Luthor. “It’s cool to see your peers and people you respect and admire, and your friends say that,” Michael says.
Michael isn’t Lex in the new Superman: Legacy film – that will be Nicholas Hoult – but Michael describes director James Gunn as “brilliant.” “I hope it’s brilliant,” he says about the movie, too. But no – it’s a different direction, and his friendship with Gunn doesn’t mean he would be guaranteed a part like that.
“That’s a thing that people think about this industry. They think you’re gonna meet someone and become friends with them, and they’re just gonna put you in everything. That does not happen. I’m here to say that that does not happen. It doesn’t mean that they’re not thinking of you; just [that] they have a vision for their projects, and sometimes it just doesn’t fit in their mind,” he says. (Gunn did use Michael in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, however, where he played Martinex.)
The entire podcast is a good listen; you can check it out embedded below.
On a recent episode of Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling’s TalkVille podcast, they had the show’s creator Al Gough as a call-in guest, and among the topics discussed was the Smallville animated project that they’ve been trying to get off the ground. Unfortunately, Gough brought up the reality that especially with regime changes at the studio, it may be a while.
“Regime change” refers to changes in leadership at the studio or network. As an example, the regime changed massively when Smallville moved from The WB (who had executives that loved them) to The CW (where Dawn Ostroff was more interested in “pretty rich white girls with problems” shows and kept trying to kill Smallville).
“The problem with most projects in development in any studio and any network is regime change, and Warners has obviously gone through a lot, and I think the fact that they’re in the process of rebooting Superman again, unfortunately, I think, keeps our thing off the table for a bit,” Gough said in discussion with the actors. He pointed out that everything comes around in one form or another, pointing to Hulu’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer revival as such a thing.
So, don’t give up hope… but for now, it seems it’s not happening anytime soon, if at all.
John Schneider is the latest actor to be added to the guest list for Creation Entertainment’s second “Salute To Smallville” convention, happening September 13-14 in Chicago. Schneider portrayed Clark’s human father Jonathan Kent from Seasons 1-5 and returned for several episodes in the show’s final season.
Schneider will be joining Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, Kristin Kreuk, Erica Durance, John Glover, Aaron Ashmore, Adrianne Palicki, and Alaina Huffman at this year’s event! Last year’s convention was a fantastic experience and it’s well worth checking out! You can read more about Salute to Smallville and purchase tickets here.
DISCLAIMER: KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne has created web graphics and websites for Creation Entertainment in addition to hosting their 2024 Salute to Smallville event.
Basically, it was the notion that she never was able to share scenes with Christopher Reeve. While the plan originally was for a scene between them in the Season 4 premiere “Crusade,” in the two appearances that Reeve did make on Smallville failed to reunite O’Toole with Reeve, which is a shame, as Annette played Lana Lang to Christopher Reeve’s Clark Kent in the film Superman III.
“I never understood it,” she said. “I should have picked up the phone and called the producers and said what are you thinking? You’ve got the prior Lana Lang and Superman. Why aren’t you putting them in a scene together? It kind of broke my heart. It was kind of like ‘if they don’t see, I’m not gonna tell ’em! They don’t understand!’ So who’s regretting it? Not them. I knew it would be the last time I’d ever get to see Chris, so, yeah, I’m very sad about that.”
QuntBizkit
February 6, 2024 at 5:14 pm
Peter Roth strikes me as a grade A tool