#Smallville20: KryptonSite Talks Smallville with Annette O’Toole

Superman would not be Superman without the loving influence of his adoptive Earth-born parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent, and Smallville would not have been Smallville without the guidance of the actors who played Clark’s parents. Cast as Martha Kent in Smallville was veteran actress Annette O’Toole, who has had a long and diverse career that thrives to this day. Fans of Superman knew her already, of course, as she played Lana Lang in Superman III, which added to the excitement of her casting.

Annette was a series regular for the first six seasons of Smallville and she returned as a guest star in Seasons 9 and 10. Showing a bit of bias as the author of this interview (hi – it’s me Craig!), it was a pleasure to catch up with Annette for our first interview in nearly 15 years as we celebrate the 20th anniversary of Smallville’s premiere. Yes, the anniversary has passed but this month we still have more to come! You can find our other interviews here. In this interview, we go from the early days of the series to the “Finale” and beyond, as Annette is currently starring in Virgin River on Netflix. Big thanks to Annette for participating in this… you can read the interview below.

KRYPTONSITE’s CRAIG BYRNE: You joined Smallville after the pilot was originally shot. At what point were you first approached to be in the series?

ANNETTE O’TOOLE: I was doing a series called The Huntress on USA, and we had been shooting for 11 months straight, but then we got another new Head of Programming over at USA Studios and they canceled the show, so I was suddenly free.

I had never heard anything about Smallville, but right away, my agent called and said “Al Gough and Miles Millar want to see you. They’d love to talk to you about coming on to Smallville. They’ve got the pilot and everything.” I can’t remember the order of things. I think that at first, I said “I had just come off this series, I’m exhausted.” I knew they were going to shoot in Vancouver. I said, “I’m really not interested.” My kids were young teens, and Michael and I had only been married for like a year and a half, and so I just didn’t think it was going to work out. But, I said “I love the whole Superman canon. I’m such a Superman freak. Send me the pilot and the script,” which they did. And I absolutely loved it. I loved the whole idea of making everybody younger. I thought Tom [Welling] was phenomenal. I loved everybody in the show.

The only person they wanted to replace was Martha Kent, who was an actress named Cynthia Ettinger. I thought she was great in the pilot. I never got a real answer about why [she was replaced]… I think maybe she was too young. So anyway, I had an advantage that other people hadn’t, to see the whole thing put together, and how it was going to be. It wasn’t a leap of faith for me. I just knew what it was going to be, and I was just blown away by it. So I thought “well, here I am. I’m doomed to have to do it.” And I loved David Nutter, the director. I thought he was such a good director, and I wanted to work with him. I don’t know exactly when that was – you probably know all the dates. Once they started shooting, they had to reshoot everything they had done with Martha Kent in the pilot.

Did David Nutter direct the reshoots?

Yes. He did.

Were you on set when 9/11 happened?

I had flown up September 10. We were doing second unit on the football episode that Greg Beeman directed (“Hothead”). Dan Lauria was the guest star, as the coach, with Clark playing football. We were supposed to do the reaction shots of the Kents in the stands. So I had flown up the night before, and of course woke up to the horror show. I was on “will notify” because they didn’t know when to get me. They finally called and said “get to the set on whatever time you’re being picked up.” So I got there – waited and waited, watched as the sun went down, and checked in with everybody. Tom was there. Jamie – his soon-to-be-wife was there. Of course, they had friends in New York. We all did. We all checked to see “is everybody okay?” And then the PA came to my room and said “Annette, we’re not going to get to you. Sorry,” and I just burst into tears. I had been holding it together all day because I was so upset.

I checked with the production, and they said they weren’t going to be needing me; they weren’t going to get to that again, so I rented a car and drove home, because you couldn’t get a flight. I think I waited until the weekend just to see what was happening and what they were going to shoot. So I drove home. I had gotten permission from the Unit Production Manager to go. He said “yeah, we won’t get to you for over a week.” So I drove home, and the second I got home they called me and said “we want you back.” It was so confusing — one person hadn’t told the other person. I went to bed, slept that night, and turned around and drove back [to Vancouver] with Michael [McKean, Annette’s husband]. And that’s when we started writing some music. That’s when we wrote “Potatoes in the Paddy Wagon” for A Mighty Wind. It was on that trip. It was nice to have Michael with me, at least to go back.

Was the 2001 Television Critics Association Press Tour the first time you met the rest of the cast?

Yes.

What do you remember about that day?

What I remember most was just meeting everybody, how young everybody seemed, and how sweet they all were. John Schneider and I did some interviews together, and right away we hit it off. As the Kents, they had us do double duty. It wasn’t so much individual, as it was together. Those went really well and I really liked him. I thought “okay, this is going to be fine.” I remember Lauren Graham was there, from Gilmore Girls, and I remember her saying me “oh! You’re wonderful! I love you!” And I said “oh, great!” I didn’t know her – I hadn’t seen the show… I mean, I knew who she was, but I hadn’t seen her work. So I’m now returning the compliment to Lauren. I have seen her work, and she is wonderful!

It was a beautiful day. I remember the blouse I wore, which I still have!

For the series in general, do you have any favorite moments or memories, looking back?

Things that stand out… I have said before that I really enjoyed dancing to the Ashlee Simpson song (in “Spirit”) when Martha Kent was being possessed. That was fun. Anything I got to do that was really different and weird.

And I remember when Rutger Hauer was there, being the bad guy [“Morgan Edge”] and terrorizing us all. I remember when he was in the barn with all this dried straw and hay everywhere, and he was smoking inside the barn! Because he was Rutger Hauer, they were afraid. He was a little off-putting and scary, so people weren’t saying anything to him! Christine O’Connor who was our wonderful hair stylist who has since passed away – she was from New Zealand – was a smoker too, and I think she was mostly mad because she couldn’t smoke in the barn! She said [with an accent] “You cannot do that! Go outside!” Things like that…

We loved our on-set costumer, Steve Oben. He was such a friend to all of us. He was so smart and funny, and still is, of course. He’s on a show right now in Calgary, so he’s not in town. I’d love to see him.

What I also remember really vividly was my last day on Smallville as a regular. I had finished the six years. Tom had become – he felt like my son. He was just so sweet. We didn’t spend a ton of time on our own together. He was so busy, and I was in and town, but it worked. He was always interested in my family, and what I was doing, and how I was, as a person. And when he directed, that was a different relationship. We just got closer. He knew how hard it had been for me, just flying back and forth all that time, but when I finished, I was in tears, kind of unexpectedly. I was really, really sad. It was very late at night, and they still had stuff to do, but I wrapped, and they said “that’s a series wrap on Annette O’Toole!”

Everybody was very sweet. Tom hugged me, and in my ear he said “You did it. You’re done. You’re free.” And I was like “oh, God!” It’s like, I wanted to be free… I had wanted to move on, just because I was a little frustrated because I wasn’t being used very much, and he understood that. That was also very, very sad, because you become a family with people, and I was sad, even though I got to come back and forth a bit because of them hiring me as a guest star in some later episodes, so it wasn’t goodbye for good.

And I also remember when [my husband] Michael was there, playing Perry White. That was really fun, to have him be part of the world, too.

Well, on that note, when we talked for the Season 6 companion book, you seem to be pretty adamant that you didn’t want to come back, and then you did come back for Season 9 and then later in Season 10. What convinced you to come bac,k or did you just find that you missed it?

They really wanted me to. I thought it was nice to wrap things up. They were really interested in making the character more present, and I did miss the people.

I don’t think any of us ever realized it was going to go on so long and be so beloved, and in New York, especially when I would be there on the subway, going to work and going to the theater, so many people would recognize me, and put their arms around me… in the olden days, when people could touch one another. They would hug me and they liked my character, but it was the show. Some people would say to me, “you know, I don’t do anything else with my family, but we sit down and watch Smallville together.” I was so moved by that – to be a part of something that is good in the world, in a weird way that you never expect. It’s wonderful, and so I guess I wanted a little bit of that back; to feel like I was helping people.

Were you surprised that they even managed to fit Jonathan Kent into the series finale?

Yeah, I thought it wad sweet, but odd. I remember they had written that I could see him, suddenly, and talk to him. I was just, like, speaking to him like he was in the room with me. I mean, he was in the room – John Schneider was – but I said “wait a minute.” I said, “she’s not crazy. Why hasn’t she been seeing him the whole time? If she could see him, what was the point in all this grief about his death, if she could just talk to him? Why can’t we just play it as if Clark sees him, but I can’t see him?” I said “It gives you the same thing. We’re all together as a family, and he can be hugging us, but I just don’t know it.” I think that’s how we did it.

Is there anyone that you wish you had gotten to work with more on the series?

Christopher Reeve. I was so disappointed… I heard he was going to come on the show, and I thought “okay, when do I leave for New York?” They never even talked to me about it, and I was personally disappointed, because I knew that was probably the only way I was ever going to see Chris again. I thought “what a missed opportunity. You’ve got your movie Lana Lang and your movie Superman and you don’t put them together?” I couldn’t believe it! It was a time when I was just kind of like “I don’t get what what they’re doing.” I was so jealous of John Glover, because he did get to go (for “Legacy.”)

I believe there was going to be a Dr. Swann and Martha scene written for “Crusade,” but since he was unavailable, they brought in Margot Kidder instead.

It was wonderful to have Margot there. I have a lovely picture of the two of us together that we took. She was so sweet.

I know you’re still in touch with John Glover, but do you still see or keep in touch with any other Smallville folks? Aside from your husband, of course.

Right now on Virgin River, there is a Steadicam operator that was a camera assistant just coming up on Smallville. I think he started in the second season. I talked to Steve [Oben] a little bit on his birthday, which is 10 days from my birthday. I saw Tom in Austin, Texas. I was getting a Hall of Fame Award from the Texas Film Society, because I was born in Texas.

Rosenbaum wanted me to come do his podcast, and I wrote back and said “sure,” and then the pandemic hit and everything was kind of closed down. I’ll probably do it eventually. There’s a lot going on right now.

I know you are very busy, but would you ever be interested in doing conventions with your other Smallville castmates?

No. It’s not for me. It’s not what I feel comfortable doing. It’s not that I don’t love the fans – I do, and I’m so appreciative to them for their love of the show, but it’s just not my thing.

Can you talk about your current role in the Netflix series Virgin River?

It’s so weird, because I’m staying in the exact same place that I always stayed for Smallville, all those years ago. It’s the same view, the same apartment set-up. I feel like it’s 20 years ago. Some of the restaurants that John Glover and I used to go to together have closed, and some stores come and go, but it’s basically the same.

It’s comforting to be to be back here in Vancouver. I love Vancouver. It’s a wonderful city, and there’s so much to do.

With Virgin River, we started doing it in 2018. I always knew it would do well for Netflix, but it has become this monster hit – like a global phenomenon, everybody watches it, and everybody’s interested in it. Even with my mask on, I get recognized quite a bit from it. It’s funny, because it used to be Smallville.

[My character “Hope”] is the mayor of this town called Virgin River, which is supposed to be in Northern California near Eureka. Of course, we’re up in Vancouver, and the scenery is a big, big part of it. It’s so gorgeous.

I’m married to the to the doctor of the town – Tim Matheson’s character – and we’ve had a very rocky relationship. I brought in this young woman who is a midwife and nurse practitioner to help him in his practice, even though I didn’t tell him about it. So they get off on the wrong foot, because he feels like he doesn’t need her, he doesn’t want her, he’s doing fine… and then of course, everything starts to iron out, and she becomes a big part of the community, and she falls in love with this guy who’s the owner of the local bar and restaurant. He’s a war veteran and he’s got PTSD, and he’s dealing with that, but he has all these friends who come and either cause trouble or help him. There’s a lot going on in the community.

There’s a core group, and we kind of run the town, so it’s really fun. There are a lot of different relationships going on. In Season 3, it was difficult, because I couldn’t come up to Vancouver because of the pandemic. I was not able to be here in Vancouver, so I did a couple of episodes that my younger daughter, Anna, shot on her iPhone. It was nice, because they kept me in the show. I really appreciated that, and Netflix was very understanding. It was not so much because of the fear of the virus, although that was very scary… it was being separated from my family for almost six months without being able to see them. My mother just turned 96, and I just couldn’t be away from my family for that long. There was no vaccine then. It just seemed foolhardy, and not something I could do, so I was very appreciative that they kept me somehow in the show as best they could.

Is Anna the daughter that appeared in an episode of Smallville?

Yes! The redhead. She was a cheerleader in the cheerleading episode (“Devoted”).

Did you always know that Smallville would be something that we’d still be talking about 20 years later?

Absolutely not. I thought if we get five seasons, that will be a miracle. When you start something, you have no idea. You hope for the best. Most series don’t go past a certain year or two-year time frame. Every year we got picked up, I was just like “wow, I can’t believe this! This is amazing!” I was very happy, but most of us were surprised about it, and very glad for the employment.

Can you talk about your friendship with John Glover?

I adore John Glover. We had both been directed by Jack Bender in different projects, and we had both been invited to the same party. He was there with his now-husband Adam, and I was there with Michael. We saw John and talked to him, and he was so awesome and wonderful. Then once we started doing Smallville, he and I would often happen to be on the same plane before our storylines in the show even converged, and we started to be really good friends, and it’s a really nice friends hip that has remained. We’ve gone to their house so much – in fact, the last people we had over to dinner before the pandemic became insane were John and Adam. They were our last guest, and maybe they’ll be our first guests when I get back after all this work! They have a place in New York, and we do too, and so we see each other in New York as well, I just adore both of them, and we are very, very happy for their friendship.

Do you have any final words for the fans who will be reading this?

I’m so thrilled that they have taken this show you into their lives and carried it with them, and that it means so much to them. That I’m part of that is very moving to me I just. Any time anybody brings up Smallville and it means something to them and their families, especially, I’m just so happy to have been a part of that.

I’ve had a very long career. I’ve been very very lucky, and most things you do, people don’t respond to like that, but to be a part of something that’s big and important in people’s lives, is a big accomplishment for me, that they feel that way.

Our thanks, again, to Annette O’Toole for taking the time to participate in this interview. Come back tomorrow for more #Smallville20 content, including someone very close to Annette’s real life…