10 Years After Smallville, Tom Welling Still Won't Wear Red & Blue
It's been over a decade since Smallville ended, but the show's lead actor, Tom Welling, still isn't ready to don the iconic red and blue colors that defined his character, Clark Kent/Superman, for so long.
During a recent episode of the Talkville podcast (a must-watch for any Smallville fan), Welling and his co-star Michael Rosenbaum discussed the iconic "Vortex" episode, which, interestingly, marked the first appearance of Clark's red jacket and blue shirt outfit.
When asked about how many of those jackets he had to wear during the show's 10-year run, Welling joked,
"Oh, dude. At some point in second season, I remember going to see Steve in the makeup trailer about something and it was like… I'm gonna say 50? It might have been 30, but just, they were all lined up there, it took up half the wardrobe trailer!"
Rosenbaum then asked if Welling had kept any of the jackets as a memento, to which Welling replied,
"I wasn't thinking that way then. I mean, to this day when I work on another project and you know, there's always that introductory conversation you have with the wardrobe […] and I'm like, I don't… I would prefer not to wear red or blue. And they're like, what do you mean? I'm like, I'd prefer that. I don't like it. I don't like it anymore."
It's clear that Welling has a complicated relationship with the colors that defined his character for 10 years. While he clearly has fond memories of his time on Smallville, it seems he's more than ready to move on and leave the red and blue behind.
As he put it, "If I were to show up to do The Winchesters and they had a red jacket for me, I'd be like, is this a joke?"
Despite this, it's clear that Welling has nothing but love for his time on Smallville and the character he portrayed for a decade. It's just the colors he could do without. But hey, can you blame him? After all, wearing those colors for 10 years straight, going through grueling filming experience for 10 years straight, being defined by one role for 10 years straight?... Yeah, anybody would want to move on at this point, and fans do appreciate all the work Welling has done since Smallville.
Right now you can see Tom on two of The CW's newest series: The Winchesters and Professionals, going head to head with Brendan Fraser, no less.