Smallville is an American television series developed by writer/producers Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, and was initially broadcast by The WB. After its fifth season, The WB and UPN merged to form The CW, which was the second broadcaster for the show in the United States. The series features a regular cast of characters, which began with eight main characters in its first season. Since then, characters from that first season have left the series, with new main characters having been both written in and out of the series. In addition, Smallville features guest stars each week, as well as recurring guests that take part in mini story arcs that span a portion of a season. Occasionally, the recurring guest storylines will span multiple seasons.
The plot follows a young Clark Kent, in the fictional town of Smallville, Kansas, as he journeys toward becoming Superman. Additionally, the series chronicles Lex Luthor's path to the dark side, and his metamorphosis from Clark's best friend to greatest enemy. Smallville depicts the relationship between Clark and his first love interest, Lana Lang, as well as his relationship with Lois Lane, the woman he ultimately marries in the comic books. The series also features recurring appearances from other DC Universe characters, such as Arthur Curry and John Jones.
With five months devoted to casting for the pilot, Gough and Miller cast ultimately hired eight actors to take on the role of series regulars for the first season. Since then, only two characters from the first season have remained regulars through to the tenth season, with eight new actors taking on lead roles from seasons two through nine. Four of those new actors began as recurring guests in their first seasonal appearance, but were given top billing the following season. As the series progresses, recurring guests appear at various times to help move the overall storyline of the show or just provide a side-story arc for one of the main characters, such as Brainiac or Adam Knight. Other recurring guests appear as background characters, showing up for only a few scenes, which includes characters like Sheriff Nancy Adams or Dr. Virgil Swann.
Main characters
According to co-creator Miles Millar, "unlike most shows, which pick up in January and you've got four weeks [...] to do your casting", Millar and co-creator Al Gough had five months to cast their lead characters. In October 2000, the two producers began their search for the three lead roles, and had casting directors in ten different cities. The following is a list of all the characters that are, or at one time were, a main character in the show. During its first season, Smallville had eight regular characters. Six characters from the original cast left the show, with eight new characters coming in over the course of nine seasons.
The following is a list of series regulars who appear in one or more of the series' ten seasons. The characters are listed in the order they were first credited in the series.
= Main cast (credited)
= Recurring cast (4+)
= Guest cast (1–3)
Clark Kent
Portrayed by Tom Welling, Clark Kent is an alien being from a planet called Krypton with superhuman abilities, which he uses to help others in danger. Clark is adopted by Jonathan and Martha Kent in the series pilot, when he crash lands to Earth as a three-year-old child. Twelve years later, he tries to find his place in life after being told he is an alien by his adoptive father. For most of the series, Clark spends his time running from his Kryptonian heritage, going as far as leaving Smallville, abandoning a quest his biological father Jor-El sends him on in search of three Kryptonian stones of knowledge, continuing his training at the Fortress of Solitude, and unwittingly unleashing a Kryptonian criminal from the Phantom Zone when he refuses to kill Lex.
Lana Lang
Portrayed by Kristin Kreuk, Lana Lang is one of Clark Kent's friends and on-again-off-again girlfriend. In the first season, Lana and Clark's friendship is just beginning, as she is dating Whitney Fordman during this time. After Whitney leaves for the Marines in the season one finale, Lana and Clark slowly begin to try to start a romantic relationship. In season seven, Lana leaves Smallville, leaving behind a DVD explaining to Clark that, even though she loves him, the only way for him to help the world to the best of his ability would be if she left him and Smallville for good.
Lex Luthor
Michael Rosenbaum portrays Lex Luthor, the son of billionaire Lionel Luthor, who is sent to Smallville to run the local fertilizer plant. After Clark saves his life in the pilot episode, the two become quick friends. Over the course of seven seasons—beginning on the day Clark rescues him from drowning—Lex tries to uncover the secrets that Clark keeps. Lex's curiosity eventually leads to a blowout between him and Clark in the season three finale. Lex's investigations ultimately lead to him discovering the truth about Clark's alien heritage in the season seven finale.
Whitney Fordman
Eric Johnson appears as Whitney Fordman, Lana's boyfriend, in season one. While initially friendly to Clark, he soon makes fun of Clark and Lana's budding friendship, going so far as to bully Clark in the series pilot. Whitney is forced to run the family business when his father is stricken with a heart disease in the episode "Shimmer". He ultimately loses his football scholarship, and in the episode "Kinetic" he starts ignoring Lana, and begins hanging around with past high school football stars, who recruit him for their illegal endeavors. He eventually reconciles with Clark and Lana before joining the Marines in the season one finale and leaving the show. Whitney has made a guest appearance in the season two episode "Visage", where it is revealed he died in combat overseas, and the season four episode "Façade", during a flashback of Clark's freshman year.
Eric Johnson auditioned for the roles of Lex and Clark, before finally being cast as Whitney Fordman. When the producers called him in for a third audition, Johnson informed them that if they wanted him then they would bring him in for a screen-test. After the screen-test, Johnson was cast and spent only one day filming his scenes for the pilot. The producers, along with Johnson, wanted to portray Whitney as more than just the "stereotypical jock" that he could have easily become, in an effort to make sure Lana did not look stupid for going out with him. Whitney was given multiple storylines in season one in an effort to get audiences to view the character in a more pleasant light, but Kristin Kreuk felt that it was all for naught, as the audience only sees him through Clark's eyes.
Johnson realized after reading the script for the pilot episode that his character was not going to be around for the entirety of the series. This became even clearer when his character's storylines began to develop quickly. While filming "Obscura", Johnson was informed that his character would not be returning as a series regular for season two. Initially fearing that he had made some mistake and that they were going to kill his character off, Johnson learned that Whitney would be enlisting into the Marines. The actor has expressed his pleasure in the way the writers handled Whitney's departure, by giving the character the exit of a hero.
Pete Ross
Sam Jones III plays Pete Ross, another of Clark's best friends. He hates the Luthors for what he sees as their thievery of his family's creamed corn business, and is the first person Clark voluntarily informs of his secret. It is established in season three's "Truth", that Pete is in love with Chloe. He kept this truth to himself because of the Clark–Lana–Chloe love triangle already taking place. In season three's "Velocity", Pete, feeling alienated by Clark, begins hanging around a group of street racers. When Pete refuses to throw a race, his life is put in jeopardy, and he forces Clark to abuse his…