. Q. What can you tell us is new this season on "Smallville" and about your character Cameron/Icicle?
A. This year it seems the writers are trying to pull a lot from the classic DC comic stuff. I did a little digging when I got cast as this guy on the history behind him and what gave him his motivation. His father back in the Golden Age comics of DC was a hit man named Icicle and he used this crazy ice gun; he was a bad guy. Somewhere along the way the Justice Society of America caught up with him and beat the hell out of him and threw him off a building and put him into a coma when my character Cameron was very young. Basically, I was kind of orphaned from that, my mother had died in childbirth. Because of my father using the cold gun so much, it modified his DNA, so when I was born I had ice powers and that caused my mother to die. My father went into a coma and I turned into not a very nice chap who basically was swearing vengeance against the folks who screwed my father up and essentially ruined my life.
Q. What made you want to be a part of the show?
A. That show has been on since I was back in grade seven or eight. I had a couple of opportunities to audition for it earlier and I think I got really lucky with the role I got. Probably the coolest thing about the part is with the nature of the episode. It started off with a single episode, they were trying to bring in a bunch of guest stars in to talk about the Justice Society of America with this new supervillain. Basically, the first day that I got to set, they started saying that the story was too big and they were going to split it into two episodes. Then they decide not to put it into two episodes, but to turn it into a two hour TV movie event. What got me interested is that it kept growing and everyone on set was really excited to be working on it. It was just a slew of guest stars that they brought on so it was just a whole lot of people to be working with.
Q. Is there anything that you found challenging about the role?
A. I legitimately by the end of it felt for the character. He had a bad life, he's been an orphan his whole life, I don't think he made many friends. When I started looking at the script I know everyone who is going to be watching will still be cheering for the good guys, because despite the back story that they've given Cameron, he's still out there murdering people left, right, and center and he doesn't come off very nice. That was tough at times, but it's the fun of playing a villain, you get to be bad.
Q. How do you think the cast has been able to keep up such great chemistry together?
A. Every guest star on the show says they're just a well oiled machine, and I have to say, they are! It's a really laid back environment there. I know Tom Welling and Allison Mack have been there from the start, and I think they're the only cast members who have been there all the way through the nine seasons. Maybe it's helped that they have brought in different people over time and changed the way the show is played. Really the chemistry, it's not like they're just turning it on on set, I found that everyone was quite nice to each other when the cameras stopped rolling. Sometimes you get people who disappear to their trailers right away, but I found that people hung around and talked, and I think that really shines through on set. To have good on screen chemistry it's great to have off set chemistry.
Q. Why do you think viewers continue to tune in and watch the show?
A. I was a fan of it when it was the first season, and I didn't watch any of the middle seasons, but I have watched some of the later stuff so I can kind of give an idea of the evolution. I think they've changed the show quite a lot, personally I think it's quite a lot better now, it's less of a high school show. I think that's why they've managed to keep their fans. It started off as one show and they've managed to keep it fresh by advancing what the characters are doing with their lives. Clark Kent, Superman, he's gotten older, he's not in Smallville anymore, he's a reporter in Metropolis. They've brought in a variety of new cast members, they've brought in Lois Lane, and they've brought in Justin Hartley as Green Arrow and I think he's a great addition. They keep on adding new pieces to the puzzle, and by doing that, they brought on new villains. People are tuning in because they keep taking the show in different directions.