Lois & Clark Forums Forums General Discussion Superman Related I Met Lois Lane from "Smallville" - Erica Durance

On Saturday, I went to Wizard World in Chicago to meet Erica Durance, the actress who had played Lois Lane on “Smallville.” I thought some of you would be curious to hear about my experience, so I thought I’d share it with you.

I paid to have my picture taken with her, and when it came time for me to do it, she immediately grabbed my hand, shook it, and pulled me in close for the picture. She even told me that she really liked my shirt, which I had worn special for the occasion. The picture I took with her is below.



Later on, I stood in line to get an autographed photo from her. You can tell that a lot of people still love her because the line was very long. When it was my turn to get a signed photo, I told her that I think she was the best part of “Smallville.” She responded by saying, “Awwww… that’s so sweet. Thank you.” I then added that Lois was my favorite character on the show, and she said, “Thank you. Thank you for watching.” I told her it was a pleasure, shook her hand, and moved on. A picture of the autographed photo I received is below.



I also got the chance to sit in the audience for her Q and A. I was in the fourth row, so I was up pretty close. I took the time to write out what I could remember of it. Her answers were pretty interesting.

She was asked about her casting audition for the role of Lois Lane, and she said that she was still surprised to this day that she actually landed the role. She didn’t think at the time that she would get it, and she even almost didn’t bother to audition at all since she thought that some L.A. actress would probably end up getting the role. Her husband ended up convincing her to go to the audition.

She was asked what her favorite moment of Clark being a hero was. She said that one scene that came to mind was the scene when Clark was stabbed with the blue kryptonite dagger and fell from the building. She said it was really special because it showed that Clark was willing to make the ultimate sacrifice to save the world.

She was asked what her favorite scene with Tom Welling was. She couldn’t really think of anything specific, but she said that all of their Daily Planet scenes were fun to film.

Somebody wanted to know who her favorite guest to appear on the show was, and she struggled to think of one. She ended up saying that she liked Laura Vandervoort, who played Kara, though she admitted that technically Laura Vandervoort might not count as a guest since she was a series regular for one season.

Somebody wanted to know who her favorite villain was, and she said that people would have to remind her which villains there were that were on the show. After taking a few seconds to think, she mentioned that there was one villain that stuck out to her, but she couldn’t quite remember his name. She said that the guy she was thinking of was called ‘the Toymaker’ or something similar, and a fan shouted out ‘the Toyman’ in correction. Erica then said that she thought the actor who played the character did a great job of making him very creepy.

She mentioned a few of the things she didn’t like about filming “Smallville.” An episode when the villain tried to drown her and one where she was tied up and dangling from the air were among her least favorite scenes to film.

Somebody wanted to know why Lois Lane couldn’t figure out that Clark was Superman, and she said something along the lines of many things on the show not lining up with reality, such as the fact that Lois should have had some sort of brain damage considering the number of times she was knocked out. The moderator added, “Think about it. How many times have you walked right past somebody you know in the supermarket without recognizing them? It happens all the time.”

A fan mentioned that many former Lois Lane actresses have gone on to play Lois Lane’s mother in future adaptations of the character and asked if Erica would be open to playing Lois’ mother one day. Erica responded by saying that she would definitely accept the role of Lois’ mother if it was offered to her.

Also on the subject of former Lois Lane actresses, somebody asked Erica to name which actresses who had played Lois that she had met. She said that she’d met both Margot Kidder and Noel Neil, and she told a story about Margot Kidder coming up behind her at a convention, covering her eyes with her hands, and whispering, “You blew it out of the park.” When asked if she kept in touch with either of them, Erica said, “It would be kind of funny if I said I tried to keep in touch with them and they told me they didn’t want to keep in touch with me, wouldn’t it?” She then added that she hadn’t kept in touch with them, but she hadn’t tried to keep in touch with them, either. Somebody asked her who her favorite Lois Lane was besides herself, and she said, “This is the kind of question that’s going to get me in trouble.” She then diplomatically said that all of them had done a good job, but she chose Margot Kidder as her favorite since she had grown up watching Margot Kidder’s films. Somebody had also asked what she had done to differentiate herself from the other actresses who had played the role, but she couldn’t think of anything specific she had done.

She was asked if she keeps in contact with any member of the cast, and she said that the one she got along with the best and still keeps in contact with would surprise many people since many fans think there was a rivalry between them. That person is the actress who played Lana Lang, Kristin Kreuk.

The last “Smallville” specific question I remember her answering was somebody asking her about the episode when actor Justin Hartley had to be dressed as a showgirl. She said that she thought that it was funny and said that he only had to where a one inch heel, unlike the women on the show who regularly wore three inch heels or higher.

She talked briefly about some of her other roles. She said that her Canadian produced series “Saving Hope” will soon be coming to U.S. television on Ion. She also talked about her guest role on “Charlie’s Angels” and said that she would have likely made more appearances on the show had the series not been cancelled.

The idea of her playing Wonder Woman was brought up, and you could tell by the applause of the audience that most people liked the idea. Erica herself mentioned that she had been in a meeting about playing the part at one point. Somebody asked if she’d ever like to play a part in a Marvel Comics movie, and she said that she would love to do it because she misses her fight scenes as Lois Lane. Finally, somebody asked about her dream role, and she said that she would love to do something involving a historical figure such as Catherine the Great or Catherine of Aragon.

I also met the actress Katie Cassidy from the show “Arrow,” but I made a separate thread for that here.