With the depature of Lex Luthor, “Smallville” was left looking for a new nemesis for Clark Kent heading into its eighth season. And with the reduced role of Lana Lang in season eight, the show also in search of a new strong female lead to compliment the cast.
Enter Cassidy Freeman as Lex’s protege and the current head of LuthorCorp, Tess Mercer. Since her introduction in last month’s season premiere, we’ve seen Tess be as ruthless as Lex ever was as well as finding out about her past connection to another “Smallville” regular, Oliver Queen (aka Green Arrow).
“Obviously, I know some of what happens that I can’t share, but we know she didn’t start out as evil, based on the flashback episode,” Cassidy told SyFy Portal. “She’s had to fight to get [to] where she is, and that has made her as strong as she is.”
Cassidy said that coming into the series, she wasn’t necessarily a fan of the Man of Steel.
“I was more a fan of fantasy, stuff like ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Lord of the Rings,'” she said. “Those movies, you can just keep coming back to them. Peter Jackson’s work was just amazing. I’ve just recently gotten into the whole sci-fi thing, and it’s amazing.”
However, she did say she was prepared for the role by her two brothers, who are both actors and big comic book fans.
And while the actress knows she has some big shoes to fill on “Smallville” she says she hasn’t had much fan reaction.
“I really haven’t heard much, so I don’t know how people are responding,” Freeman said. “I hope they are responding positively. I am getting fan mail, and that is a good sign. The fans are really amazing. They love their characters and are very committed to their characters. I hope they see me as an original, unique character as opposed to one who took someone else’s place.”
As for the future, Freeman says she hasn’t heard if the series will run beyond its eight season or not. Last week, rumors surfaced that the CW was considered keeping the series around for a ninth season.
“Smallville” airs Thursday nights at 8 p.m. EST on the CW.
