SMALLVILLE CHARACTER: Clark Kent

• Birth Name: Thomas John Patrick Welling
• Date of Birth: April 26, 1977, Putnam Valley, NY
• Height: 6′ 3″
• Spouse: Jamie White (July 5, 2002 – Present)

Tom Welling was born on April 26, 1977 in Putnam Valley, New York. He comes from a family of six members – his father, a retired executive for General Motors, his mother, two older sisters, and a younger brother, Mark Welling, who is also an actor.

According to Tom’s IMDb page, he graduated from Okemos High School in Michigan when he was 18-years old. Although Tom received fair grades in high school, he did not want to go to college. He worked at construction sites after graduating and basically just hung out.

In an interview with Rolling Stone Magazine in 2002, Tom said that he and ten pals hopped on a plane and flew to Nantucket for a vacation one spring day in 1998. While at a bar, a scout for Abercrombie & Fitch approached Tom:

“I learned they worked for photographer, Bruce Weber, who is huge, so I thought, ‘OK, maybe you need to take this more serious’. So I went home for a a week, then went right to Lake George, New York, to the  shoot, made a couple thousand dollars, and then moved to Manhattan and became a model.”

~Tom Welling, Rolling Stone Magazine, 2002

Tom modeled in New York and Europe for the next 2-years and decided to try his hand at acting.

“The hardest time was when I made the difficult decision of moving from New York to LA, to give acting a go. I spent nine months out here going to auditions, getting good feedback, but not getting a job. As time went on, money started to get more and more tight. I started to wonder if this was really what I wanted to do. That’s when I got the role on “Judging Amy,” almost by default, because the guy they had chosen couldn’t get someone to watch his kids that day. They had remembered me, called me in, and re-wrote it. Instead of being a guy who is a year old than Amy’s character, they wrote it as 10 years younger. It turned out to be a really good relationship. I was signed for three episodes and after the three aired, the viewers wrote fan letters and it influenced the show. They called me up and said, “Look, we’re really getting a great response. We’d love you to come back for three more.” That was great. I remember doing the last episode of “Judging Amy” and talking to Amy about this TV show, which was “Smallville.” I had no idea it would turn into this.”

~Tom Welling, About.com, 2003

Tom was chosen as Clark Kent in Smallville after a nationwide search in 2001. In an interview with a teen magazine, Tom spoke about the day he auditioned for the role:

“I was on my way back from the Warner Bros. studio, and I stopped in a gas station to call my manager and tell him how it went. I called and got him on the phone and he said, ‘Can you hold on a second?’ Next thing I know, there are literally seven people on the other line and almost in unison they say, ‘Tom, you got it!’”

The pilot aired in October 2001, and became the highest-rated debut for The WB, with 8.4 million viewers. Tom told TV Guide that he turned down the lead role twice, but after reading the script, decided to take the job.

Tom has also appeared in three films – “Cheaper by the Dozen” (2003), “Cheaper By The Dozen 2” (2005), and “The Fog” (2005).

In addition to acting, Tom has directed several episodes of “Smallville”, and is an executive producer on both “Smallville” and the cheerleading drama, “Hellcats”.

Tom married Jamie White on July 5th, 2002 in Martha’s Vineyard with past Smallville co-stars Kristin Kreuk and Michael Rosenbaum in attendance. Tom is currently living with his wife in Los Angeles although he relocates to Vancouver while filming Smallville and Hellcats.

Movie & Television Credits:

• “Smallville” as Clark Kent (2001-2011)
• “Cheaper by the Dozen 2” as Charlie Baker (2005)
• “The Fog” as Nick Castle (2005)
• “Cheaper by the Dozen” as Charlie Baker (2003)
• “Undeclared“ (Tom) (TV Series) (1 episode “Prototype”, 2001)
• “Special Unit 2” as Male Victim (TV Series) (1 episode, “The Depths”, 2001)
• “Judging Amy” as Rob Meltzer (6 episodes listed below, 2001)
  –  “The Undertow” (9 January 2001) – Rob Meltzer
  –  “Adoption Day” (16 January 2001) – Rob Meltzer
  –  “The Claw Is Our Master” (30 January 2001) – Rob Meltzer
  –  “The Treachery of Compromise” (27 February 2001) – Rob Meltzer
  –  “Everybody Falls Down” (20 March 2001) – Rob Meltzer
  –  “Between the Wanting and the Getting” (1 May 2001) – Rob Meltzer

Co-Executive Producer
Smallville (co-executive producer, season 9) 21 episodes, 2009-2010

Executive Producer
Smallville (executive producer, season 10) 22 episodes, 2010-2011

Executive Producer
Hellcats (executive producer) 14 episodes, 2010-2011

Director:
Smallville (7 episodes, 2006-2011)

• Booster (2011)
• Patriot (2010)
• Absolute Justice – part 2 (2010)
• Injustice (2009)
• Apocalypse (2008)
• Hydro (2007)
• Fragile (2006)

Awards:

Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy & Horror Films, USA

• 2002, Nominated for Saturn Award: Best Actor in a Television Series for Smallville
• 2003, Nominated for Saturn Award: Best Actor in a Television Series for Smallville
• 2004, Nominated for Saturn Award: Best Actor in a Television Series for Smallville
• 2005, Nominated for Saturn Award: Best Actor on Television for Smallville
• 2006, Nominated for Saturn Award: Best Actor on Television for Smallville

Teen Choice Awards

• 2002, Nominated for Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actor, Drama for Smallville
• 2002, Won for Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Breakout Star, Male for Smallville
• 2003, Nominated for Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actor – Drama/Action Adventure for Smallville
• 2004, Nominated for Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actor – Drama/Action Adventure for Smallville
• 2004, Nominated for Teen Choice Award: Choice Breakout Movie Star, Male for Cheaper by the Dozen
• 2005, Nominated for Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actor: Drama for Smallville
• 2006, Nominated for Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Chemistry for Smallville – Shared with Kristin Kreuk
• 2006, Nominated for Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actor: Drama/Action Adventure for Smallville
• 2008, Nominated for Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actor: Action Adventure for Smallville
• 2009, Won for Teen Choice Award: Choice TV Actor: Action Adventure for Smallville

Tom Welling Fast Facts:

• Was a construction worker and an Abercrombie & Fitch model.
• Graduated in 1995 from Okemos High School in Okemos, Michigan.
• Turned down two auditions for the role of Clark Kent on Smallville before finally accepting it.
• Comes from a family of six members which comprise of his father, a retired executive for General Motors, his mother, a “home engineer”, a younger brother named Mark Welling, who is also an actor, and two older sisters.
• Like Christopher Reeve, was not a big Superman fan prior to being cast as Clark Kent, and in fact continues not to read Superman comics.
• Is part Native American.
• Was on Stephenie Meyer’s wish list to play Emmett Cullen before casting even began for the movie Twilight.
• Modeled alongside Ashton Kutcher. The two are good friends.
• Tom Welling was named one of People Magazine’s Breakthrough Stars of 2001.
• Favorite movie:”Mutiny on the Bounty” (1935).

SOURCE: IMDb, Smallville Wikia, Wikipedia, Rolling Stone Magazine (Issue #892)