Posted in: CW, Max, streaming, TV, YouTube | Tagged: inside of you, lex luthor, michael rosenbaum, smallville, talk ville

Smallville: Michael Rosenbaum on Lex Luthor, Leaving After Season 7

In honor of its 22nd "birthday," Smallville star Michael Rosenbaum discusses playing Lex Luthor, why he left after Season 7, and more.

It was 22 years ago today when the David Nutter-directed, Alfred Gough & Miles Millar-written pilot episode for the Tom Welling (Clark Kent), Kristin Kreuk (Lana Lang) & Michael Rosenbaum (Lex Luthor)-starring Smallville premiered on the WB. Telling the story of Clark Kent's young adult years prior to donning the tights and cape, the show's popularity was grounded on the show's unique take on the Clark/Lex dynamic. In this take on The Man of Steel, Clark & Lex were close friends – and it was that bonding sense of friendship that Welling & Rosenbaum brought to their respective roles that would see the series last for ten seasons across two networks (The WB, The CW) – though Rosenbaum would depart the series after the seventh season. In honor of today being the show's birthday – and because we're huge fans of his for starring in FXX's It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia as well as his Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum podcast – we're taking a look back at some past thoughts that Rosenbaum had regarding playing Lex – included how he channeled "Crazed Lex" in S03E08 "Shattered!" and his reason for departing the series after Season 7. Following that, DC Studios co-head and Superman: Legacy writer & director James Gunn offers Rosenbaum some very high praise indeed…

In a recent clip from the Talk Ville podcast, Rosenbaum discusses what it took to get into the proper mindset to portray a crazed version of Lex Luthor in S03E08 "Shattered!" In the following clip, Rosenbaum explains how his take came about organically by coming to the set with his lines memorized but living the moment when it came to how he would present it – and how being given the creative room to do that was key. What we found particularly interesting was the moment in the clip when Rosenbaum revealed that the network didn't want Lex aiming his gun at Lionel Luthor's (John Glover) face because it was too violent of a look for the show – with Rosenbaum adding that he felt that decision took away from the overall intensity of the scene.

And in this Inside of You clip from May of this year, Rosenbaum makes it clear that he departed the series after the seventh season specifically because of Gough & Millar's departure. From there, the trio discusses the importance of knowing when you've reached your creative limit and need to walk away – as well as the importance of shows looking to last to make sure they keep giving new voices chances to be heard:

Back in June of this year, Gunn checked in with Rosenbaum's podcast to cover a whole ton of topics. At one point, Rosenbaum shifted the "Legacy" conversation to a subject near and dear to his heart – Lex Luthor. Though Rosenbaum said he assumed Lex would be in the film, Gunn made it clear that info never came from him. So from a purely hypothetical standpoint, Rosenbaum asked Gunn that if there is a Lex Luthor, he be "grounded and real" and true to the character's core – an approach Gunn seemed to agree with (referring to Rosenbaum as "definitely the best Lex"). Here's a look at the complete episode

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