April 2004

Life is good for Smallville bad boy Michael Rosenbaum

Lex Luthor needs a good hug.

"He's a good judge of character, and he wants unconditional love like we all do, but he never gets it," says Michael Rosenbaum, who plays the teenager on "Smallville" who will eventually become Superman's worst nightmare.

The popular action drama retells the Superman story from the perspective of a teenage Clark Kent.

Set years before Superman wears a cape and Lex is a maniacal genius, the show focuses on Clark as a teenager grappling with his alien origin and his best friend, Lex, a rich kid trying to do what's right.

"Smallville" (8 p.m. EDT Wednesdays, the WB) has emerged as a solid hit for the WB and is the most popular drama for that network. In its third season, it is also climbing to new heights, with ratings soaring to all-time highs.

The show's first season did so well on DVD last year that another boxed set, containing episodes from the second season, is coming May 18. The six discs include all 23 episodes of that season, a gag reel and deleted scenes.

Playing bad has turned into a good thing for Rosenbaum's career, which was faltering. Now, the devilish Lex is getting Rosenbaum noticed by casting agents and Hollywood's hip set.

"I was at a party and one of my heroes _ Quentin Tarantino _ yells across the room, 'Hey, it's Lex Luthor! I love your show!' It's awesome," he says.

He admits he didn't realize the teen drama would give him such a huge profile until he saw the first episode on the screen.

"When I saw it, I had tears in my eyes. I said to myself: 'This is it.' I called my family and told them, 'This is it.' They had never heard me say that before about anything else."

Among the reasons for the show's success these days, Rosenbaum says, are its ties to the comic book's mythology.

In the April 14 episode, Christopher Reeve, the definitive Superman from the movies of the 1970s and 1980s, reprises his role as a scientist who knows Clark's secrets.

Part of the mythology also serves as a foreshadowing of "Smallville" characters. Rosenbaum says most of the TV audience doesn't want to see Lex go bad, though they know eventually he will.

"He wants to do the right thing," he says, "but sometimes in life you don't do the right thing and you regret it. But that's human, and you move on. We all do that.

"I'm a good judge of character ... I think that's what Lex is. He's a good judge of character. ... He sees something in Clark that is genuine likability. That's the endearing part about Clark. I think that's why Lex is drawn to him."

But Rosenbaum admits he likes Lex the best when he's being a manipulator.