Yes, it's him again.... with hair! Every time talented actor Michael Rosenbaum has a break from playing shiny-domed Lex Luthor on the popular "Smallville", he heads for feature film territory where he has hair and a better sense of humor. A few years ago, he donned a femme wig and dressed in drag in the comedy Sorority Boys then turned to horror thrillers in Wes Craven's Cursed and the classic thriller Urban Legend.
Michael Rosenbaum
Credit: The CW

It's a pleasure to chat with this friendly actor. Like shootin' the breeze with a buddy. He's always funny and ready to share. This time we talked on the phone about his role as a wacky nemesis for Jamie Kennedy in the new '80's flashback, break dancing comedy Kickin' It Old Skool. We learned how he got the role, the touches he added to the character, fun with the cast off set and his own funny '80's childhood memories. And, oh yeah, we got some scoops about Lex and this sixth season of "Smallville".

TeenHollywood: Are you working? Where are you calling from?

Michael: I just landed. We're shooting the ["Smallville"] finale called "Phantom" in Vancouver and I just landed back in L.A. I have one more day on Monday then off to Paris and coming back for the big Kickin' It Old Skool premiere.

TeenHollywood: Are you friends with Jamie Kennedy? How did you get involved in the film?

Michael: I am friends with Jamie. I've known him for a couple of years but it was kinda weird. I did this movie called Poolhall Junkies and some of the guys in that movie were the producers for Kickin' It Old School. Jamie and I, a friend of ours is Eli Roth who directed Hostel. We went to a screening of his movie. I was alone and stag and Jamie went stag and we turned to each other in the same row and go 'Dude!' We're both like 'Hey, what's going on?'. He's says 'I'm trying to get this movie together. It's called Kickin' It Old Skool. You'd be perfect for a role in there'. I'm like 'send it to me'. He sent it but I don't know what happened. Like a year later, I'm shooting "Smallville" and I get a call from my buddies the producers of Poolhall Junkies and they go 'hey, there's this movie we're doin' called Kickin' It Old Skool and I go 'You know what.. Jamie Kennedy told me about that'. They asked me to do it and I said 'if you guys promise to let me do whatever I want, I'll do it'. They said 'we're gonna improvise the hell out of this one and have fun'. So it took off from there.

TeenHollywood: Tell me about your character Kip. Who is he and how is he involved with the other characters? He was Jamie's rival when they were kids?

Michael: Yeah, he had a rattail. I thought that was essential! When we were twelve we were break dancing and trying to get the girl played by Maria Menounos at twelve and then he tries to do a headspin, slips off the stage and goes into a coma for twenty years. He wakes up at 35 with the mentality of a 12-year-old. I run this dance show called "Get Steppin'" My name's Kip Unger and my little mantra I say is 'I'm Kip Unger just kip, kip, kippin' it real'. [we laugh] Yeah, pretty awesome. He's that d**khead guy of the '80's, you know.

TeenHollywood: Yep, I knew a few of those. Do you do any dancing in the film?

Michael: Yeah, I get to shake my booty a little bit. I get to do what no other break dancer gets to do on this movie. That is 'the Hammer'. Remember 'You Can't Touch This'? [we do]. I do a brief M.C. Hammer and do a little backspin.

TeenHollywood: We can't wait for that! I've seen a funny clip from the film where you are recruiting a guy for the contest and you unzip your jacket and stick your chest out. Really funny. Was that your contribution or was it in the script?

Michael: You can't really script that. I wanted him to not just be a typical nemesis in the movie. I wanted him to have some kind of life where he doesn't know boundaries. He'll do things that he thinks are okay and funny. We've all seen that; the Fraternity jerk who thinks he's being funny and everybody around him is going 'this guy is the biggest a**hole'. I wanted to bring this element where he does things that surprise people but he doesn't know he's doing anything wrong. It's just part of his thing.

TeenHollywood: So, thus the chest out thing.

Michael: Right. When he gets upset, he unzips his coat and shows his chest, almost like 'don't piss me off. Don't make me whip out the pecs. If I whip out the pecs, it's done'. I'd bring my own props to set. They'd be like 'what are you doing'? I'd bring my own little Binaca for a scene. When a guy gets too close to me I just spray Binaca in his mouth. I didn't tell the actor I was gonna do it. It was hysterical. They let you go off on tangents.

TeenHollywood: You had to be a kid in the '80's back in Indiana, right? Was break dancing big where you grew up? Do you have any funny '80's memories you could share? Bad clothes, bad hair, bad dancing?

Michael: Oh yeah. I remember going to my friend Jenny B's house, me and my friend Tom, he's in prison now, my friend Wags.[ooookay. We don't ask him to elaborate on this]. We brought our own cardboard to spin on. Back in the day, that was a cool thing to do. We brokedanced... or we just broke. It was hilarious. Bad hair? I'm lookin' at a picture of me right now with a mullet. I had a LaCoste sweater with a giant "L" on it. It was ridiculous. Zipper pants, break dancing to "Thriller"[Michael Jackson album]. Doing the whole thing.

TeenHollywood: Was this one of those casts that went out after shooting to hang out?

Michael: Oh yeah. On "Smallville" I'm playing this intense, crazy character and I commute back to L.A. Everybody works such long hours that we don't hang out much although Kristen and I have dinner once in a while and Tom and I will go out and hang but on this movie, there's something about doing a comedy that every day is just nothing but laughs. At the end of every day we'd all go to Denny's in Vancouver. I can't get out of Vancouver. Anyway, Bobby Lee from "Mad TV" had this little questionnaire, trivia questions on his phone and he'd sit there and we'd play trivia and eat Denny's grand slam breakfast at like three in the morning. We didn't go out and party. We just hung out like kids. It was great, so supportive. We'd yell out lines to each other like 'Jamie, don't do that, do this' and he'd go 'oh, yeah, yeah'. It was so collaborative, one of the best experiences.

TeenHollywood: You haven't done anything this funny since Sorority Boys [where he dresses as a girl] have you? Do you like to find comedies when on hiatus because it's so different from Lex?

Michael: Yeah. I tell my agents, 'guys, I don't want to do drama'. They go, 'But Michael, you're good at drama'. I go, 'yeah, but I've been doing drama ten months a year for six years! Get me into comedies. Comedy is where I should be'. I've been playing hockey in this Jerry Bruckheimer league for eight years. I remember, in front of everybody in the locker room, Jerry said 'Michael, you need to do stand up comedy. I know these things'. I said 'Jerry, I don't deny that. I don't doubt that'. I've been doing comedies here and there. This is a real good role, a fun role and, hopefully, people will see me in that light and say 'where has he been?' and I'll say, 'I've been here waiting'.

TeenHollywood: Fans are always waiting for you to grow hair in some role.

Michael: Yeah, cuz I haven't had hair in six years. I have about three and a half weeks of hair.

TeenHollywood: So, catch us up on what's going on on "Smallville". Is the show more fun since Lex and Clark are now the enemies they were in the comics?

Michael: Lex and Lana are married. Lana's pregnant but, obviously Lex is up to no good. In the beginning, every fan came up to me and they're like, 'we don't want you to be mean. We want you to be nice Lex'. But, that's not who Lex is inevitably. What's great is you've actually seen the arc, seen where he's come from and why he's becoming a villain and I think you can relate to him more. I think people still like him although he's getting evil. It's time to come out of the box. For me, it's fun. We're going into final season of "Smallville". Next year's my last year and it's time to let loose and do a few more things that feel a little more organic, just takin' more chances in terms of being a villain.

TeenHollywood: Have you directed an episode yet?

Michael: Yeah, in January, I directed an episode called "Freak" and my friends were like 'oh that's perfect, since you're a freak'. It was one of the best experiences of my life. I loved the episode. The actors were great in it. Get a copy of it.

TeenHollywood: What is still challenging about playing Lex? Is there something you still want him to do?

Michael: Now I'm doing it. I've gone through changes and Lex has had some breakdowns. He's been in a straitjacket. There's a lot of things going on throughout the years but nothing as impactful in terms of going into that dark place as much as this year. This year has been really Lex's time. There's no going back now. He's pretty much ripped his rearview mirror off and he can't look back. He's got an agenda. I don't think he means to do the wrong thing. In fact I think he still has some goodness left in him. It's almost like Darth Vader in the final days. There's a point where he takes off his mask and saves his son but there comes a point with Lex where that could never happen. This is a good year for me, my chance to really stretch and really become the villain of the story. Since next year is the last year I'm really gonna take those giant steps because now, I'm running out of time. I've got 22 episodes to do it. Now is the time to really put my stamp on it. By the end of next season, I hope, collaboratively with the writers and creators that we can turn him into the ultimate villain and there's no turning back for Lex so that when that final episode comes next year, it will be larger than life.

TeenHollywood: Can you give us any hints on what is coming up soon for Lex on the show?

Michael: Well, in terms of her pregnancy, Lex has something to do with it and there's something wrong with the pregnancy. Then he's also got a project that he's working on right now... I'm not supposed to say it but there's a creation in the making. It's pivotal in the finale. You will see. That curious, ambitious side, that mad scientist side is coming through. This finale is a really big piece to that puzzle.

TeenHollywood: What's lined up for your next break from "Smallville"?

Michael: I've got a couple of movies, actually another '80's movie that my buddy wrote and we're trying to get that on track by this summer. It's a comedy too. My agents just sent me a couple of scripts, 'well, you've got this offer for this movie' and I go 'awww, I don't want to shoot in Pittsburgh'. I want to do comedy. You only get two and a half months of break so I may do a flick this summer and I'm going to promote "Old Skool". If I do something, then great. If not, next year's my last year and then I grow the hair out for good and hope the movies start rollin' in. No more bald guy parts. That's it.

TeenHollywood: Any message for your fans?

Michael: Thanks for supporting me for six years and why not go support me in my movie Kickin' It Old Skool? This is a fun movie. The world needs some comedy. If you like '80's music, '80's dancing, break dancing, if you like that time period, it's just a fun, simple story with a lot of great '80's cameos like David Hasselhoff, '80's icons. It's a treat. Go out and see it.