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Four Colour Wonder
Smallville's Allison Mack wows fans at Florida's MegaCon
by Tara O'Shea
At 7 am on a Saturday, with two hours to go before the booth for autograph tickets will even open, the line of fans stretches all the way to the front doors of the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando Florida. Sitting or standing, and swapping stories with others in the queue, fans of all ages are camped out to make sure that they get a chance to meet Allison Mack at one of her two scheduled autograph sessions at MegaCon that day.
Over the course of the week-end, more than 500 fans will get their wish. MegaCon convention chair Beth Widera limited autograph tickets because she knows from experience that many actors prefer to take advantage of autograph sessions to meet their fans face to face. Widera wants to make sure no fan gets rushed through the line. Even so, each of the popular young actor's sessions go over, as Mack wants to make certain that every fan in line got an autograph and a chance to chat. Though MegaCon is only her forth convention appearance since Smallville hit the airwaves, Mack is already a pro, beaming as she chats, poses for snapshots, and signs photographs for fans from across the country who trekked to Orlando for the event.
After two marathon three-hour autograph sessions, Mack retreats to the lobby of her hotel to discuss Smallville, her travel plans for the summer, and the news that DC Comics has acquired the rights to her fictional alter-ego, Chloe Sullivan.
"DC bought my character," Mack admits gleefully. "They bought me—which is kind of neat. My character has never been done before [Smallville]. I'm the original. So anybody who does Chloe after me—I'm the prototype."
The rumour of Chloe Sullivan in the DC Universe had first appeared in Wizard Magazine in November, and had been a popular topic of speculation on Internet message boards and chat rooms ever since Smallville's launch in October 2001. DC Comics Director of Publicity David Hyde confirmed the news, and at the Paley Festival panel discussion a week after this interview was conducted, Smallville producers Al Gough and Miles Milar mentioned that DC's interest in Chloe may have saved her from a dire fate. Although DC has acquired the character, she has not yet appeared in any of the Superman titles, although Chloe does remain a strong presence in the Smallville tie-in comic. But the news has given fans hope that this means Chloe's fate is secure—at least for the time being.
The third season of Smallville, which wraps shooting in mid-April, has definitely given Mack a nice share of the spotlight.
"It's been fun this year," Mack says, looking relaxed and comfortable in a flapper-esque black dress, knit hat, and black cowboy boots. "I liked all the stuff in the beginning of the season with Lionel. Any time I get to work with John Glover, it's such a treat. So I liked the ones in the beginning a lot, when I had that huge story line with Lionel and it was all, like, all this torment and crazy, hard difficult choices and stuff like that."
While she laments not being able to work as much with Glover as often she would like (although a regular, Glover is contracted for only a portion of a season, rather than all 22 episodes), she has particularly enjoyed Chloe's role in the emerging season-long story arc, as well as the character's growing independence.
"She's becoming a lot less dependant on Clark and Clark's approval. It's not so important to her [as it used to be], which is nice. Staying away from that whole Clark [unrequited crush] that went on for way too long. It was all me, crying. Because he didn't want to kiss me. It just made her look so weak, and it was so frustrating. I've only cried once this season. Maybe once. So that's really nice. She's much stronger emotionally. She's dealing. Her family's become very important to her, and she's just dealing with herself and her father."
The absence of Gabe Sullivan (played by veteran Canadian actor Robert Wisden) has been noticed by fans—especially since Lionel was using Gabe to blackmail Chloe in the first half of Season Three.
When asked if there will be any scenes of father and daughter together in the last third of the season, Mack replies, "I hope so! I mean, they're playing up our relationship so much in the last couple of episodes, especially. It's been all about Chloe and her dad, and how important her dad is to her. I know that they have some huge plans for the season finale for Robert and me, so I'm sure we'll see him around in the next—I can't believe we only have three episodes left in this season! They work so hard—they work all of us so hard, these last three episodes will all be worth it I think. Because they have to bring all of our story lines up to a climax so there's a cliff-hanger at the end."
Fans have particularly enjoyed seeing Chloe return to her Metropolis roots—a sentiment shared by Mack.
"That was like the one thing that I asked for in every interview up until then, was that I wanted to see Chloe in Metropolis. That's her home. That's her turf. That's where she flourishes. That's her strong point. I was glad that they sort of indulged me, and I'm sure that they'll continue to do that [in the future]. There are so many story lines buried in Metropolis—so many interesting things that they can do."
Mack promises the final six episodes will be chock full of surprises, as well as meaty story lines for her character.
"The last episode I finished was really cool. I get sprayed with a truth serum where the second that I look into people's eyes, they have to tell me the truth. They have no choice, but to tell me the truth. So I find out all these secrets about all of these different people. Lionel tells me the truth about some stuff, Lana tells me the truth about some stuff, Pete tells me the truth about some stuff, Martha tells me the truth about some stuff. And of course it doesn't work on Clark because he's, you know, the man of steel. But it was a really great fun episode—to play that."
Chloe Sullivan has been shown—particularly in episodes such as "Zero" and "Lineage"—that while she has a reporter's instincts, she hasn't developed a foolproof set of journalistic ethics yet. "She's a little ruthless," Mack admits. "I get affected, and I kind of become this slimy agent kind of really intense reporter girl that has no conscience that's intent on finding the truth without any regard to what it does to people's lives. That was a really fun episode."
Mack says that there is little room for improvisation on the set, precisely because the writers are so focused on the characters. "Miles Millar just directed an episode, ["Memoria"]. So that was interesting, having the writer on set as a director. And then this episode we're shooting next, John Schneider's directing. So that should be interesting as well. He has directed before; he just hasn't directed Smallville before."
Schneider (who cut his directing teeth on the series finale of Dukes of Hazard, and last directed the 2002 movie of the week Mary Christmas) was written out of "Truth" and "Memoria" so that he would have time to prep "Talisman," which will air in early May. Mack admires his dedication.
"Smallville is such a huge undertaking, though. I don't know if people understand. It's a miniature movie. It's huge. We always have at least two days of second unit with just massive stuff. For example in this last episode [we shot], I'm in a car and somebody hits me and I get pushed over a bridge and my car is teetering on the bridge. And Clark catches the car and pulls it up, and pulls me out, and I'm passed out and [he's worried] I'm dead. And he stabs me with a needle on adrenaline and revives me—it's a Pulp Fiction moment. It was massive, and it was raining—and this is every single episode."
When asked to speculate on the future of Smallville and the core cast of characters, Mack is pensive.
"I don't think that they will stay together," she muses. "I think that some stories will split, but I think that we'll always end up coming back together, but I think that it will splinter off a little bit more. It won't be as concentrated—I think that we'll bring in a couple more characters. I think—I mean, this is all totally speculation. A couple of us will probably go to Metropolis, and a couple of us will stay in Smallville, and a couple of us will go somewhere else—I'll be around," she assures with a laugh. "They can't get rid of me yet. They're very proud of the fact that they created me, so they're not going to get rid of me, those writers. Their egos are sort of invested in me now. It'll be interesting to see what they do with us, once we graduate, though. Because that's sort of our common ground—where we are."
In comparison with her peers, Chloe has always been characterised with the strongest sense of self and what her future holds. However, Mack says that Lana's story line will provide a few surprises in Season Three.
"Something happens to Lana, though. This last episode, there's something major that goes on with Lana. She won't be stuck in Smallville. It's going to be interesting an interesting story line. But she won't be stuck in Smallville, that's for sure."
Chloe and Lana's friendship, which began in Season One's "Rogue" and has remained a major sub-plot throughout the Seasons Two and Three, is compelling to Mack, who hopes it will be further explored in the future.
"It's cool, I wish that there was more of it. Because Kristin [Kreuk] and I have such a cool friendship in real life— We have fun together on camera, and I think it shows. So I wish that they would play that up, more. But they have a hard time getting away from—they have a hard time doing scenes without Tom [Welling]. The network is always 'We need to see more Tom. Where's Tom?' Always more Tom. So scenes without Tom don't go over well."
When asked if Chloe will get to do any "flashback" episodes similar to "Relic," which was set in 1961 and gave Welling and Kreuk the opportunity to play characters from that era, Mack is wistful. "That was cool, that was so cool. I didn't get to be in that. I'd love to see Chloe all 1930s and 1940s, she'd fit right in, back then."
Perhaps a black and white, Howard Hawk-style flashback?
"That'll be right after the musical episode," she jokes. "That'll be Season Seven when we're running out of things to do and so they're just pulling every trick in the book."
The mere idea of co-star Michael Rosenbaum someday singing on camera makes Mack giggle. "Oh my God. Once he starts [singing], he won't stop. Cheesy '80s love songs. It's really bad."
She is similarly entertained by the news that Rosenbaum's retro 1970s t-shirt collection is vastly entertaining to people on the Internet.
"And he doesn't wear them 'cause they're trendy," she insists. "He wears them because they're his. Because he's a fan. He just did a Wes Craven movie," she offers as an example of Rosenbaum's affection for the horror genre. "He's a geek. He's beautiful. I love Michael. He's a good guy. He's a great actor. He's one of the best I think on Smallville. He's great, he's really fun. He's just a big nut. He'll walk on the set and he'll be like, 'Wait a second. Crew break dance [break].' And he'll spin on his back and do a break dance session for a minute and then be just like 'All right. Moving on.' Thank you. Thank you, Michael. So he's awesome. "
Having lamented her lack of scenes with Smallville's resident bald billionaire in the first two seasons, Mack has thoroughly enjoyed Chloe's alliance with Lex against his father, Lionel, this year. She looks forward to what the future might hold for both characters.
"I think they're going to develop more of a story line between Lex and the rest of us, when the rest of us turn 18. I think there's a big barrier right now between—especially Kristin and me—with Michael, just because [Lex] is over 18, and [Chloe and Lana] are under 18, so they're afraid to do anything with us... So, once we graduate from high school, which would be end of next year—then we'll see."
Allison Mack: World Traveller
When Smallville wraps for the season, Mack is skipping the country. Literally.
"One of my best friends in the whole world is an artist, and he's going to be in Italy until the middle of May, so I'm going go meet him there, and then I and a couple of friends are going to Cuba, and New York, and then the east coast of Canada to visit my other friend's family. So I'm spending my summer travelling with friends. I've made some really solid friends this year, so I want to enjoy them."
A seasoned world traveller, Mack lived in Germany and Amsterdam as a child, and returned to Europe in her late teens.
"When I was 18 I went on a tour—I did the Eurail and hostel thing with a girlfriend of mine and I saw London, Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Prague, and Berlin. So I've seen a lot of Eastern Europe. Now I'm going to go to Italy, which will be awesome. I'm flying into Florence, and that's where my friend is staying in a villa, so we'll stay there. And then he's just [going to] take me around the country. There are so many places I'd like to go. So many places. I'm a travel whore. If I could travel the rest of my life, I would."
After she returns from her holiday, Mack hopes to hit the stage. "I'd love to do some theatre. I think I'm going to do Angels in America in Canada, in Vancouver when I come back in July. That's the goal, anyway. There's a little theatre company that's sort of getting up and running in Canada, and they've asked me to be a part of it. So depending on where that goes and how that goes, I'll be doing a lot more theatre in Canada on my time off, which will be great.
"The theatre company is basically like the Actor's Studio, is what the guy who is producing it wants. Wants to be sort of a group of working actors that gets together once a week to work on scene study and Shakespeare and movement, improv, and Alexander technique, and sort of all of the different styles and facets of acting, and teach each other. Get a group of actors that are strong in all those different departments and cross train.
"And then someone can bring in a show and say "Hey, I want to do This Is Our Youth by Kenneth Lonergan. There's only three people in it, and I'd really like Jesse and Ben to play these parts, and I would really love to play this part, and can we put it up? And Mark, can you direct it?' And do it, and produce our own theatre. Have a group of actors producing, getting their own things going. So when I was talking to this guy—his name is Ryan. And I was just, like, 'You know, Ryan, it's hard for me to commit to anything during the week because I'm working all the time.' I hardly ever work every day. I mean, that's very rare. The majority of the time, I can guarantee that I'll be there on a Saturday—Saturday and Sunday, I can guarantee that I'll be there the majority of the time. And he was like 'Well, I would want to double cast everything—have understudies anyway, because I want to have apprentice programmes.' So you'd have the apprentices understudying, and then you'd be mentoring the actors as well as having somebody as a swing in case you can't be there that night. And he's willing to work around my schedule, so it's ideal for me.
Mack continues, "For Angels in America we'll put it up at the end of July, and we'll start rehearsals at the beginning of July, and we'll have three weeks of strict rehearsal. And I don't start shooting Smallville until the middle of July, so I'll have two straight weeks where I can be there every day. So there's ways to work around it, I'm just going to be really busy. But that's how I like it, so it's all good. Idle hands are not a good thing for actors. And it will just feel really good for me to get up and do some theatre again. I really miss it. I miss the stage. I'm flying to the theatre as often as I can, trying get myself reacquainted with all of the more modern writers and stuff like that."
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At The Movies with Allison Mack
"Annie Hall is my all time favourite movie ever. I watch it at least once a week. It's like background noise in my house. I always have that movie. It's the best movie in the whole world. Love it. Love it. It's a relationship based—it's Woody Allen and Diane Keaton in their prime. It's so good. So good, I love it!"
Favourite Kate Hepburn
"There's a scene in it with Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant, and they're talking to each other and they're improvising. They've completely forgotten their lines, and they're just laughing at each other in the entire scene, and they kept it in! And it's so awesome, and Katherine Hepburn is just so brilliant."
Favourite Audrey Hepburn
"Breakfast at Tiffany's. I can never get enough of that movie. I loved it, and Roman Holiday was awesome too, and Funny Face. Fred Astaire! And Sabrina, with Humphrey Bogart."
Kate vs. Audrey
 
"I'm a huge Audrey Hepburn fan. I've always been more of an Audrey Hepburn fan than I was a Kate Hepburn fan, but I'm switching. Because I identify with Katherine Hepburn a lot more than I identify with Audrey Hepburn. I kind of look at Kristin and myself like Audrey Hepburn and Katherine Hepburn—I'm very much like Katherine Hepburn, and Kristin's very much like Audrey Hepburn." |
"The art scene in Vancouver is actually better," Mack explains. "There are tons of private art galleries and amazing artists, and that scene is a little bit stronger and more thriving than the theatre scene. With the theatre scene—the pool of actors in Vancouver is so small that it's difficult to get the talent to commit to theatre, so you don't always get to see the best theatre. But I just saw This Is Our Youth done and it was wonderful. It was done in London with a revolving cast—Chris Kline did it. It's a really great show with just three actors in it, and I saw it done in a tiny little house in Vancouver, and it was great. Then another friend of mine who is just a phenomenal actor is doing Equus. And that will be brilliant as well. There is good theatre in Vancouver, it's just maybe more difficult to come across than say, Chicago or New York."
When asked if there is female role from Shakespeare that she is dying to play some day, Mack doesn't hesitate to name Helena from A Midsummer's Night's Dream.
"Benjamin Britten wrote an opera to Shakespeare's Midsummer. And my dad [singer Jonathan Mack] has played Lysander a couple of times. My heart is very attached to that show. And I love the fantasy aspect of it. It's so fantastic—with Mustardseed and the little sprites running around. Puck is the best. It's my all time favourite, favourite, favourite Shakespeare show. I need to read more Shakespeare, though. I'm so uneducated when it comes to that. I love it and it's fascinating, and it's beautiful, and wonderful, but I'm so nervous about it. It's like the one thing in acting that makes me really nervous, because it's so specific, the dialogue."
The parallels between Midsummer's and Smallville's love triangles are not lost on Mack.
"Hermia and Helena, Lana and Chloe—everything compares to Shakespeare, though. Any movie you could look at, you can break it down and compare it to some Shakespeare. I haven't done a lot of classical theatre. Actually, one of my really close friends, Mark, won an award for doing Hamlet in Vancouver. He's amazing, and that is so awe inspiring to me, when I see someone do good Shakespeare, because it's so difficult to capture Shakespeare, and capture it well, and honestly, and find the truth in it because people get so caught up in the words. I just saw a guy do a monologue from As You Like It and it was brilliant. Brilliant. And it was so funny, because at the end I was like 'I totally understood what you were saying! And it was awesome!' I'm hoping that at this theatre company that we'll do some Shakespeare, and that I get a little bit more experience at it. I'd love to eventually go over to London and study it over there. Because it's honestly the one thing that I feel like I'm so bad at right now, so we'll see."
As an actor, Mack admits that knowing the nuts and bolts of how film and television is produced can make it difficult to step back and enjoy.
"When I first started dating Peter, he was, like, 'You've ruined the movies for me!' I know too much. We don't do movies anymore. But I'm a huge TLC freak. I watch The Leaning Channel all the time. Trading Spaces, and the Makeover Story, The Dating Story—those are my lame addictions. I just watch those in the morning. If I can sleep in, I'll just turn on my TLC in the morning and I'll watch somebody's wedding or something like that. That's about the only TV that I watch. I watch a lot of film. I love to watch movies. I've a huge DVD collection."
While she may enjoy her daily dose of TLC, Mack has issues with broadcast television's current obsession with reality programming. She understands why many actors are turning to HBO and Showtime, which produce dramas such as Carnivàle and Dead Like Me.
"HBO and Showtime really take the time to make quality, because they have the time and the money, and they have the ability, whereas when you're doing [broadcast] network television, a lot of time you feel like you're in a factory. It's very mechanical, very just 'crank it out, and crank it out.' And it's not always about quality. So it's important to find a show, if you're going to be on network television, where they do care about the quality. Where they do care about the characters, and the beauty of the shots. I mean, I'm lucky. Smallville has people that care, care a lot about the look of the show, and the style of the show, and they created their own very specific style—the way we're shot. They want it to be a very comic book look, in the way they frame the shots. That's why we have all these tight shots, and things are off-centre, all the shots from below."
Chloe Chronicles Redux
When the series returns in April, Smallville fans can also look forward to another series of "The Chloe Chronicles", short "webisodes" that premiered on AOL (which is owned by Time/Warner) before being released through The WB's own website last spring. The incredibly popular tie-ins featured Mack as Chloe Sullivan, hot on the trail of proof of Lionel Luthor's Level Three experiments with kryptonite.
"They're doing six more 'episodes.' I'm not sure how they'll schedule them, now that I'm working more. I'll work week-ends, I guess! I'm not sure. They were such a hit the first time. I think they'll tie into a lot of what's going on this season and last season. It touches on everything that's been going on. They're gonna bring Jamison back, I know that. The older man I interviewed, who worked for Lionel. They're going to bring the physics teacher back—they're going to bring him back, and try and involve a couple different characters from this year. It should be interesting. They're so quick, they're so small—because they're all shot on digital, and it's all hand-held and really short lighting. They only take two or three days to film, so it's not that big a deal. I can fit it in there somewhere," she says airily, and then laughs. "I haven't gotten the scripts yet. But they'll be written by Mark Warshaw again—the same guy who wrote the first set. He'll write and direct them. He's a great guy. It'll be a really big break for him, and he's a great guy. I know he wants to be a writer/producer, so he's really excited that he's getting the opportunity to do these. And that they're as successful as they've been. I think we were all shocked at how much of a success they were. How huge they were. So those are coming out, and they're talking about doing—branching out, and even doing stuff with DC [Comics]. Things like that."
Perhaps Chloe Sullivan will finally get her own action figure.
"Maybe! Yeah. I'm surprised that they haven't done action figures yet. I know people have started to make them on their own. Customising other figures. I was like 'Wow, cool!' I saw a couple of Chloe dolls. It was like 'Holy moly, dude. You have a lot of free time.'"
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