Chloe Sullivan - Portrayal

Portrayal

Chloe Sullivan was introduced by the show's creators to be a "Lois Lane archetype", as well as be Smallville’s "outsider", which series developers Gough and Millar felt the show needed in order to have a character that notices the strange happenings in Smallville. She is the original creation of Al Gough and Miles Miller, having not been produced first in the DC Comics Universe, unlike the other main characters Clark Kent, Lana Lang, Lex Luthor, and Pete Ross. When they first began developing the series, Gough and Millar had intended for Chloe to have an "ethnic background". After learning about Smallville from the show's casting director, Dee Dee Bradley, Allison Mack toyed with the idea of auditioning for the role of Lana Lang, but chose instead to audition for the role of Chloe Sullivan. Gough and Millar felt she had a "rare ability to deliver large chunks of expositionary dialogue conversationally", and decided to cast her against their initial intention to give the character an ethnic origin. According to Mack, the reason she got the role was because she went into her second audition with a "very flippant attitude". Kristen Bell also auditioned for the role of Chloe Sullivan; she would eventually go on to star in the television series Veronica Mars. Aside from Allison Mack, Roan Curtis portrayed Chloe as a child in the season six episode "Progeny", with Victoria Duffield taking on the role in the eighth season episode "Abyss". Mack enjoys the fact that her character was created specifically for the show, because she feels like she does not have to worry about being compared to someone else in the same role, which she likens to people comparing Michael Rosenbaum’s performance as Lex Luthor to Gene Hackman’s portrayal in the Superman film series of the 1970s – 1980s. Mack only signed on for five episodes of the tenth and final season.