Reception
In 2002, Welling was nominated for his first Saturn Award for Best Actor in a Television series, for his portrayal of Clark Kent in Smallville. Following that nomination, Welling was nominated for another four consecutive years, 2003 to 2006, for the Saturn Award for Best Actor in a Television series. The same year he was nominated for a Saturn Award, Welling won a Teen Choice Award for Choice Breakout TV Star, Male for his role as Clark Kent in the first season of Smallville. Although he has not won a Teen Choice Award since, just like with the Saturn Awards, he has been nominated for Choice Actor in television for the four consecutive years after his win, 2003 to 2006, Although he was not nominated in 2007, he did receive recognition with a nomination in 2008 and 2009 for Choice Male in an Action/Adventure series. Welling was also nominated for the 2006 Teen Choice Awards for Most Beautiful Couple (TV — Choice Chemistry), with his co-star Kristin Kreuk. In the 2009 Teen Choice Awards, Tom Welling received the award for Choice TV Actor — Action Adventure. Welling was included in TV Guide's list of "TV's Sexiest Crime Fighters".
Bryan Byun, of DVD Verdict, believes that Welling was the perfect choice for Clark Kent: "I can't imagine a more ideal actor to play this superpowered farm boy than Tom Welling, with his wholesome, honest face and heroic good looks—Welling not only resembles Christopher Reeve physically, but has all of the earnest charm that made Reeve the quintessential Superman." The Free Lance–Star's Ron Hedelt likened Welling's performances as Clark Kent to that of Christopher Reeve's performances in the Superman films, stating that Welling manages portray a "sweet, unassuming teenager" while showing Clark struggle with the truth about himself. Comics2Film's Rob Worley also made note of the physical resemblance Welling has to Christopher Reeve, and notes that the actor gives the character depth with his convincing portrayal of Clark's longing to fit in. When comparing Smallville's Clark Kent to Bryan Singer's Superman (Brandon Routh), in Superman Returns, Seattle Times' Julia Waterhous finds Smallville's Clark Kent to be the more intriguing character. Waterhous explains that it is the inner turmoil of Clark—not being able to tell the people he loves his secret—and the fact that no matter what his faults are he continues to put others before himself, remains "pure and good", and allows the audience to become intimate with the character—something lacking in the film version. According to the Associated Press, Welling's popularity as Clark Kent on Smallville even had fans of the show wishing that he would take the role Routh received in Superman Returns.
Read more about this topic: Clark Kent (Smallville)
Famous quotes containing the word reception:
“To the United States the Third World often takes the form of a black woman who has been made pregnant in a moment of passion and who shows up one day in the reception room on the forty-ninth floor threatening to make a scene. The lawyers pay the woman off; sometimes uniformed guards accompany her to the elevators.”
—Lewis H. Lapham (b. 1935)
“I gave a speech in Omaha. After the speech I went to a reception elsewhere in town. A sweet old lady came up to me, put her gloved hand in mine, and said, “I hear you spoke here tonight.” “Oh, it was nothing,” I replied modestly. “Yes,” the little old lady nodded, “that’s what I heard.””
—Gerald R. Ford (b. 1913)
“To aim to convert a man by miracles is a profanation of the soul. A true conversion, a true Christ, is now, as always, to be made by the reception of beautiful sentiments.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)