Lex Luthor (Smallville) - Portrayal

Portrayal

When crafting Smallville's version of Lex Luthor, series developers Al Gough and Miles Millar decided that he would not be a precursor to the more comedic role performed by Gene Hackman in the Superman film series; the pair wanted him to be likeable and vulnerable. The role was difficult to cast, as no one involved in the casting could agree on who they liked for the role. Gough and Millar wanted to cast a comedian for the series, on the belief that comedians always want to "please and be loved at the same time." Michael Rosenbaum auditioned for Lex Luthor twice. Feeling he did not take his first audition seriously, Rosenbaum outlined a two-and-a-half-page scene, indicating all the places to be funny, charismatic, or menacing. His audition went so well that everyone agreed he was "the guy".

Before Rosenbaum got the part, Martin Cummins auditioned for the role of Lex Luthor; Cummins would go on to play Dr. Garner, a neuro-scientist who experiments on Clark, in multiple episodes of Smallville spanning season two and three. Michael Rosenbaum is not the only actor to portray Lex on the show. There have been four other actors that have performed the role; Matthew Munn, Wayne Dalgish, Lucas Grabeel, and Connor Stanhope have all portrayed Lex Luthor as a child in various episodes throughout the series. Rosenbaum relished the opportunities he gets to show Lex's evil side, even if it is only for a few seconds in earlier seasons. Specifically, he delighted in the chance to "go overboard", like he did in "Hug" where his character pulls out a machine gun and shoots everything in sight; to the actor, this gave the audience a glimpse into who Lex was becoming. To portray Lex’s signature bald head, Rosenbaum had to go through more than just a regular head shaving. Not only was his head shaved every day, but he had to undergo hours of make-up treatments on his head, in various color combinations, so that his natural hairline did not show up on film. After seven seasons of portraying Lex Luthor on Smallville, Michael Rosenbaum decided to move on with his acting career, so he departed from the show. On February 11, 2011, Michael Ausiello reported that after the back and forth speculation as to whether Rosenbaum would return to the series, the actor finally agreed to appear in the series finale. Rosenbaum expressed that his return for the final episode was for the fans, stating, "I appreciate all of their passion, their relentlessness, and even their threats."