Tom on Regis & Kelly LIVE - aired
09.23.02
QUDDUS: But first, I’d like to bring out my
next guest. He’s a superhero star of the smash hit, Smallville. Please
welcome, TOM WELLING.
<plays ‘Superman’ by Five for Fighting as TOM shakes the hands of
fans>
QUDDUS: What’s up, man? <greets TOM> Great to see ya, brother. Yah, take
it all in. Yah, go to the window. See some fans. <TOM waves to the fans
outside> So, dude. Dude, this is your first time on the show.
TOM: First on the show.
QUDDUS: Welcome man.
TOM: I’ve been trying to get on here forever.
QUDDUS: The ladies can barely contain themselves today. First, Justin. Now you.
TOM: Ah, no. That’s not true, is it?
QUDDUS: Ah, no. Really? No. First, things first. E! named you as having one of
the best bodies in the business. Better than J Lo even. <TOM laughs>
What’s your secret, dude?
<shows Season 1 billboard>
QUDDUS: You work out a ton? Drink protein shakes?
TOM: We use a lot of special effects on the show, and that’s one of them. No,
ah, we don’t do much. Ah, just stay active and run around a lot and workout a
lot that helps I guess.
QUDDUS: Well, see. See. I do the same thing. I just don’t have it like that.
TOM: What are you talking about? You look great. You look really great.
QUDDUS: Nah, you got the buff thing happenin’. I’m just like lean. Anyway,
dude. <laughs> Look at our stage manager. She’s clowning me right now
‘cause she knows it’s true.
TOM: Let’s help her out here.
QUDDUS: Nah. Alright, man. So, you’ve been blown away pretty big with this
show, Smallville. And tell the people exactly what it’s about. It’s about .
. . it’s about Superman before he became Superman, right?
TOM: Yah, this is a show about Clark Kent in high school before he’s Superman.
There’s no tights. There’s no flying around. There’s none of that yet, but
you never know. You never know.
QUDDUS: What super powers does he have at that point?
TOM: Well, right now, he’s got x-ray vision. He gets heat vision in this
episode. And he can’t be hurt, and he runs real fast but there’ll be more to
come. This season we get red kryptonite which turns him somewhat evil. That’ll
be fun to watch.
QUDDUS: What super powers if you could have something in real life, like a super
power, what would you want?
TOM: Well, you, I lost my car keys the other day, and I was late to work. And I
was really hoping I had x-ray vision at that point but, you know, sometimes on
the show they’ll ask things. The directors will get all excited. They’ll
say, “Hey, you know, I want you to go past that car that pulls up. Pick up
this guy that came across the street.” And I’m like, “Hey, that’s great
but I’m not Clark Kent, you know, it’s a character I play.” Ah, no. We
have a lot of fun.
QUDDUS: Yah, it seems so man. I caught a clip of it. Are we going to show a clip
at some point? Yah, a little bit later. But right now I want to ask you about
how you came to play the role. It was a show that was brought to you, and you
turned down the audition for the show.
TOM: Yah. Originally, the audition came around twice, and I turned it down
because it wasn’t much of a description of about what the show is. It was
basically Superman in high school which is a bit scary.
QUDDUS: Right.
TOM: Trying to fill those shoes but we got into some conversations about what
the show is about. I read the script, and I found there was a lot more than
that. I think it’s a good spin on a character we all know how he turns out,
but this is how he gets there. <smiles>
QUDDUS: Hmm, cool. Very cool man. Well, we’re going to talk to TOM some more
after the #6 video; Shakira, another hot body there, ‘Objection Tango.’
<plays Shakira’s ‘Objection Tango’ video>
QUDDUS: There goes the #6 video, Shakira ‘Objection Tango’ down from
yesterday. TOM WELLING is here, star of Smallville. And Lala is outside kickin’
it with some of your fans, and they got a question for you. Right, La?
LALA: Thanks, Q. I’m hanging out with TONI who is
an avid Smallville watcher. Now, how big of a TOM WELLING fan are you for real?
TONI: I am such a big time TOM WELLING fan. <TOM
chuckles> Like my notebook is filled with pictures of him.
LALA: Let me see. Whoa! Big fan. Big fan. So, what’s your question for TOM?
TONI: I wanted to ask, like I read, you have a really rigorous schedule, and you
work 16 hour days. So, what do you do to blow off steam?
TOM: Well, normally I ah, I get in my truck and drive as fast as I can going
home that tends to do it. Ah, I just, I guess, I try to run away but I try to
stay active as I can: especially, on the weekends. And, ah, just keep moving
around that’s the best thing you can do.
QUDDUS: Thanks for the question out there.
LALA: Thank you.
QUDDUS: Alright. Well, the day has finally arrived
at 50 which means that Kylie Minogue party starts right now. ‘Love’ never
made it to #1. In fact, it peaked at #2. Ah, but it had a good run on TRL.
Let’s take a look back at it, and then we’ll show you the video for it for
the final time on TRL. You guys voted her up two from Friday. Here she is Kylie
Minogue ‘Love at First Sight.’
<plays Kylie Minogue clips and ‘Love at First Sight’ video>
QUDDUS: There it goes for the very last time. Kylie Minogue ‘Love at First
Sight’ at #5 up two from Friday based on your votes. We’ve got TOM here.
Another cool thing about your life, right now, is you have an action figure
that’s been designed for you.
TOM: You know, I’ve heard about it. I haven’t seen it though. I don’t know
where it is. I dunno. Do you have it here?
QUDDUS: We have a picture of it right here.
<shows Clark Kent action figure>
TOM: Oh, wow. Look at that.
QUDDUS: It’s kind of flattering I guess.
TOM: It’s kind of funny looking, isn’t it? What’s that piece of broccoli
next to him there?
QUDDUS: Yah, that is kind of weird.
TOM: What is that?
QUDDUS: Is that a handbag right there?
TOM: I think it’s a handbag, a Gucci handbag. <smiles> What is that?
QUDDUS: Yah, kryptonite. Right, right, right. Nah, that must be kind of weird,
right? You know you’ve kind of made it when you have an action figure.
TOM: Yah, I don’t think you’re ever prepared for when they say, “Hey!
Guess what? There’s an action figure of you.” But, ah, it’s fun. I hope
it’s durable. I want to take it out and see. Ah, I played with a lot of G.I.
Joes when as a kid. I used to take firecrackers and attach and see if I could
blow them up. So, maybe, I’ll see what I can do with that on. See how durable
it is.
QUDDUS: Cool man. Thanks so much for coming by, TOM.
TOM: Thanks for having me.
QUDDUS: Check out the premiere of Smallville tomorrow night on the WB at 9
o’clock.
TOM: Tuesday night.
<commercial>