Sayonara Smallville Special: Alumni Roll Call

Kiel and I have discussed this before, but over its decade-long existence, Smallville has been a gateway program for young Hollywood the likes of which Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Freaks & Geeks could only aspire to and which perhaps only MTV’s seminal Undressed can even hope to truly compete. In short: If you’re a decent actor or actress who has made a mark on movies or TV in the last 10 years, odds are you debuted on Smallville.

Ok, that’s a gross exaggeration, but seriously, a lot of current stars first appeared in fairly minor roles on Smallville.

I’ve been bringing this up even more lately as my wife and I have been watching the early seasons of Friday Night Lights, featuring Adrianne “Fake Supergirl from season three” Palicki in one of the featured roles. Megan suggested it might be a fun lazy Sunday afternoon exercise to compile and post a full list of Smallville supporting players who went on to do bigger things, noting their roles on the show as well as their later more significant part(s), so I said why not.

Of note: I stayed away from series regulars (i.e. Laura Vandervoort going on to V) and already established stars (Michael McKean as Perry White), though I did include some folks who did do a couple things before Smallville because I didn’t feel like looking up what Ian Somerhalder was on first.

Enjoy the pictures of the pretty people!

Lizzy Caplan (Mean Girls, Cloverfield, Party Down) as shape-shifter Tina Greer

Eric Christian Olsen (Dumb and Dumberer, The Loop, NCIS: Los Angeles) as the youthful version of meter-de-aged old man Harry Bolston

Academy Award winner Amy Adams (Junebug, Enchanted, Doubt) as fat-sucking vampire Jodi Melville

Shawn Ashmore (X-Men movies) as would be “Superboy” Eric Summers, who briefly steals Clark’s powers

Adam Brody (The O.C.) as telekinetic artist Justin Gaines

Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives) as meteor freak hunter Van McNulty

Ian Somerhalder (LOST, The Vampire Diaries) as enigmatic Lana love interest/Luthor test subject Adam Knight

Missy Peregrym (Stick It, Reaper) as super genius “Brainwave”

Adrianne Palicki (Friday Night Lights) as the imposter Kara created by Jor-El

Jensen Ackles (Supernatural) as Lana’s love interest with a dark past, Jason Teague

Peyton List (Mad Men) as Lois’ younger sister Lucy

Alan Ritchson (Blue Mountain State) as Arthur Curry, aka Aquaman

Tahmoh Penikett (Battlestar Galactica, Dollhouse) as Wes Keenan, a childhood friend of Lois and Green Beret that Lex tried to transform into a super-soldier

Hmm...not quite as impressive a list as I thought it might be, but I didn't even include the second Ashmore or two out of the three sons from Home Improvement. Go Smallville!