Smallville “Jitters” guest star Tony Todd has died at age 69

Creation Entertainment “Salute to Smallville” convention takes place this weekend in Parsnippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey ( read more about it here ), and KryptonSite’s Craig Byrne will be there and a part of it, joining a number of guests from the series including Tom Welling, Kristin Kreuk , Erica Durance, Michael Rosenbaum, John Glover, Laura Vandervoort, and Aaron Ashmore. In anticipation of the event on 5-6 October we were able to interview Erica – our first time talking since Smallville was in the air! — to find out about the convention experience, her return to playing Lois Lane in the Crisis, the Smallville animated project and more. Enjoy!

KRYPTONSITE’S CRAIG BYRNE: I know you’ve done conventions before, but how does it feel to do the first one entirely dedicated to Smallville convention?

ERICA DURATION: A little unnerving, and also fantastic. I’m looking forward to it. I look forward to spending more time with the fans. Creation puts on these really big events. They have a good schedule and they have such good ideas of what we can do and how we can interact. I’m really looking forward to being a part of it and seeing everyone.

What can fans look forward to seeing at this event?

I know we will do panels. I know the boys are doing their “Smallville Nights” which is super, super fun. I think the fans really enjoy when we sit at the table and we chat. Many of us spend a lot of time talking to people there. And photo ops! I’m not sure what else they throw at us, but I know there’s a lot more time spent with fans, and that’s why we do it!

When you got the call to play Lois Lane again in Crisis on Infinite Earths crossover, was that something you ever expected to do or did you just think you were already Alura and that was it?

I just thought I was Alura and that was it and I moved on to other things. Then I was working on a movie for a friend of mine and I got a text midway through the show and I was just so excited. I couldn’t believe it! I was really excited. I was very excited.

They wrote a really fun little scene for me and Welling is so easy to work with. We have a really good match and I felt like we had seen each other the day before and I hadn’t seen him in 10 years. It was fantastic.

Wish you had spent more time seeing what Lois was up to these days?

Oh, of course! I liked playing her. I felt very lucky to do so. I always know that the people behind all of this, who write these different versions and these different scenes and these different shows, are so good, so I don’t really worry too much about that part. I know I want to do something fun and different and every scene is unique. So yes, I would have been fine with doing a bit more.

You reunite with several of your fellow players at this convention, but you also have an episode of Murder in a small town like you did with Kristin. Did you have any scenes together, did you know it was Kristin’s show when you booked it?

Oh, yes. She called me! And we did quite a few things together, and it was great fun. You know, except for a few times we worked together on Smallville, we haven’t worked that much (together) professionally. We have been really good friends for years and have done other things but not worked together.

I remember feeling like I was about 20 years old again. I started looking at her and we’re at the circus and I looked down and we’re both just screaming. People don’t know we’ve known each other that long, right? It was so cool.

Fans have also loved it when you’ve appeared on Tom and Michael’s podcast. You might appear on it more in the future?

I don’t know. It depends on schedule and timing and what they’re doing and what I’m doing, but it’s always nice to come back and talk about certain episodes and how we felt doing different things.

Made your impression Smallville change after you started making conventions?

I won’t say too much because I went into that show knowing it was successful. I knew it was special. I was excited to be a part of it. I wasn’t as fully rooted in it as Welling was in the sense that he was there all the time and I had a little bit of that objective bird’s eye view of ‘hey, you know, I know what the fans are thinking. I know I’m excited because I know they’re going to like it. And I will say that I’m surprised at how long it’s been since we go back and talk about it, but not negatively. It is wonderful.

What do you think is the magical chemistry between Lois and Clark, whether or not it’s on Smallville or other projects? What makes them work so well?

I think they balance out each other’s strengths and weaknesses no matter which incarnation you see. There are moments where Clark is very, very strong and he’s a hero and he can do everything he has to and is able to help Lois, who is this strong woman but needs help. And then you’ll see the flip side of that, where it’s in her humanity that he feels a level of connection. I think it’s that balance between both sides of parts of themselves, and it just seems to work.

I know you had a memorable experience meeting Margot Kidder at a convention, but is there any other Lois Lane actor you’d love to meet one day?

I would love to meet Teri Hatcher. I’ve never met her!

What other projects do you have coming up?

I did the show for Kristin (Murder in a small town), and then I have two Christmas movies coming out on Hallmark. They’re a bit of a departure for me and I’m excited about them. In one I play a housewife from the 1960s, and in the next, which I’m shooting right now, I’m the Queen Mother of – it’s not a fantasy land, but it’s not a real country either. She takes care of her daughter and tries to get her on the right path. They are really different roles for me, but I really enjoy them because they are quite far removed from the person I really am. It actually felt pretty good.

Would you like to do the animated project that Tom and Michael are trying to get started?

Absolutely. I think that would be great. Especially if they have Al and Miles (Gough and Millar, the creators of Smallville) behind that they seem to be talking about… then you know there’s going to be a level of consistency with the characters, and the dialogue, and all that kind of stuff.

Did your kids find out you played Lois Lane?

They don’t quite know what that means yet. They don’t think it’s that cool. They think Superman is pretty cool, but I think I’m so different in real life than what they see up there that it’s really hard for them to figure out that their mom was in any way acting a character that was kind of cool.

They just think I’m the biggest nerd so they think it’s weird that mom would be considered cool.

There was one time when they didn’t think I was tough, so I thought “let me show you some stuff.” I just YouTubed a lot of my fights (as Lois) and they were like, “Mom, you were angry!” And I was like, “Don’t mess with me, is all I’m saying.” Now they call me Big Mama. “Don’t mess with Big Mama!”

What do you hope the fans get out of this conference experience?

I hope that their interactions are positive enough for them and that they are able to say the things that they had wanted to say for a very long time. I know many people travel with family and friends. I just hope it will be a really fun, good, positive weekend for them.

Tickets for “Salute to Smallville” are still available! Get your photo ops, autographs and event tickets HERE! Many thanks to Erica Durance for taking the time to speak with us.