Having run for ten seasons, Smallville featured a staggering number of supporting actors in smaller roles, but it also encountered a very unique problem among its many guest stars. Detailing the origins of Superman, Smallville follows a teenage Clark Kent as he learns how to manage his powers and his destiny while following the path to becoming the iconic hero. The central ethos of the show was that it would never fully show Clark as Superman, but rather chronicle the journey he took to become the Man of Tomorrow – and that journey also involved the inclusion of a large number of supporting characters.
Over the show’s ten seasons, Smallville introduced a number of Superman villains, and it also made use of a great many other DC heroes. In doing so, Smallville played host to a wealth of guest stars, both in larger recurring roles and in smaller one-off appearances. Many of these actors went on to find lasting success in iconic roles, with many doing so even within the specific sphere of superhero movies. However, across its ten-season run, Smallville also managed to fall victim to a very unique guest star problem.
In Smallville season 1, episode 12, “Leech”, Shawn Ashmore appears as Eric Summers, a classmate of Clark who benefits from an inadvertent temporary transfer of his Kryptonian powers. Eric then reappears in season 3 episode 9, “Asylum”. However, his identical twin, Aaron Ashmore, also appears as Smallville‘s Jimmy Olsen in season 6, becoming a series regular throughout seasons 7 and 8 before returning for Smallville‘s season 10 finale. However, having two identical actors play such different roles creates an issue that’s unique to Smallville.
Shawn Ashmore appeared earlier in the show’s run, with his character acting as a minor antagonist. Shawn appeared on Smallville between his small role in 2000’s X-Men and his more significant one in X2, giving him a brief stint as a villain between his two appearances as a comic book hero. He then reprised the role of Eric in season 3 – as it’s revealed that he was being held in Belle Reve along with Smallville‘s Lex Luthor – before reprising his more heroic role in X-Men: The Last Stand. However, portraying both a hero in a villain in two separate properties isn’t the root of Smallville‘s Ashmore problem.
When Smallville introduced Jimmy Olsen in season 6, he bore a striking resemblance to Eric Summers. However, due to the characters being technically played by different characters, it wasn’t something that Smallville had any obligation to explore, and it was left alone. While Aaron made an excellent Jimmy Olsen, his performance was somewhat undermined by the convincing villain that his brother had played seasons before. To make the character confusion run even deeper, Smallville‘s Henry James “Jimmy” Olsen was revealed to be the older brother of the real James Olsen (as introduced in the series finale). By having two identical Smallville actors appear as three different characters, the show doubled down on its own casting confusion.
Luckily, the use of both Aaron and Shawn Ashmore in Smallville worked. Both brothers are talented actors, and the show’s writers ensured that their characters were distinct enough not to cause too much confusion. In addition, they appeared several seasons apart, and among Smallville‘s numerous villains, Eric Summers was relatively forgettable. Regardless, Smallville‘s use of identical twins to play vastly different roles within the same show created a problem unique to its specific brand of long-running superhero origin story.
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Author: Niall Gray
