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 John
Schneider On Smallville Death
If
you've seen the Jan. 26 Smallville, you now know who the
Big Death of episode #100 was. John Schneider, who has
played Clark's adopted father Jonathan Kent since the very first
episode, has now seen his character go to that great cow pasture
in the sky.
"My
wife and I were looking at a new car when Al called me,"
he told us last week at the Television Critics Association Press
Tour, when we asked how long ago he found out his character would
be the one to go. "So I bought two," he said, taking
the news with stride. "It was during our ninth episode that
I found out that the 100th episode was gonna be my last."
He
felt Jonathan Kent went out like a hero. "It was like John
Wayne and the cowboys. An empowering death. Which is so important,
because if Jonathan Kent had just died, it would have been terrible.
It would have been meaningless."
If
there is anything about Smallville that Mr. Schneider would
miss more than anything else, it would be his working relationship
with Tom Welling. "I miss working with Tom. We have a really
remarkable relationship with regard to the father and son bit.
We're fun, and we're both big guys and all that sort of thing,
but when you really get right down to it, the relationship you
see on Smallville is very like the relationship we have.
My son is 14, and I'll have that relationship in a couple of years.
But I don't have that, really, yet," he said. Schneider's
last scene filmed with Welling for "Reckoning" was holding
Clark back after Lana's fatal crash. The words "there's nothing
you could have done" are effective for not only that situation,
but Jonathan's passing as well.
John
Schneider is aware of the support his character has received from
fans online since the first rumors of Jonathan's demise surfaced
prior to Season 5. "I do honestly believe that the fans had
a lot to do with Jonathan Kent lasting as long as he did,"
he said.
Schneider
wouldn't rule out the possibility of returning to Smallville
as a director again at some point. His Smallville directorial
debut, "Talisman," was well received by fans. "I'd
love to, but that's up to the Powers That Be. In that realm, I'm
like the vampire. I must be invited in."
Could
this be the last time we see Jonathan on the series? "There's
one little thing in the 13th episode. It's like Old Yeller. It's
heart-wrenching. It's fantastic," he tells us, though we're
not sure if he's talking about an appearance of Jonathan or just
the quality of the script.
We
here at KryptonSite would like to thank John Schneider for five
great years as Jonathan Kent.
Return
to the KryptonSite News Page!
Read
Executive Producer Alfred Gough's comments on the Smallville
death
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