Have you ever wondered why some of your favorite characters leave before the show is over? It can be frustrating to watch a show, likeSmallville, for instance, only for one of the show’s longest-running characters to dip out just as things are getting interesting. Well, like a few differentSmallvillecast members, this was also true ofKristin Kreuk, who played Lana Lang for the first seven seasons of the hit Superman prequel. Butafter the Season 7 finale, Kreuk was written off as a main series star, only returning for a handful of episodes the following season to wrap up the character’s emotional arc. But what happened?
Smallville
A young Clark Kent struggles to find his place in the world as he learns to harness his alien powers for good and deals with the typical troubles of teenage life in Smallville, Kansas.
Kristin Kreuk Played Lana Lang for Seven Full Seasons on ‘Smallville’
WhenSmallvillefirst started, Lana Lang was nothing more than a Smallville High cheerleader (Go Crows!) and the trademark girl-next-door. Clark Kent (Tom Welling) had pined over Lana for years before the first season, and would go on to do so for the bulk of the 10-season series. But after quitting cheerleading,Lana began a journey of self-discovery that lasted through all seven of the seasons she appeared inbefore peeking into Season 8 as well. She had been everything from a barista to a local business owner (may the Talon rest in peace) to the host of a 17th-century witch, though we try to forget about that part.
Because of other boyfriends such as future50 Shades of GreystarEric Johnson,Vampire DiariesiconIan Somerhalder, andSupernaturallegendJensen Ackles,Lana’s love-affair with Clark was an on-again/off-again sort of thingthat was continually teased throughout the show, never fully developing. But Lana’s other love interests weren’t the only reason. There was also the issue of Clark’s secret: that he was actually an alien from another world. Eventually, this drove her into the arms of Clark’s best frienemy, Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum), who wasted no time falling madly (emphasis on mad here) in love with her. As the rivalry continued, Lana eventually learned the truth about Clark, they got back together, and things were happy, right? Well, after Brainiac (James Marsters) put Lana in a coma, Clark went to destroy the Kryptonian A.I. once and for all, only, by the time he returned for her, she was long gone.
Lana left Smallville believing that Clark’s destiny was greater than hers, and the truth is, she was right. The problem was, the following season, Lana returned for a five-episode arc that not only threw a wrench in the middle of Clark’s budding romance with Lois Lane (Erica Durance) but also revealed that Lex’s henchwoman/secret sister Tess Mercer (Cassidy Freeman) forced her out of the picture.Lana’s arc onSmallvilleultimately ends with her being literally driven away from Clarkdue to her cells being irradiated with Kryptonite by Lex Luthor, forever keeping these love birds apart. With powers of her own, Lana runs off to do good in the world, heartbroken by the fact that she and Clark could never be together again.
So why did Lana’s story end so abruptly? Why did she leave the show officially in Season 7 only to return again for a few episodes in Season 8? Well, according to Kreuk in a 2008 interview withMetro, the actress wanted a new change of pace. “I’ve been doingSmallvillesince I was 18 so it’s been my whole adult life,” she explained. “I love the people and it’s a wonderful show to work on but I realised there were things I couldn’t do due to the schedule onSmallville.“Though Kreuk wasn’t bored with Lana or the show, she recognized that the show kept her from other opportunitiesin the film industry, prompting her to leave the main cast after Season 7, and the show proper in Season 8.
Following her time onSmallville, Kreuk starred inStreet Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, appeared in a few episodes ofChuck, and floated around with a few different feature roles until she landedthe part of Catherine Chandler in the 2012 reboot ofBeauty and the Beast. No, we’re not talking about the Disney movie, but rather the four-season television series that Kreuk starred in oppositeJay Ryanfor 70 episodes, returning to her home network of the CW. From there, Kreuk did some vocal work for a few video games before jumping right into another CW series, this timeplaying lawyer Joanna Hanley inBurden of Truth.With a nearly 20-year career on the CW, Kreuk’s time on the network rivals even Jared Padalecki, who starred in bothSupernaturalandWalker.
SinceBurden of Truth, Kreuk has gone on to appear in a few episodes of the Netflix seriesGhostwriterand asCharlie Hubble in the first season of the hit Prime Video seriesReacher. Ironically,Kreuk andReacherstar Alan Ritchson had appeared together previously onSmallvilleof all things, back during the show’s fifth season. In the episode “Aqua,” Ritchson played Arthur “A.C.” Curry, the future Aquaman, and would go on to appear in three more episodes of the show,including the fan-favorite “Justice,“which, as it happens, is actually theonlySeason 6 episode Kreuk doesnotappear in.
Why Didn’t Lana Lang Return for the ‘Smallville’ Series Finale?
Smallvilleran for two more seasons after Kreuk’s final episode (“Requiem”), and rarely was the character ever mentioned again. Even as cast membersJohn Glover,Laura Vandervoort, and Michael Rosenbaum — who all exited the main cast after Season 7 as Kreuk did, though for varying reasons — all returned for the tenth and final season, Kreuk never did. Not even for an alternate universe story.“I do not believe there was ever a real offer for me to come back,“Kreuk explained back in 2011 (viaTV Line). “Though I am pretty sure that if I showed interest in returning, [producersKelly SoudersandBrian Peterson] would find a way to fit me in.” But the truth is, Kreuk wasn’t interested in coming back to revisit Lana’s story, to her, it was done.
“I may be in the minority, but I thought Lana’s story ended well,“she continued, noting that she believed Lana’s journey toward becoming a hero in her own right was exemplified in the eighth season. Frankly, Kreuk is right. Lana didn’t need to come back to the series for the final season, and while it might have been interesting for Clark to meet an Earth-2 version of his old flame, it was so much more important that he interacted with the alternate Jonathan Kent (John Schneider). Moreover, Clark’s time with Lana is still honored in “Finale,” as we see our hero’s “trials” from all 10 seasons on display in the Fortressjust before he becomes Superman. Furthermore, Lex’s own memories of Lana are on full display as he loses them later on in the episode.
Truth be told, some (such as this author) might even go a step further by noting that Lana’s Season 7 send-off was enough for the character, with the Season 8 return being not only redundant but a bit counteractive to how much Clark had grown in the first half of that season. But,Smallvillewasn’t known for being perfect, and despite its flaws, we still loved this almost-Superman series. Sure, Kristin Kreuk might’ve pulled aDavid Duchovnyand left in the seventh season of her most famous sci-fi series (only to return for a handful of appearances in the eighth), but at least she knew better than to overstay her welcome.
Kristen Kreuk Has Since Revisited ‘Smallville’ With Her Former Co-Stars
It’s been over a decade sinceSmallvilleconcluded its run on the CW, andover 20 years since the show first premiered on the WB, and in that time, Kristin Kreuk has been willing to revisit the series yet again. No, she isn’t reprising her role as Lana Lang anytime soon (thoughthat in-developmentSmallvilleanimated seriesmight change things), but she has spoken out about her love for the series,appearing often alongside her former co-stars at conventions and other events. She’s even set to appear at the firstSmallville-themed convention,Salute to Smallville, alongside former co-stars Welling, Rosenbaum, Durance, Glover, Vandervoort, andAaron Ashmore.
Additionally,Kreuk has guested on numerous episodes of Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum’sTalk Villerewatch podcast, where they go through the series episode-by-episode and discuss everything from behind-the-scenes details to story points. So far, she has appeared in episodes covering Season 1’s “Cool,” Season 2’s “Exodus,“and Season 4’s “Spell,“and will likely continue to revisit the series going forward. Whether Lana Lang was your favoriteSmallvillecharacter or not, there’s no denying that Kristin Kreuk’s solid performance and long-term commitment to the series were admirable. No wonder she’s interested inpossibly revisiting the show again in the future.
