Latest news with #TomWelling
Forbes
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
‘Superman' Is The Best Superman Movie With The Best Superman
Superman The box office is blowing up, audiences are raving, and Superman looks like it's going to be the mega-hit the DCU needs to kick off its new era under James Gunn. After seeing the film yesterday, I'm fully on board. I don't know where it will stand overall in the pantheon of dozens and dozens of superhero movies over the years, but there is little question in my mind that this is the best dedicated Superman movie we've ever gotten, and David Corenswet, its relatively unknown lead, is the best Superman we've ever had, at least with Gunn's script behind him. I was too young for some Supermen and too old for others for them to shape my view of the character. My Superman was Tom Welling in Smallville and Clark's myriad of animated series appearances, and that's what I feel Corenswet brings to life here. It's not just about the generalized concept of 'hope.' It's about the core of the character established over the years, beginning with Reeves. That was attempted to be replicated with Brandon Routh in his film. As I said, I loved the Smallville era (both Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult also said that the show shaped their time with their characters). Most recently, the unfortunately overlooked Tyler Hoechlin did an excellent job with Clark in Superman and Lois. Superman But Corenswet is the best, and this is the best Superman film. It is very tough to battle nostalgia if we're talking about the Reeve films, particularly the first two. But the first one aired a decade before I was born, and I just connect with this latest one, fifty years later, on a higher level. Superman Returns was a decent stab at the character, but it missed the mark. As for the all-consuming Henry Cavill debates and comparisons, I'm not anti-Cavill or Snyder in general. I think there is a time and place for a darker look at Superman, and I don't begrudge the attempt. I like Man of Steel quite a bit, and Cavill is about as picture-perfect as you get in terms of the look of the hero. But both that film, and to a greater extent, Batman V Superman, failed the character and the actor, despite some cool moments and visuals. 2025's Superman, new tone or not, is just a better film. It's a comic book; it's the animated series brought to life. The 'aw shucks' version of Superman here, but extremely emotionally charged at times, is a stellar rendition of the character. His dynamic with Lois has more chemistry than we've ever seen (much of that due to the also-excellent and perfectly cast Rachel Brosnahan), and his instantly harrowing rival with Lex is among the character's best (much of that due to the also-excellent Nicholas Hoult). Superman This Superman is about saving, not destroying. One of my favorite moments of the film involves Clark desperately zooming around, attempting to prevent a monster from smashing into nearby buildings as the Justice Gang show little regard for such things. He's saving little girls, dogs, squirrels, he even wants to save the monster. It's a moment that 'gets' Superman, and feels in sharp contrast to the blunt instrument of Cavill, most recently. A hotly debated moment (spoilers) will be the extreme change of Kal-el's parents revealing that they did in fact want him to conquer Earth and 'breed' (ick) more Kryptonians there after their own planet died. It's a very sharp change from almost all of the source material, but in this film, it paid off both in terms of a narrative turn that shaped the entire conflict and then a gratifying final moment where Clark embraces his 'true' parents, the Kents, and realizes that he's been shaped by both them and his own choices, as his father said. I'll take some comic alterations to produce a better film if need be. If the film has issues, I don't think it's with Clark. I don't think the Daily Planet stuff was explored well enough. I thought Eve was so over the top it was a bit distracting, even if this is a comic brought to life. The Ultraman reveal felt like it both was and was not meant to be a secret, which created an awkward dynamic of whether we're supposed to actually be surprised or not. But the flaws are not enough for me to demote the movie below any of the other Superman films. Again, all Supermen owe a debt to Reeve. I do not hate Cavill's version. But this? This was something special, and if it's at all indicative of where Gunn's DCU goes from here, we should all be very excited. Follow me on Twitter, YouTube, Bluesky and Instagram. Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy
Yahoo
30-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'Supernatural' Star Was Nearly Cast as Superman
'Supernatural' Star Was Nearly Cast as Superman originally appeared on Parade. Actor Jensen Ackles, best known for his roles in Supernatural and The Boys, is opening up about his decades-long career in the entertainment industry. While speaking to Collider for a June 25 interview, Ackles shared he was nearly cast as Clark Kent, AKA Superman, for the teen drama Smallville, which ran for 10 seasons until 2011. Ultimately, the iconic role went to Tom Welling. 'I would shock you if I told you how many jobs I didn't get compared to the ones I did get," said Ackles to the publication. 'I never felt discouraged by the ones that I didn't get. Again, this kind of goes back to lessons that I learned from the veterans. There was a multitude of people who told me that every audition, every meeting, every time you get into a room is a learning experience. So, even though you might not get the role, you learn from it. You try to make an impression on those people.' Ackles also noted that he was eventually cast as Clark's high school football coach, Jason Teague, during the show's 4th season. 'They brought me in after [Smallville] Season 3 and said, 'We've been trying to think of a way to incorporate you into the show, and we're just thankful you're still available,'" said Ackles during the interview. Welling spoke about Ackles nearly being cast as Clark during a July 2022 episode of his podcast, Talk Ville. "It was me and Jensen [for Clark]. I remember going in for the actual audition. I went in and there was a wonderfully handsome guy. And I was like, 'I think this guy is a real actor.' It was Jensen. Who ended up being Clark's football coach," said Welling on his podcast. While recording a March 2024 interview on the Talk Ville podcast, Kristin Kreuk, who played Lana Lang, spoke about being Ackles' on-screen love interest during Smallville Season 4. "It was so fun. I was watching it now and Jensen has such an easy kind of chill, like, he's just so cool. And so his performances are really free and natural. And I think that was nice for me to engage with," said the actress. 'Supernatural' Star Was Nearly Cast as Superman first appeared on Parade on Jun 29, 2025 This story was originally reported by Parade on Jun 29, 2025, where it first appeared.
Daily Mail
29-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE She was Superman's sweetheart and later played his mother... see Annette O'Toole now at 73
Hollywood actress Annette O'Toole has packed a busy and varied career into the nearly six decades she has spent in showbiz. In 1983 she appeared as the title character's love interest Lana Lang in Superman III, starring Christopher Reeve during his iconic run as the Man of Steel. She was a fixture on TV in the 1990s, including on the police procedural Nash Bridges and the miniseries of Stephen King's evil clown book It. During the following decade she returned to the Superman universe on the hit CW show Smallville - this time in a far different role than the one she held before. Smallville featured Annette as Martha Kent, the adoptive mother of the hero's alter ego Clark Kent, who was played by Hollywood heartthrob Tom Welling. Now 73 years old and starring on the smash Netflix series Virgin River, Annette cut a sprightly figure when she surfaced in Los Angeles this week. In 1983 Annette O'Toole appeared as the title character's love interest Lana Lang in Superman III, starring Christopher Reeve during his iconic run as the Man of Steel Annette was spotted wearing a stylish ensemble as she collected her dry cleaning and carried it across the parking lot to her car. She slipped into a flowy purple V-neck blouse that fell flatteringly over her enviably lithe frame, teamed with a fitted set of moss green trousers. In spite of the summer heat, the native Texan came prepared for a potential dip in temperatures with a fashionable camel-toned jacket. Letting her grey hair tumble freely over her shoulders, she accessorized with tortoiseshell shades and a black cross-body handbag. Although she was born in Houston, she was living in Los Angeles with her family by the age of 13 - and two years later, she had made her TV debut with an appearance on the variety program The Danny Kaye Show. In the 1970s, she featured on a variety of hit shows ranging from Gunsmoke to Hawaii Five-O to The Partridge Family, and also acted in the darkly comic TV movie The Girl Most Likely To... starring Stockard Channing and written by Joan Rivers. That decade, she broke into the big screen with the beauty pageant satire Smile, playing one of the contestants in a cast that included Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon. However her most famous role came in 1983 when she played Lana Lang, the love interest of Christopher Reeve's Clark Kent in Superman III. She was a fixture on TV in the 1990s, including on the police procedural Nash Bridges and the miniseries of Stephen King's evil clown book It In spite of the summer heat, the native Texan came prepared for a potential dip in temperatures with a fashionable camel-toned jacket Letting her grey hair tumble freely over her shoulders, she accessorized with tortoiseshell shades and a black cross-body handbag In the 1970s, she featured on a variety of hit shows ranging from Gunsmoke to Hawaii Five-O to The Partridge Family, and also acted in the darkly comic TV movie The Girl Most Likely To... That decade, she broke into the big screen with the beauty pageant satire Smile, playing one of the contestants in a cast that included Bruce Dern and Barbara Feldon Although the third film in the series was not the hit its predecessors had been, Annette still earned a soft spot in fans' hearts for her performance as Lana. She later described Christopher as 'fantastic' and 'so kind,' on the podcast Inside Of You hosted by her Smallville co-star Michael Rosenbaum. When she first came to the set 'Chris Reeve invited me to his home, and he had his wife or his girlfriend and two little darling children and we had children, and we had dinner, and he took me to see Simon and Garfunkel at Wembley Stadium,' she said. 'I didn't know him at all, and that was just like his way – gave me food and tickets and stuff. And then we were shooting at Pinewood, and he took me down to the commissary and he said: "Start a tab for her here at the commissary,"' she recalled. 'I never went again because, you know – I'd bring my cheese and crackers from home – but he couldn't have been more generous and sweet,' shared Annette. For weeks, she only filmed with him as Clark Kent, so that when she finally saw him in full Superman uniform she was left thunderstruck. Annette confessed that in that moment she 'started to kind of like stutter and got chills, and there was Superman. It wasn't Chris. He was in the whole gear. And talking about it now, I get chills thinking about it.' As the 1990s rolled along, she earned another place in fantasy history by featuring in the famed miniseries of Stephen King's It as the adult version of Beverley Marsh, one of the people who encountered the demon clown Pennywise during her childhood. During the same decade she earned an Emmy nod for playing John F. Kennedy's mother Rose on the ABC miniseries The Kennedys of Massachusetts. Her triumphant return to the Superman world came in 2001 when she started starring on Smallville as Clark Kent's adoptive mother Martha. She remained a series regular for the first six seasons, leaving once her contract was up and guesting sporadically on the show for the final two seasons. 'As time went on for the series, it was a little frustrating that there wasn't more for Martha to do,' Annette admitted to the fan site the Daily Planet. 'I was kind of just doing the same scenes over and over again.' During the 2000s and 2010s, she continued guesting on beloved TV shows including Law & Order, Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice. Since 2019 she has been starring on Netflix' smash hit romantic Western series Virgin River as Hope McCrea, the mayor of the titular California town. On the personal front, she has been married to Best in Show and This Is Spinal Tap star Michael McKean since 1999, and has two daughters by her first husband Bill Geisslinger, whom she was married to from 1983 to 1993.
Edmonton Journal
14-05-2025
- General
- Edmonton Journal
Is it better to finish the basement as part of the build or later on?
Article content It's often a top-of-mind conundrum for buyers of new build homes — whether or not to have the builder finish the basement during the new build process or wait and either DIY it or have a contractor do it at some point down the road. 'I get calls from people all of the time asking this and it's a great question,' says Tom Welling, general manager of renovations at Renova Homes and Renovations, a Calgary-based home builder and renovator, noting that he has experience creating basements as both a new home builder and as a renovator. Plus, he is a former new home warranty inspector. 'So I've seen it all when it comes to basements — the good and the bad,' he says with a laugh.
Calgary Herald
14-05-2025
- Business
- Calgary Herald
Is it better to finish the basement as part of the build or later on?
Article content It's often a top-of-mind conundrum for buyers of new build homes — whether or not to have the builder finish the basement during the new build process or wait and either DIY it or have a contractor do it at some point down the road. Article content Article content 'I get calls from people all of the time asking this and it's a great question,' says Tom Welling, general manager of renovations at Renova Homes and Renovations, a Calgary-based home builder and renovator, noting that he has experience creating basements as both a new home builder and as a renovator. Plus, he is a former new home warranty inspector. 'So I've seen it all when it comes to basements — the good and the bad,' he says with a laugh. Article content Article content 'I think you have to think of it from this perspective: You've got a builder building your house and this is the same challenge whether you are building a custom home or renovating. The initial price shock scares people. So, then they are counting their beans and then they say: 'You know what? We're are going to put off the basement development.' And then they take possession of the house and wish they had done it,' says Welling. Article content Article content The cost of finishing the lower-level will definitely add to the home-building budget, but it is typically money well-spent. It increases a home's value and if the lower level is designed as a legal secondary suite, the financial return as a mortgage helper can be significant. Article content Plus, there is the convenience of having the basement completed when you take possession, allowing you and your family utilize the space. Article content It's possible to roll the cost of the basement into the home's overall financing, but for many, qualifying at the higher value (with the asset value of the finished basement) may be an issue. Article content 'But know that the price of finishing the basement after a home is built is going to cost you $30,000 to $40,000 more,' says Welling. 'So you need to weigh that out. To do the construction in the new build cycle, it is much less expensive. When you wait until after, it's like doing a full renovation after you've just built your house. You have to bring all of the trades back on site.' Not to mention the noise and the dust. Article content But, if you decide to wait, there are several pluses to this scenario. The first being that waiting to finish the lower level gives the home's foundation time to 'cure,' and settle and any cracks or leaks in the lower-level will be obvious in the unfinished state. Secondly, it allows the homeowner to get a feel for how the lower-level space will be used by the family, which isn't always apparent from the get-go. This is key to creating a good design that works for the home's flow and for optimum use of the space. The third plus is that it allows for more time to save for the construction and finishing.
