QQ. What are some of the recent projects that you've been working on?
A. Right now I'm working on "Smallville," I'm playing a character named Davis Bloom who is destined to become Dooms Day, the only DC comic book character to kill Superman. Also coming out on the16th is a video game called Force Unleashed in which I play the character of Darth Vader's secret apprentice who has this epic journey and ends up impacting events in the Star Wars universe three and four.
Q. What can you tell us is new this season on "Smallville" and about your character Davis?
A. They have some really interesting, fun stuff planned. Davis Bloom is this Metropolis paramedic who is this really, really nice guy. He's a little bit moody because he's this perpetual outsider who was raised in the foster care system and was bounced from home to home. He's a really good guy and he can be a little bit moody and not terribly talkative at times but a very, very cool person. Chloe sort of recognizes that this is someone of her interest and they strike up a fast friendship. The problem is that Davis is having these blackouts and as they happen more and more frequently he becomes curious about what is happening during these blackout periods. He tries to figure out and unravel this mystery and what he finds out is really not so great. What's fun about that whole storyline is pretty much the how, it's not nearly as straight forward as that, we're going to be having a lot of fun with that. When I say fun, hopefully fun for the audience, not as much fun for the character Davis Bloom. What would it be like for you found out you were the exact opposite of everything you ever tried to be in life. Basically the fun, if you could use that word, is to create this character and as we get to know him slowly take him apart and drag him through the mud a little bit. Certainly the fun of it as an actor is the challenge. The word fun will enter into it as we get into the darker aspects which are psychologically draining as an actor. It's cool that we get to play both extremes with this character.
Q. What made you want to be a part of the show?
A. I'm not sure what the "Smallville" producers saw that led them to believe that I was the guy for the role, but they approached me for the part. They called me in and told me the story about this character and I was really intrigued by that. They basically just offered it to me. What made me want to do it was the fact that the story that they told about this character and the character itself was really interesting. Furthermore, I thought it would be very difficult to do and that's why I wanted to do it.
Q. Was anything about the role challenging for you?
A. Everything, the fact that he covers so much ground psychologically. Everyone is saying, "Oh, he's the new villain," and that's not entirely accurate if you watch what we're doing with it. That's not really accurate at all at first. I mean, there will be aspects that resemble what comic book fans are expecting from the Dooms Day character. Like all characters in "Smallville," there is a lot more to it than that. We're not trashing the history that came before it, we're not trashing the back story of Dooms Day that was added before. We're sort of adding to it and interpreting it and DC comics has given us its blessing in doing so. The challenge really is just creating as layered a human being as I can and like I said, taking apart piece by piece and trying to do that realistically. For example, one of the things that I keep trying to remind myself and remind everyone is that this character is not part of this Smallville world. He doesn't know about superheroes, he doesn't know about people who are infected with meteor powers, this is all new to him. That's also part of the fun, that this character who looks at all this stuff with a bit of skepticism, he doesn't quite believe in it all, is actually one of the most involved in that phenomena as anyone on the show.
Q. Where do you draw from for your portrayal of Davis?
A. I think like any actor you just kind of go with your experience, really more than that, when it come to anything to do with Sci-Fi or a fantasy piece or even historical drama, you need to exercise your imagination to a large extent. You need to honestly ask yourself, "What would it be like if it was really happening?" If it was really happening, not just we've seen it a million times on television and seen it a million times in movies so it kind of goes like this. That's not good enough, you're not earning your paycheck if you're thinking like that. You need to challenge yourself to go as far as you would go were it actually to happen to you. When it comes to things like the stuff that happens on "Smallville," these are extreme circumstances. These are circumstances that no one, that we know of, has ever really faced in their lifetime. As an actor, it's your job to parse that for the viewing audience who live in reality. It's about giving as much reality to a fantastical situation as possible. That requires a lot of imagination and in a lot of cases it requires some mix of faith because in theory if you're dealing with something that extreme, for example if you were to find out that you had superpowers or something, the emotional reaction might be quite extreme. It might be bigger than anything that you might imagine. Finding out that you have superpowers should be a bigger deal than finding out you're really good at playing basketball, or something like that. It's all about pushing the boundaries of what you think is possible as an actor, if you care to earn your paycheck as far as I am concerned.
Q. Davis does eventually become Dooms Day, did you have any reservation about taking on such a well known comic book character?
A. Yeah, some, comic book fans, Sci-Fi fans, these are people who have a very specific taste and then there are always the vocal ones that don't like what you do no matter what. I feel like I am prepared for that and I've done enough work in that entire arena to be prepared for whatever may come as a result. I'm here to do as I am told, I am here to do as good a job as I can and interpret as well as I can. Hopefully people like it, I'd love it if people liked it.
Q. Do you have a really memorable moment from filming the show?
A. I don't know if you would call this memorable or not, but I really enjoy working with Allison Mack, she's a sweetheart. The more that I work with her, the more that I realize that she is the perfect gateway for this character into the world of "Smallville" because her character is such a lovable, kind person. If that character said, "Hey, Davis Bloom is okay," that gives me a real leg up as an actor trying to create a character for a show. She has such a well deserved following in terms of presence on the show that if her character declares that someone is good and worthy of attention, that means there very well could be audience members that listen to that. I think that's a good thing and aside from all of that, Allison is a wonderful actress and she's just really fun to work with. She's a great person and I am glad I was sort of paired up with her early.
Q. Why do you think people continue to tune into the show?
A. A friend of mine said about "Smallville," this is before I was aware of the show, he said when you're telling a joke and the person hearing the joke already knows the punch line, the only thing you can do is tell the joke really, really well. That's maybe why people watch "Smallville," we all know the punch line, we all know he's going to tear open his shirt, and there is going to be a big red S on a suit that he's going to be wearing underneath, and he'll be ready to take off into the sky and be Superman. The joy of it is in finding out every little detail that got him to that point. I feel as long as "Smallville" continues to do that and I'm sure people will be interested to learn the how rather than just the what.
Q. Where can those interested go online to learn more about you?
A. There is a website that I have that promotes my music and that's www.samwitwer.com, it requires some update but there is some fun stuff there. You can also go to www.myspace.com/thecrashtones. That would be the closest thing to a Myspace page that I have. It promotes my music and my band and my band is a bunch of people who work in the industry who when time frees up we get together and play some shows. For example, one of my band members is Glenn Howerton from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia." Another one of my band members is a guy named Brian Taylor who wrote Crank and is doing Crank 2 right now. We get together and we jam out and we put together some pretty weird stuff. No matter what music you're into, there is something that I've recorded that you'd be okay with. Would you be okay with most of the stuff I've recorded, it's hard to say. Some of it is pretty experimental, some of it is out there. Some of it you could show your parents though.
