Justin Hartley – Smallville

Q.  What are some of the recent projects that you’ve been working on?

A.   You probably heard about “Aquaman,” that was the pilot I did that ended up not getting picked up unfortunately.  It’s still something I’m really proud of, I think that turned out great.  Just unfortunately, that’s how the business is, some things for whatever reason get picked up and some things don’t.  There was that, and right now I’m working on “Smallville,” which is a lot of fun working with those guys.  I’m playing The Green Arrow, I play Oliver Queen whose alter ego is The Green Arrow.  So, it’s kind of an actor’s dream to play two different characters with one job essentially.  I just wrapped on a Warner Brothers movie called Spring Breakdown.  It should be coming out this coming spring.  It’s a comedy with Rachel Dratch and Amy Poehler, all these people from “Saturday Night Live.”  It’s one of those really funny comedies; at least we hope it’s funny! 

Q.  How is it getting to work with a cast that’s been working together already for such a long period of time?

A.  These guys that I work with are great, it’s like a well oiled machine.  Everyone has been doing it for so long that everybody knows their job, they know it well.  It’s like a family there, and at the same time, there really is no ego.  I showed up and I’m kind of the new kid on the block and everybody kind of welcomed me with open arms.  It was a really easy transition, I’m lucky in that way also, I get to work with good people.  I wish I had a little bit more controversy in my life right now but I don’t, I’m kind of just cruising. 

Q.  What can viewers expect to see from your “Smallville” character?

A.  Actually, it should be really great. My character kind of comes in a whirlwind fashion, stirs things up with Lex Luther a little bit.  They’ve got a past I guess with going to boarding school together and they had some run-in’s with each other in their youth.  They reunite and kind of go at it again.  Of course, he finds out about Clark’s abilities so he is kind of inquiring about that and trying to recruit him for like a team of people to fight justice, that kind of thing.  He’s a love interest of Lois Lane, which is interesting, and that’s a lot of fun working with her.  Erica Durance is fantastic!  So, I love it, I think I’ve worked with every cast member so far.  I have only said a few words to Lana’s character but I think I’ve worked with every cast member.  That’s pretty amazing, pretty fun, it’s always fun when you’re an actor and they bring you in.  You hope that they give you a good role that has a lot of good potential.  But then you’re actually able to see it unfold, they developed the story, that’s a lot of fun for me too.  Before my character Oliver had come to town, he already had known half the cast in his previous life.  So, coming to Metropolis he basically met Clark, Lois and Chloe.  I think everyone else he kind of had a sordid past with.  It’s interesting, it’s going to be a great season!

Q.  How much is your character like the actual one in the comic books?

A.  You know, I like what they do on “Smallville” because they definitely have their own little centers here and there. But, in my opinion, the important plot points of the mythology is that they stay true to them.  So, to me that is great because a lot of my research came from comic books.  So, now when I’m on the show and seeing what is going on, some of the underlying jokes and punch lines have to do with the mythology of the character.  I think they stay true to the important parts of it, for me it was great, and it’s been great.  Like I said, I got to read the comic books and go along with that.  At the same time, they bring their own flavor to it.  So, as an actor you can alter it, it frees you up a bit, because I’m not playing Abe Lincoln where you have to be spot on.  It allows for a little bit more flexibility and a little bit more room to roam as an actor.  Like I said, this is the best job I’ve had, I’ve had the most fun on this job so far.  Which is saying a lot because I’ve been lucky I’ve had fun on every job that I’ve worked on.

Q.  Did you have to do any choreography or stunt training for your role?

A.  Honestly, I think my soap character did more fighting than Rocky Balboa.  This guy was like an oversexed steroid user or something.  He was either having sex with women or fighting guys.  So, I have done a lot of stage fighting if you will when I was on the soap opera so I was kind of used to that.  The motorcycle riding, I had to learn how to ride a motorcycle, I had never done that before.  I can now say I know how to ride a motorcycle, not well, but nonetheless I can say I know how to ride one.  Also, the archery training was kind of fun.  I had to learn how to not only shoot a bow and arrow, which I had done before, but this guy’s The Green Arrow.  You can’t just shoot it, you have to look like you know exactly what you’re doing.  You really have to know what you’re doing in order to look like you know what you’re doing.  I had to learn that, and not only learn that, but become pretty good at it.  So, I hate to brag but I am pretty good.  I don’t know if I’m Geena Davis good; but I’m good.  Warner Brothers sent me a huge email with all kinds of websites and places I could go to look up references.  Also, with the “Aquaman” thing, I kind of knew where to go to look for stuff.  Obviously, “Aquaman” is a comic book character as well.  You can use the same resources to get the references that you need.  This is another thing, I don’t know how many superheroes I’m going to play in my life.  But so far, the two I’ve played, you get more familiar with them as you go along.  I’m in the loop now, I know every comic book store within a ten mile radius of Los Angeles.  I know which websites to go to, so it’s pretty fun.

Q.  What do you think it is about the show that continues to draw viewers in?

A.  Probably just the good looking cast.  I’m kidding!  I think Superman, Superman is like a household name.  So, right there you have something that works.  I think it’s because of the story, everybody wants to see a good story.  You’ve got this great story and this great big story.  This huge, maybe the biggest theme of the story, then you’ve got all of these little stories intertwining within it.  So, there is more to watch than just the basic story of what happens.  There are all of these little inter-workings of the characters and their relationships.  Any time you’ve got relationships and special effects; it’s interesting.  And, it looks good too, the way it is shot looks good.  They really win on all levels I think.

Q.  Do you have a really memorable moment from filming on the show?

A.  Probably the first time I had to show up in the original Green Arrow costume where I had to show up in tights.  The first time in my life I had to put on a pair of tights.  It was in front of everyone so it was like, “Here I am in the flesh, look at me, I’m the new cast member and I’m not hiding anything.”  That’s probably my most memorable moment, walking out in front of everyone wearing a pair of tights. 

Q.  What would you like to say to your fans and supporters?

A.  Thank you!  Thank you for sticking with me, it’s been a weird a time for me.  I went from being on television pretty much every day to not being on television at all for a while.  It’s interesting that I’ve done a pretty decent body of work but none of it has been on television.  Then, these movies that have not been released, although I’ve been working I haven’t been seen.  I would thank everyone for remembering my name.  So, they’ve been great and hopefully they’ll like what I’m doing.  Hopefully, they will continue to like what I do.