The Hollywood ReporterThis weekend marked 20 years since the first time the world saw Smallville, and today sees the release of Smallville: The Complete Series on Blu-ray for the first time, celebrating that anniversary in physical media style. To mark the occasion, Smallville co-creators Miles Millar and Alfred Gough have made the press rounds a little, including a look back at the time Zachary Levi tried out for the role of Lex Luthor, years before he was recognizable as the star of Shazam!, or even Chuck. Apparently, it did not go particularly well, and years later, the producers and movie-star Levi can look back and laugh.
Well, that’s not entirely true. The star’s first audition — for producers — went well. Apparently it was when they took him to Warner Bros. Television as their pick for the role that the audition was a disaster.
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“Zach Levi did an amazing audition for Lex. Incredible,” Gough told The Hollywood Reporter. “We all went into The WB with Zach to be Lex. That audition was kind of a disaster. In leaving the audition, I remember thinking ‘Oh, that was the biggest chance of his life.’ And then he went on to incredible success. So you just never know.”
There were no details provided, and it’s likely that as a professional courtesy, the producers never would have acknowledged the event if Levi hadn’t already spoken about it publicly — notably on an episode of Inside of You, the podcast hosted by Michael Rosenbaum. Rosenbaum, of course, actually did get the role of Lex Luthor on Smallville, and went on to be one of the best-received parts of the show.
In a twist of fate, Lionel Luthor — Lex’s dad on Smallville — was played by John Glover, who would go on to play Thaddeus Sivana’s father in Shazam!.
You can get Smallville: The Complete Series on Blu-ray today. Keep an eye on ComicBook for a conversation with Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum, and Kristin Kreuk (Clark Kent, Lex Luthor, and Lana Lang) later today! For Levi, things are looking pretty good. You can catch Shazam!: Fury of the Gods, which sees the Shazam family squaring off against Greek goddesses, on June 2, 2023. Given how his story ended last time, it’s unlikely we’ll see more of John Glover in the sequel, unfortunately.
