Interview: ‘Smallville’ Star Cassidy Freeman On The Good, the Bad, and the Future

With the last season of Smallville swiftly moving along, The Flickcast decided to talk to one of the most convoluted characters to reside in the sleepy town, Tess Mercer. She’s been a good girl, bad girl, and somewhere in between- so in essence a real woman.

Popping on the scene as the mysterious heir and CEO to LuthorCorp in Season 8, she’s since been through many tenuous trials. She’s fought to save humanity, albeit killing a few in her way.

She’s survived multiple deaths, multiple kryptonite-fueled personalities of Clark Kent, and multiple conspiracies. The best is yet to come.

The Flickcast: You were first cast in Season 8 of Smallville, did you think the show would continue for many more seasons?

Cassidy Freeman: I thought this was a one year job. I mean they signed me on for three, so they had me if they wanted me for three. But I was told maybe a year and every year we get renewed. It’s almost like a roller coaster ride of a path. I feel like the end of this series has had such strength to it.

I mean, I’ve watched it all in wanting to get familiar with the show and I’m not saying that just because I’m in it, but I think that they’ve taken some chances and we’re more grown-up and I really, really enjoy being in it and watching it.

TF: Tess Mercer’s walked as much on the side of light as that of dark. What are your thoughts on playing this complex character?

CF: I love it. A lot of people always ask me is it frustrating to play, you know, sometimes you’re good, sometimes you’re evil? I think that what’s really interesting about Tess is that she’s really human.

She does things because she wants to and while her morals may be a little questionable at times, and she does have a lot of power as a woman, running a company and having a lot of money, she is a woman who acts and lives by her emotions. So few of us have the ability to do that, or we feel like we shouldn’t, or we feel bad because of that.

I think it’s good for both women and men to see her mess up and kinda take that and have to pull herself up from that. So I like playing her because I think she’s really human.

TF: Tess Mercer is one lucky lady as she’s come back from the dead many times. How many more lives does she have?

CF: That’s a good question. They can’t kill me too many more times (laughing), three times last season- three times my heart stopped. Once in the future, but whatever, still count it. I’m still mad at Chloe about that— the arrow to the chest (see Season‘s 9 “Pandora“).

I love it though, I can do all these death scenes. The Uma Thurman needle was really fun (Season 9‘s “Sacrifice“)… Allison (Mack) had to actually jam the thing into my chest and I was wearing this brace so that it didn’t actually hurt. She was so scared about hurting me when she was doing it. And the first time I did the wake-up, I really went for it and she screamed. And I totally went, “You can’t care that much”. And Allison was like, “I don’t understand” (makes whimpering sound). It was super cute.

TF:  What is your insight into Tess Mercer’s path this season?

I think Tess has to realize, and I think she’s gong to, that she needs to help with Clark and Oliver and the team. I think she’s going to go a little bit more towards them, at least in the beginning, and try to be more of a team player.

I want to be, you know the shot of them walking, like Black Canary and Aquaman. I wanna be one of, I mean it’s never going to happen, but I totally want be one of them. But, I think she’s gotta go to the good a little bit, at first, and then we’ll see what happens. They always twist me, twist me into being evil.

TF: Do you have a wish list of what you’d like to see Tess Mercer accomplish on the last season of Smallville?

CF: Yeah, yeah a couple of wish lists. And it’s funny because I, people always laugh about my dichotomy in the character and my wish list is that I want to go one or the another a hundred percent is what I want.

So I want to go and be part of the team and be really good and have a cool costume or I wanna be really, really bad. Because obviously Clark is going to be the really good and something has to balance him out at the end, some big whatever.

If it’s me, I would take that job respectfully and if it’s not then I better, I better be right next to him in a sick outfit with a sick belt, gold something, and a pair of short-shorts. I know Erica (Durance) wants to be Wonder Woman, what girl doesn’t want to be Wonder Woman, right?

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As CEO, Daily Planet Publisher, and former member of Checkmate, Tess Mercer is quite the wonder woman already. We’re looking forward to seeing more of Cassidy Freeman play it fast and loose as the redhead with a killer attitude. Stay tuned as next week we interview none other than the ace reporter herself, Lois Lane (aka Erica Durance).