Cassidy Freeman’s Tess Mercer brings complexities to Smallville Season 8 DVD
The eighth season of the CW series “Smallville” comes to DVD today, featuring Clark Kent’s battle with Doomsday, the character that in the comics, killed Superman.
Season 8 of “Smallville” introduced another villain to the mythos – Tess Mercer, played by Cassidy Freeman. Freeman has an Oklahoma connection – her grandmother lives in Tulsa, and Freeman visits the state frequently.
Freeman provides commentary on episode 7 of “Smallville” Season 8 for the DVD, along with director Mairzee Almas and executive producer Brian Peterson.
It’s Freeman’s first DVD commentary, though she said she often provides commentary during “Smallville” watch parties with her and her brother.
“We watch as much as we can in real time,” Freeman said in a phone interview. While some actors don’t like to watch their performances, Freeman finds it helpful.
“You want to learn from everything you’re doing,” she said, saying that sometimes she’ll notice something new watching a scene again on television.
Freeman had nothing but praise for the work of the “Smallville” cast, which includes Tom Welling (Clark Kent), Erica Durance (Lois Lane) and Justin Hartley (Green Arrow).
“They really did a good job of getting quality people,” Freeman said.
Freeman knew Hartley before joining the cast of “Smallville,” from working on a CW pilot called “Austin Golden Hour.” When that fell through, she moved over to “Smallville,” as Tess. In Season 8, Tess is running Lex Luthor’s company, as Luthor was presumed dead.
Tess Mercer is a new character, though she has some similarities in her name to two former Luthor assistants, Miss Tessmacher from “Superman: The Movie” and Mercy from the comic books and “Superman: The Animated Series.” But Tess’ story is uniquely part of “Smallville.”
“It lends itself to a lot more complexities,” Freeman said. “It’s more fun to play the passionate person. I get to do good and bad things depending on how I feel, on my passion and what drives me. And that’s human, and that’s more interesting than playing what’s already been written.”
- by Matthew Price
From Tuesday’s The Oklahoman
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Cassidy is dynamite.