For a very long time, Michael Rosenbaum's Lex Luthor was the best part of Smallville. However, by the time season seven rolled around, the character was growing stale and he was written out in a very unsatisfying manner. The character would make sporadic appearances over the next few years, but played by different actors as the show made some really bizarre creative decisions with the villain.
What exactly led to Rosenbaum's departure? Talking in a lengthy interview with Empire Online, the Impastor star explained that Warner Bros. Television President Peter Roth was desperate to get him to stick around, but that he was simply ready to move on to something new by that point in his career.
"He tried to get me to do two more seasons of Smallville. I was very polite and respectful. I said, ‘Peter, my grandma thinks I’m funny and I’ve always wanted to do comedy, and I started out in comedy, and I was doing tons of comedy, and then I was catapulted into this role that I love and it’s been great, but I was contracted for six years to play Lex Luthor, I did seven, and I’m just ready to move on and I’m just ready to take a new step.' He looked at me and says, ‘You know, Julianna Margulies, she turned down millions of dollars to stay with ER and look where she is now.’ It wasn’t two or three years later where she just made a fortune with The Good Wife and all of that, and her career just took off. I said, ‘I’m going to bank on my talent. I’m just going to take a chance on me. I think I’ve done this long enough, I did this character for seven years and I just don’t feel like shaving my head for two more years.’ I came back for the finale, but at the time I just wanted to take a chance."
Rosenbaum went on to explain that he didn't stay up to date with Smallville after leaving and actually stopped watching the show altogether after his departure. However, realising fans wanted to see Lex Luthor make his return in the finale, the actor contacted the network about coming back to the show.
"I finally called them up and said, ‘Hey, look, it’s the last episode ever. I’ll do it, you’ve got me for one day next week.’ When I got there I was, like, ‘What’s happened since I left?’ I had no idea what was going on. There were moments where I just didn’t know what the f— I was doing. I liked my scenes with Tom Welling, but I felt like the show was, for me, done when I left in season seven. Then I sort of did it for the fans and did it for me for closure and to say, ‘Hey, I did come back.’ I did do it, and that’s ultimately why."
It's a shame really that Lex's return was so convoluted, especially as the finale ended with his memories being wiped. A flashforward would later reveal that he became President of the United States, but it definitely could have been handled better. Regardless, Rosenbaum added that he was grateful for the opportunity to play such an iconic character and still appreciates hearing from fans who know him for the role, so he's clearly ok with how things turned out. What do you guys think?