Cassidy Freeman, mostly known for her outstanding performance on Smallville as Tess Mercer, took time out of her extremely busy schedule to talk to us for a little bit.
Tess is one of my favorite characters on Smallville, so we had to ask what’s it like playing a character with so many different dynamics. “It’s really, really great and I often think of her as the only human character on the show because she’s not actually in the mythos, so it’s given me the opportunity to act through passion instead of a predestined way of being, which I love.” Originally, many fans of the show thought that Tess was actually supposed to be Mercy, a loyal minion of Lex Luthor, but she is truly a Smallville original. Cassidy admitted that she didn’t always know that Tess was a Luthor and didn’t think it was always planned by the writers, but was glad for the reveal. “I think it adds a lot of credibility to her character.”
When Tess came onto the scene, it was clear that she already had a long standing relationship with Lex, but the specifics weren’t revealed. Tess has one scene with Lex in the finale. “It was really, really fun. It was a cool scene and it was such a joy to get to work with him...finally.” When asked if they would explain their past relationship, Cassidy said, “They take care of all of the questions.”
“I can tell you that she has a big decision to make and that’s whether or not she’s gonna go with her blood–the Luthors–or if she’s gonna choose to stay on Clark and Oliver’s side.” We’ll have to wait until the finale to see if Tess will ultimately be good or bad, but Cassidy admits that, “Both are really fun. When I’m fighting, I prefer bad Tess, because I usually win. But being good Tess allows me to have a lot more emotion.”
But Smallville fans will be glad to know that Cassidy feels that Tess has a great resolution by the end of the show. “I think she has a perfect resolution. It’s awesome. I love it!” She does not think the fans will be disappointed at all!
For the full interview, go to http://www.thegorgeousgeeks.com/cassidyfreeman.html