Tom Welling was born on the 26th of April, 1977 in New York. He comes from a family of six which includes his brother Mark, who also acts and two older sisters. Acting wasn’t originally in Tom’s plans though he took part in many school plays and pageants up until High School until venturing into basketball. After graduation he bypassed college with the ambition of becoming a construction worker.

Tom with the late Christopher Reeves

Opportunity and the world of showbiz came a knocking when while on vacation in Nantucket in the Spring of 1997, Tom was approached by a scout for the Ambercrombie and Fitch catalog. Over the new two years Tom continued to model with New York Model Management and his career took him to countries like Italy, Germany and Spain. He recently acknowledged he far prefers his current career of acting, "You know one of the things about going from modeling to acting is it's so much more fulfilling. With modeling, you get your picture taken, which is great, good for you, you know? But in acting, you're able to reach in and show a little bit more of yourself."

It was in 1998 while still modeling that he Jamie White. The two married in 2002.

A "Smallville" promo picture

In 2000 Tom moved out to LA to try a career in acting. He got roles in numerous commercials and appeared in a couple of episodes of the show “Judging Amy” in which he played a karate instructor and romantic interest to the title character. When he was offered the role of Clark on “Smallville” he turned the part down twice before changing his mind. “What gives me the most satisfaction is watching the pilot, because we've come along so far--myself included. That always puts a smile on my face, because at the time I was really figuring it all out at once, but now we've all grown up a little bit: the production, myself, the scripts, the storylines. Everything! For me it's very entertaining to watch Clark.”

Tom in 'Cheaper by the Dozen'

The Summer of 2003 was hectic for Tom; he juggled shooting “Smallville” as well as his first feature film; Cheaper by the Dozen in which he played the eldest Baker son. At a press conference for the movie held in December, Tom said that having been a fan since childhood, he accepted the role for three reasons: Steve Martin; Steve Martin and Steve Martin. Tom also got to work with Ashton Kutcher, an old friend who he’d modeled with in younger days. The film was a box office hit which led to a sequel in 2005. The same year Tom appeared in the horror film The Fog which co-starred Maggie Grace from “Lost”.

Tom in 'Cheaper by the Dozen 2'

It’s been a crazy seven years since “Smallville” debuted by Tom insists you learn to deal with the chaos, “I have so much chaos in my life, it's become normal. You become used to it. You have to just relax, calm down, take a deep breath and try to see how you can make things work rather than complain about how they're wrong.”

DC Comic fans are excited about the upcoming Justice League film. “Smallville” fans will remember the introduction of the Justice league characters in Season six of Smallville and recently there has been a lot of speculation on casting for the big screen version, including rumors that Tom Welling might play Superman in the film as well. Gregory Noveck, Senior Vice President Creative Affairs for DC Comics recently assured fans that it is

Erica Durance and Tom Welling in Smallville

“not happening, if for no other reason than it would just confuse the issue… I think part of it is that the character is larger than the actor. If you look at Batman, Superman and Justice League as separate franchises, if all of a sudden you have Brandon in it but you don’t have Christian, then what movie is it? I think you have to have it stand on its own... I don’t really see it as a conflict. And it’s better for the actors, frankly. If there are a couple of guys playing Batman or Superman, at least those guys don’t get pigeon-holed for the rest of their careers.”

You can catch a few new episodes of “Smallville” which returns to the CW this month. Due to the writers strike only a few more episodes are complete and the show will soon resort to either re-runs or a hiatus until the strike is resolved.

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