Justin Hartley makes directorial debut with Friday’s ‘Smallville’ episode

Even as Smallville flies faster than a speeding bullet toward its final episode May 13, the long-running CW TV series is still finding ways to make some milestones before saying goodbye. Tomorrow night’s episode marks one more: the directorial debut of Justin Hartley, who’s been playing the role of Oliver Queen (aka superhero archer Green Arrow) since the sixth season. In the upcoming episode — titled “Dominion” — Oliver, who’s been marked by Darkseid’s omega symbol, tags along with Clark Kent (Tom Welling) when he ventures to the Phantom Zone, a prison universe that’s now ruled by Zod (a returning Callum Blue). “They tell me it’s good. It’s right up my alley,” Hartley says, laughing. While he’s sorry to see Smallville ending after 10 seasons, the actor admits he’s also glad in a way. “We did a good job wrapping it up. It’s time, man. Ten years is a long time.” I talked with Hartley, 34, yesterday about directing tomorrow’s episode, what fans expect for the last few hours of the series and what co-star he was not-so-secretly psyched about working with, so read below for our conversation and check out this clip from tomorrow’s Smallville.

Photos courtesy of The CW

So explain how you finally were able to direct an episode.
The way this whole thing happened is pretty funny. At the very beginning of Season 8, I had a meeting with [executive producer] Kelly Souders. She took me out to lunch and we sat down and she wanted to know what I thought about my character and where my headspace was and all that. We had this really great conversation, and at the very end I said, “Hey, listen. I’ve got a question off topic. You know how some of these actors have directed episodes, like Tom and Michael [Rosenbaum] and Allison [Mack]?” She goes, “Yeah. You’d be great. I tell you what, if we do a 10th season, absolutely you can direct.” And I said, “OK, I’m gonna take you up on that offer. Absolutely. But that’s not what I was going to ask you.” All the color wiped away from her face and she was like, “Hmmm?” I said, “Have you ever had any actor ask to write an episode?” Then she became clear, and you could see the veins and the bones. Obviously the answer was no, but I convinced her and said, “Hey, if I wrote a Smallville spec, would you read it?” She goes, “Oh yeah, I’ll read it, so I handed it to her because I’d already written it.” The writing thing ensued, and then I took her up on her offer to direct. I never even really asked for it directly. I like to tell the story she’s the one who came to me and told me she wanted me to do it, but that’s not really how it went. I had a great time. I hope everyone loves it, I know I love it, and I think people will really like it. I didn’t know I would enjoy it as much as I did. I knew it was going to be a lot of hard work, and I had a feeling I would like it. I didn’t know I was going to love it. And I want to do it again.

How many times did you have Callum say, “Kneel before Zod!” just because it’s an awesome line?
Yeah, 13. [Laughs] I think I had him do it about 13 or 14 times: “Play it again, dude!” He’s awesome.

It’s cool we get to see Zod again after he was sent to the Phantom Zone.
Well, that’s where we see him now. We go to the Phantom Zone and we find him there. He’s become the ruler of the Phantom Zone, and it’s like, “Of course he has. That’s what he does.” It was really great to have him back. He’s a really strong actor — I’ve always been a fan of his work. We hung out while he was on Smallville before, and I’ve always enjoyed working with him. I’d like to work with him again. He’s a joy to be around.

You get to work again with Tom a lot in this episode. Now that we’re nearing the end of the series, did you cherish those moments a little more because these are some of the last scenes you’d be doing with him?
I’d like to tell you yes, but I cherished every moment I think I ever had on that show. I remember standing in the rain, freezing my ass off, not being able to catch a flight back home to see my family because of some situation or snow or something. I love actors, and those people are actors. Whether you like them or you don’t — most people do — they’re all actors and great people. The flights weren’t fun, being away from your family is not fun, but that’s what we do. I tell you what what I really did cherish, though — and I kind of became a fan more than anything, and had to stop myself and go, “Dude, calm down!” — was when I finally got to be in scenes with John Schneider. I don’t know what happened to me. The dude is like the coolest guy in the world. He’s a regular dude. He almost doesn’t know who he is. He’s just like, “I’m just like everybody else, right?” And to me, he’s not! He’s a Duke, are you kidding me? I had [Dukes of Hazzard] bed sheets, the Big Wheel, the tennis shoes, the lunchbox — I had everything. If I had enough money, I would buy a General Lee right now and just drive it around. This guy, he has no idea of what that’s like to have that out there. He just acts like a regular guy.

How much will we see Oliver in these last episodes? Will we see how his relationship with Chloe wraps up and if he’ll get that omega symbol off his skull?
We figure all that out. For good or bad, it’s all wrapped up. From “Dominion” on to the end, he’s pretty heavy. My goofy friend Eric Martsolf was in last week’s episode — I wasn’t in that one. That dude is hilarious.

Yeah, you guys and your wife Lindsay used to be on Passions together. I think he needs his own Booster Gold spinoff.
He’s something else. That’s him. If you’re around him, that is him. He comes to my house every week, and I swear to God, sometimes he smiles and I do see the “TING!” in his teeth. He’s like a drawing. He’s awesome. So I wasn’t in for a while, and now when I come back, I come back pretty heavy. It’s a fun way to end.

Is there a scene in the last episode that you’ll always find memorable and you’ll want to revisit with your 6-year-old daughter Isabella one day?
Probably the last moment I’m on screen is something that is pretty iconic. Everyone’s gonna love it. It almost has nothing to do with me, but I’m on the screen and it’s pretty awesome.

Do you hope to do more of the directing and writing soon?
I’ve certainly written since Smallville with my writing partner. Walter [Wong] and I have a couple of specs out and there’s a little heat behind a few of them. For the directing thing, I’m not even really sure how to pursue that, to be honest with you. I guess that’s the phone call I need to have with my agent. I would love to direct a little indie film. I think that would be neat. It’s more of a clean slate when you start, as opposed to “Here’s a formula and go with it.” Smallville’s absolutely got a formula — I mean, it’s been around for 10 years, it works and you don’t stray from it — but I found that within that box, you have a ton of room for creativity and stuff from your own heart. I would love to direct again, that would be fun, but first and foremost I’m an actor. There’s nothing that compares to acting on the planet. Music and acting, and I don’t play any instruments but I love music. Acting to me can’t be beat.

I interviewed your wife when she was on Smallville earlier this season, and she mentioned you had superhero items around the house—
She said that?! Oh, comics. Yeah, OK, there are. It’s funny she said that because we have nothing in the house. There’s like one thing, and it’s a poster that someone gave me and it’s in my office in the closet. I have a ton of comics now, and people would give them to me. But more so, I bought most of them to do research. I played Aquaman on that Mercy Reef pilot, and obviously I know who Aquaman is but I didn’t know the ends and outs of him, his origin, where he came from, all that stuff. The best way to figure it out is to buy the comics. So I spent tons of money on these comics and did all this research. And then when I got the Green Arrow role, I did the exact same thing: I just bought every comic I could find that was Green Arrow-related and read all of them. The one thing you don’t want is to go to Comic-Con and have these people who have taken time out of their lives to follow you or the show, and they ask you a question and you have no idea. You don’t want that. So I became well versed on Aquaman and Green Arrow. And I have a bunch of Green Arrow action figures that have been given gifted to me. As far as other stuff goes, I was always a sports guy more than a superhero guy.

Do you have something lined up for a next role?
Yeah, I’m doing the Die Hard series. No, I’m kidding! [Laughs] I have a couple of things I’m looking at, but I think right now I’m going to chill for a bit and wait until something that comes across my table that I just absolutely have to do and then I’ll fight to get it. Until that happens, I’m going to enjoy my family for a while because I think I’ve earned it.

Has Smallville helped you in your career in terms of getting your face and name out there?
Well, we’ll see. [Laughs] I think so. I’ve certainly seen myself grow on the show and certain people have, and people who have been watching me before on different shows I’ve been on have probably seen me grow. And hopefully I’ll continue to grow the rest of my life. I’m proud of my work on the show. It’s a genre where you have to talk like people don’t normally talk, you’re doing things that are not things everyday people do, and you have to ground it and it’s difficult. I think we all do a really good job at it.