The Real Reason Michael Rosenbaum Left Smallville After Season 7
The Lex Luthor actor left the show after the original writing duo quit.
Smallville was one of the best shows of the 2000s, following the day-to-day life of Clark Kent on his way to becoming the DC Universe's most powerful superhero, Superman. For its first seven seasons, Michael Rosenbaum was a big part of the show, playing Clark's archenemy Lex Luthor.
With the actor's departure after Season 7, the series never felt the same again and subsequently came to a close in Season 10.
So why did Michael Rosenbaum decide to abandon his role on the popular series?
On May 19, Alfred Gough and Miles Millar joined Rosenbaum on his podcast, Inside of You, dedicated to psychology and celebrities' careers. This creative duo is now better known for Netflix's recent hit, Wednesday, but they once made a name for themselves as writers and producers for Smallville.
As part of the conversation with Gough and Millar, Rosenbaum also discussed the reason for his departure from the show.
'Part of that reason was two other people left after Season 7. It was you guys [Gough and Millar],' Michael said. 'I knew that was happening, and I just felt like this is kind of the end, this is the time.'
Gough and Millar originally planned to write Smallville for five years, but The CW, aware of the show's high ratings, wanted to extend it for a few more seasons. Eventually, sensing that their creative flair for the Clark Kent series had run its course, the writers left the project in April 2009, passing the baton to the show's other executive producers — Brian Peterson, Darren Swimmer, Kelly Souders, and Todd Slavkin.
Rosenbaum, who had signed on through Season 7, also left the show after them, realizing his character had nothing left to say.
'This was the end of the road for us. We had no more stories to tell,' the actor concluded.
His words, however, were not a rebuke to those writers and producers who continued to work on the show after Millar and Gough called it quits. In the conversation, all three praised the work of their colleagues but noted that their creative paths had simply diverged, making it the best time to move on.
Source: Inside Of You podcast.