The News Herald (Willoughby, OH)
REFLECTIONS OF A (FICTIONAL) BROWNS QB
Tom Welling of ‘Smallville’ to appear at Wizard World in Cleveland, where he filmed ‘Draft Day’
Tom Welling has been on the comic-convention circuit for a little more than a year, and he enjoys it. ¶ “People don’t wait in the line to say they hate you,” he said with a laugh during a recent phone interview from Los Angeles. “I have a lot of fun at these events. It’s like going to a Browns game. You’re hoping to have fun.” ¶ More on the Browns in a moment.
The love Welling receives at conventions are the perks of playing an iconic character on TV for a decade.
Now 41, Welling burst onto the scene as an actor portraying a young Clark Kent in the hit TV series “Smallville” that lasted for 10 seasons, from 2001 to 2011.
Welling is among a plethora of celebrity quests coming to Cleveland for Wizard World Cleveland March 8 through 10 at the Huntington Convention Center. The list includes “Aquaman” star Jason Momoa and Sean Astin (“Lord of the Rings,” “Stranger Things”).
Welling will make appearances March 9 and 10. It will be Welling’s first trip back to Cleveland since he spent a few weeks in town filming 2014’s “Draft Day.” Browns fans should remember that movie.
It starred Kevin Costner as Browns general manager Sonny Weaver Jr. Welling was featured in the film as Brian Drew, the team’s starting quarterback, who was returning from a knee injury.
The film’s plot — yes, this is so Cleveland — involves the QB position. The fan base and Weaver’s boss, team owner Anthony Molina (Frank Langella), want him to draft hotshot Heisman Trophy-winning QB Bo Callahan, which would mean the end of Drew’s career in Cleveland.
In reality — in some shape or form since the team returned in 1999 — QB has been a constant topic of discussion for Browns fans. Five years later, Welling still follows the Browns on a casual level, and he smiles when he reads good headlines surrounding the team, mostly because the team seems finally to have found its franchise QB in Baker Mayfield.
“Seeing the Browns getting better makes me happy,” said Welling.
He’s not sure what to expect upon his return to Cleveland. When asked how he would react if a Browns fan yelled, “Hey, Brian Drew!,” Welling said, “You think that’s gonna happen?”
When asked if he saw someone at Wizard World wearing a Browns jersey with “Drew” on the back, Welling said: “That would be awesome. I want one.”
Welling never played organized football growing up. He was a baseball, basketball and soccer player, and he said his arm was pretty good as a pitcher. He also can zing the football.
“I threw the football to some Browns players while we were filming,” Welling recalled. “I thought my arm was pretty good; then I saw (the Browns) QBs throwing it ... I was blown away.”
Welling also threw out the first pitch at an Indians game during his stay in Northeast Ohio while filming.
When he was approached to star in “Draft Day,” he was attracted to the script and the chance to work with Costner. A key scene in the film features an upset Drew, upon learning Weaver might draft Callahan, confronting his GM and demanding a trade.
“That day I had on set with him, I was very nervous,” said Welling. “I remember messing up my line, and was like, ‘Don’t worry about it.’ He made things very comfortable.”
Drew has only a handful of scenes in the film, but Drew’s name is mentioned throughout. His one-onone with Costner was notable in another sense. Welling usually sports a full head of flowing locks, but for “Draft Day” he shaved his head military style. That decision has brought out some interesting comments from fans in the last five years.
“One of things I get the most is people coming up to me and saying, ‘You know, I watched this film ‘Draft Day,’ and I think you’re in it,’” said Welling.
On the opposite end of his career, there’s no confusing die-hard Superman fans about Welling’s longtime role on “Smallville,” even if he donned the iconic red-and-blue costume for just a few seconds in the last scene of the series finale. Welling appreciated that decision from the getgo.
“It was always that way. We never wanted Clark to wear the costume,” he said. “I remember (in the finale) script, they had Clark wearing the suit and rescuing an airplane, and I told them, ‘This isn’t who this character is.’
“I think (the series finale) needed to be different, and I’m proud how we finished the show. It gave people hope, and it allowed people’s imagination to go anywhere it wanted.”
Asked if he ever dreamed or wanted to don Superman’s iconic costume, Welling said, “No. Not once.”
In the final scene of “Draft Day,” Welling is wearing a Browns uniform (spoiler: Weaver never trades Drew), and leading the team onto the field before a game at FirstEnergy Stadium.
It was a scene that surely gave frustrated Browns fans in 2014 a ray of hope for better days ahead — whether it was Brian Drew five years ago or Baker Mayfield today.