Michael Rosenbaum as Lex Luthor
Alexander “Lex” Luthor is played by Michael Rosenbaum in the television series,
Smallville. When the meteor shower hit the humble town of Smallville, Lex Luthor, the son of the wealthy Lionel Luthor, had his entire head of bright red hair burned off. Since then, he has been unable to grow back any hair. As an adult, he was driving his Porsche when he lost control and hit the young Clark Kent and subsequently fell off the bridge. Clark, who had just discovered his superhuman powers, rescued Lex from the wreckage, and from that point on, they became a good friends (in an ironic twist of fate, the two would eventually become great enemies).
Their friendship did not sit well with Clark’s adoptive human parents, Jonathan and Martha Kent. Jonathan was afraid that Lex would take after his ruthless father, Lionel Luthor. Although Lex has always had a dysfunctional relationship with his father, he clearly tried hard to gain his father’s approval. Initially, Lex did not display the same characteristics as his father, but he did attempt to impress his father countless of times, and he did this mainly by taking part in his father’s company’s efforts to modernize Smallville. His family history is one of the things that set greatly differentiated him from Clark .Whereas Clark grew up in a very loving and supportive childhood, Lex underwent traumatic experiences and severely lacked parental attention and care.
Lex also tried to gain the acceptance of the Smallville residents, and he did experience some measure of approval, most especially when he set up a successful coffee shop in the town. However, despite displaying an inclination towards the good, Lex eventually turned to his bad side, a decision that was fueled by his ailing friendship with Clark. In an effort to expose Clark’s superhuman abilities, he had Lana Lang (Clark’s love interest), Clark and Clark’s parents taken hostage, and later even engaged in a romantic relationship with Lana. Lex and Lana eventually got married, and this, along with Lex’s kryptonite research, finally destroyed whatever thread of friendship was left between him and Clark.
(Photo courtesy of Jeffrey Thurnher)