After meeting Michael for a chat and autograph on Friday I took the opportunity to attend his panel on Saturday. He of course started by promoting his new podcast 'Inside Of You' a one on one discussion he has with an entertainer in his apartment (look out for one with his Smalllville co-star Tom Welling in a week or so). With a title called 'inside of you' it raised a few chuckles with it's no subtle double entendre, something which was referred to in subsequent shout outs.
Smallville
Smallville was inevitably the subject of most questions & Rosenbaum stated how much he enjoyed the show and the reaction it got. He remarked that in some ways Smallville was the first of its kind (with respect to the Reeves era movies & Lois & Clark) in that is was an origin story and he believes that it's success led in some way to the arrival of subsequent shows such as Gotham, Arrow & Flash etc.
One draw back however was the hours in the makeup chair, aside from shaving his head (I can testify to how frustrating this can be!) he was in makeup for two hours a day and hours before anyone else arrived, Lex had to resemble someone who has never had hair so any pigmentation had to be covered by make up, he lost track on how many hours he was in the chair but it was thousands over the years he was in the show.
Rosenbaum believes that Lex's descent into villainy is due to a large part in Clark refusing to disclose his powers to his best friend. 'To be lied to for that amount of time must have an effect in you'.
When asked about whether the romance between Lex & Lana was planned Rosenbaum said 'no, but I was hoping so!' & winks, in acknowledgement of Lana actress Kristin Kreuk's beauty. Rosenbaum jokes 'Sometimes I would go up to her and start talking and then she'd say Michael why are you talking to me today, we have no scenes together'' it was at this point that a few people (including myself I'm sorry to say) suggested that Kristin should be 'inside of you' which got a good laugh.
Aside from the positives he did find the second season very intense to film (some scenes had Lex in a straight jacket) & he needed some levity straight after a take to release some of the strain away. This is where his friendship with Tom Welling developed, they remain friends and Rosenbaum will be attending Welling's 40th Birthday party in a few weeks.
Rosenbaum finished the Smallville section but saying that the show has actually opened doors for him to other projects, most notably his voiceover work as the Flash for Warner Brothers and several other shows (actors in this type of show at this time were famously typecast) it was at this point that he did several examples of the Flash's voice that went down a storm.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Attention turned to Michael's small role as Martinex
in one of the post credits scenes in GOTG 2. Martinex is an original GOTG members in the comics and he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone, Michelle Yeoh & Ving Rhames in the post credits scene 'let's steal some shit' is Sly's rallying call to his troops in the scene.
Rosenbaum remarked that the films director and best friend James Gunn called him and said 'I think I have a role for you, it involves working with Sly Stallone' 'stop there' said Rosenbaum, 'I'm in''.
Rosenbaum shared an anecdote at the films premiere, just after the film had finished Sly went up to Rosenbaum and said 'we are coming back right?' Michael replied 'well you are Sly Stallone, I think you'd know more about it then me!'. As it stands Rosenbaum cannot confirm or deny that he will be back in answer to a fan question but winked as he said it, I think it's safe to assume that he will be.
With that, time beat us and Michael was applauded offstage.
Smallville
Smallville was inevitably the subject of most questions & Rosenbaum stated how much he enjoyed the show and the reaction it got. He remarked that in some ways Smallville was the first of its kind (with respect to the Reeves era movies & Lois & Clark) in that is was an origin story and he believes that it's success led in some way to the arrival of subsequent shows such as Gotham, Arrow & Flash etc.
One draw back however was the hours in the makeup chair, aside from shaving his head (I can testify to how frustrating this can be!) he was in makeup for two hours a day and hours before anyone else arrived, Lex had to resemble someone who has never had hair so any pigmentation had to be covered by make up, he lost track on how many hours he was in the chair but it was thousands over the years he was in the show.
Rosenbaum believes that Lex's descent into villainy is due to a large part in Clark refusing to disclose his powers to his best friend. 'To be lied to for that amount of time must have an effect in you'.
When asked about whether the romance between Lex & Lana was planned Rosenbaum said 'no, but I was hoping so!' & winks, in acknowledgement of Lana actress Kristin Kreuk's beauty. Rosenbaum jokes 'Sometimes I would go up to her and start talking and then she'd say Michael why are you talking to me today, we have no scenes together'' it was at this point that a few people (including myself I'm sorry to say) suggested that Kristin should be 'inside of you' which got a good laugh.
Aside from the positives he did find the second season very intense to film (some scenes had Lex in a straight jacket) & he needed some levity straight after a take to release some of the strain away. This is where his friendship with Tom Welling developed, they remain friends and Rosenbaum will be attending Welling's 40th Birthday party in a few weeks.
Rosenbaum finished the Smallville section but saying that the show has actually opened doors for him to other projects, most notably his voiceover work as the Flash for Warner Brothers and several other shows (actors in this type of show at this time were famously typecast) it was at this point that he did several examples of the Flash's voice that went down a storm.
Guardians of the Galaxy 2
Attention turned to Michael's small role as Martinex
in one of the post credits scenes in GOTG 2. Martinex is an original GOTG members in the comics and he starred alongside Sylvester Stallone, Michelle Yeoh & Ving Rhames in the post credits scene 'let's steal some shit' is Sly's rallying call to his troops in the scene.
Rosenbaum remarked that the films director and best friend James Gunn called him and said 'I think I have a role for you, it involves working with Sly Stallone' 'stop there' said Rosenbaum, 'I'm in''.
Rosenbaum shared an anecdote at the films premiere, just after the film had finished Sly went up to Rosenbaum and said 'we are coming back right?' Michael replied 'well you are Sly Stallone, I think you'd know more about it then me!'. As it stands Rosenbaum cannot confirm or deny that he will be back in answer to a fan question but winked as he said it, I think it's safe to assume that he will be.
With that, time beat us and Michael was applauded offstage.