Smallville Preview: Will Lois and the Blur Make for a Hot Story?

This week on the CW's Smallville (Thursdays, 8 pm/ET), the increasingly intrepid reporter Lois Lane decides that to "catch" a superhero, one must become one. Literally. In Part 1 of our Q&A with Erica Durance, the actress discusses Lois' wild plan, shares the secrets behind her skintight outfit, and previews Smallville's next step toward the Superman mythology's famous love "triangle."

TVGuide.com: Let's talk about this week's episode, "Stiletto": What is Lois up to?
Erica Durance: [Laughs] When I got this script I had such a good laugh, and I was so excited. Just the whole aspect that Lois gets this bright idea of, "What other way to get a story than be the story?" Once again, she gets into a fight and has to teach a guy a lesson, because he tries to mess with Chloe, and that gives her the idea to become a superhero. She makes her own costume — because apparently she can whip out a leather outfit on a whim — and becomes "Stiletto." 

TVGuide.com: Does this ultimately fall under the heading of "ill-advised ideas"?
Durance: She finds out, as time goes by, that perhaps it wasn't her best idea. There are a couple of close calls with some of her friends, and she realizes that this is maybe not the best way to go about getting a story. But what I love about Lois is that she's willing to go and give 200 percent to something like that, and if she's wrong, she's willing to say, "Hey, I'm human, and it was a bad idea." But through all of this, she does get one thing — her first one-on-one phone conversation with the Red-Blue Blur. 

TVGuide.com: A phone conversation, eh? Because in the spring preview I got from the producers, they said that the most romantic moment comes in this episode: "Phone booth. Lois. Red-Blue Blur."
Durance: What I find is really beautiful about it is that it's starting that mythology that everyone loves — Lois Lane's obsession and absolute love for the Red-Blue Blur and her kind of dismissal of Clark as this somewhat dweeby guy who works at the newspaper. But what's really lovely is you get to see Clark see Lois in a totally different light — she's smitten and sweet, and her barriers are down as she's talking to the Red-Blue Blur — and that is really romantic. I loved shooting it. 

TVGuide.com: So this episode will bring Lois and the Red-Blue Blur closer, but not necessarily Lois and Clark?
Durance: It brings Lois and the Blur closer, and then from Clark's point of view, he becomes closer to Lois, because he gets to see this side of her that is so honest and very, very generous. From there, [the writers] start building things for the remainder of this season. 

TVGuide.com: What's the hardest thing you had to do there in the stilettos?
Durance: When I had to swing through the roof, on the wire [harness], and kick the guy in the face, that was really hard. Here's a tidbit: I had two costumes — one I could wear while doing stunts and that I could somewhat move around in, and a "hero" version that I literally could not sit down in. They had to make me a "leaning post," where in between takes I could lean back. I was like Hannibal Lecter. 

TVGuide.com: Why couldn't you sit down in the "hero" costume?
Durance: Because it was all leather, from head to toe, and the boots were past my thigh. Plus I'm in 6-inch stilettos. When I think of all the strange costumes I have worn on the show, this one takes the cake! 

Next week, in Part 2 of our Q&A: Erica Durance reflects on one of this season's most challenging episodes, then looks ahead to a big season-finale showdown. (And no, we're not talking about that one.)

Watch a preview of "Stiletto" below: