Supergirl Helen Slater Previews Her Smallville Visit

On the heels of Dean Cain's guest spot last month, another actor with ties to the Man of Steel mythos lands in Smallville (8 pm/ET, CW) tonight when 1984's big-screen Supergirl, Helen Slater, begins a two-episode arc as Clark's Kryptonian mom, Lara.

"You know how people love this kind of stuff," enthuses Slater, adding that we first meet a pregnant Lara in Superlore-tweaking flashbacks set on her doomed home planet. "After learning that Krypton is going to be destroyed, I go through a portal to Smallville to see where my baby will be raised... because [her husband] Jor-El has already been to Earth and picked the Kents to be Clark's family."

In a passing-of-the-torch touch, Supermom makes the trip with her niece Kara, better known now, of course, as Supergirl. And it's a good thing, too, because what the two ladies learn in the past may be Clark's only hope for a future after someone else from his bloodline shows up in what Slater describes as an "intense, highly stylized episode" next week. But before then, we had to ask Slater a few more questions about her ties to the superhero world and what she thought of her own time in the tights.

TVGuide.com: This is a big deal for Superman fans.
Slater: I know! This is very fun. I went to Metropolis in Illinois this year — you know how they do that Superman festival every year? And there were so many Smallville fans who were saying to me, just before I knew I was doing this, "Is there any way you might ever be on Smallville?" I guess one of the actresses was supposed to be there — I think it was Erica [Durance, who plays Lois], but she had something come up — so Smallville was on everybody's mind. When I booked this, a friend of mine said, "You're going back to your roots!"

TVGuide.com: What do you think of Supergirl now? I mean, that was your first big role, right?
Slater: It was. You know, I was 18 years old when I got the part. I had freshly graduated from a performing-arts high school, and for me, it was just such an incredible experience to go live in England for a year and be a part of filmmaking... and I, of course, had no idea what that was about.

TVGuide.com: That must have been insane!
Slater: The whole thing was pretty astonishing. [Laughs] I am very, very grateful for that experience. Even though I know the film wasn't as well received and there are things with the storyline that I think could have been different... I don't know. [Laughs] It's interesting. I met a bunch of comic-book writers at the Metropolis convention and there was such an interesting discussion about the story of Supergirl and trying to get it right. It can be a challenge, because you don't want it to be the same as the Superman story.

TVGuide.com: In retrospect, it does have a certain level of camp appeal.
Slater: Right, but they could have done much more! [Laughs]

TVGuide.com: How did Smallville approach you with this role?
Slater: All I knew is that I got a call asking if I would be interested in playing — I forget how they put it — either Supergirl's aunt or Superman's mother. One way or the other, I was definitely interested. I think the show is fantastic. It's shot so beautifully and the actors are wonderful.

TVGuide.com: What is with this character?
Slater: It's really interesting. It's such a great storyline they've come up with. My husband, Jor-El, and his brother Zor-El are in a rivalry for me. And I end up marrying Jor-El.... We're Kal-El's parents. At the time that I get pregnant — this is the Smallville invention, although I think there is a pretty rigorous clearance process with DC — [we learn of Krypton's fate]. So when I'm seen, it's me visiting the Kent farm and the house to see where Clark will grow up, and Kara [Laura Vandervoort] is there with me.

TVGuide.com: Will we see Annette O'Toole or John Schneider?
Slater: No, it's just me and Kara in this flashback. Then you find out that the evil brother Zor-El is this mad scientist who (Spoiler alert) has figured out how to replicate my DNA in this crystal.

TVGuide.com: How many episodes is this?
Slater: It's only two, but I know! It's like mini-movies!

TVGuide.com: Fans are going to eat this up.
Slater: I think it's very fun. I didn't know much about the Smallville history, but now that they're seven seasons in, it must be so much fun for them to do stuff like this.

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