Tom Welling achieved icon status for his role as Superman in Smallville and is now taking on a very different role as Terry in Mafia Wars. Written and directed by Scott Windhauser, the movie also stars Cam Gigandet and Cher Cosenza.
The former Clark Kent plays a recently paroled felon forced to go undercover to bring down the head of the most infamous mob syndicate in Italy. Along the way, Welling goes toe-to-toe with Gigandet and takes centre stage in a shootout filmed in the heart of Rome.
We recently spoke to the actor about Mafia Wars, learning how he approached this project, what it was like shooting in Italy, and some of his action movie influences (it turns out he's a big James Bond fan).
Welling also opens up on a fun scene featuring a few tongue-in-cheek references to his past as Superman and reveals whether he'd like to wear the Man of Steel's iconic costume in a future revival.
You can check out our full interview with Welling on Mafia Wars below.
We’ve seen you do some really cool stuff on screen, and in this movie, there’s a point where you’re in the middle of a gunfight in Rome. Is that gonna go down as one of those career highlight moments for you?
I mean, yes, because it was so immersive. It was very important for Scott, the director, who also wrote it to shoot in Rome. It was a contractual obligation that I agreed to also. We weren’t going to shoot…I love Toronto, but we weren’t going to shoot in Toronto to make it look like Rome. That was important. It really helped because we were there. We were actually doing it. Running around, dressed as a priest, pulling out machine guns…if you could only see the people who were watching us film. They were like, ‘What are you guys doing?’ [Laughs] We looked ridiculous but the police had to keep everyone back because they wanted to watch as what we were doing was so intense. We were right down in the most important parts of Rome. The places that everybody goes. Kudos to the production to allow that to happen. It was a very challenging shoot to arrange all that. It was very important, yeah.
As I said, you have done a lot of action on screen over the years, but when it came to preparing to use the guns and be part of the brutal fights we see in this movie, what was that process like for you in terms of preparation?
I love it. I love it. It’s such a good back-and-forth with the other characters. There’s a lot of trust involved. Sometimes, you work with people that don’t understand that you’re doing the fight sequence, but you’re doing it for a camera that’s over here or over there and you have to know that angle. It’s so much fun when you’re working with somebody who gets that. Working with Cam, who is so unpredictable in the best sense. His psychopath was…I loved it because he was different in every single scene we did. Every single take actually. In the best way. Trying to chase him down and fight him, it was just so much fun and you create such a relationship with another person of trust. Hopefully, that comes across as being of use.
I’m a huge fan of Smallville and there were times you got to explore Clark’s darker side, but in Mafia Wars, you’re thrown into this brutal world of corrupt cops and gangsters; what about that did you enjoy exploring as an actor?
What I liked about Terry is he couldn’t just overpower everybody because of his situation. Even if he was bigger than somebody, he was always trying to think about the repercussions of his actions in order to really protect someone that he loves. Nobody else knows about [that]. I think that was my way into the character because a lot of times, Terry is just sort of watching and seeing what happens because he has to wait. He has to wait for his time to execute.
Cam’s character is such a livewire and, in comparison, you’re playing this very measured guy who just wants his freedom; it’s such a fun dynamic to watch as an audience member, but what was it like for you bouncing off him in the scenes you have together?
It was awesome because I felt like in the most professional way that if I needed something from him, I could ask him for it and vice versa, but he was totally locked in. In between takes, he would be listening to music on headphones and then they’d roll camera and he’d take his headphones off and just be into it. I never knew what he was gonna do but we were both there for each other in the scene. I never thought he was going to be physically actually dangerous, but for the character, you never knew. He was a firecracker and a psychopath. He was great.
There are a couple of fun Superman references in the movie; you’re so beloved as that character, but were they in the script and how did you feel about those Easter Eggs being sprinkled into your conversation with Cam?
I embrace it because I know it’s for the fans. As the character, I think the best way is to let it pass. I was on a TV show called Lucifer for a season and they made a couple of references, but that character was also like, ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ It’s for the fans and I appreciate that because I think people like you get a kick out of it so it’s fun.
Terry’s deadpan reaction just sells the moment in a great way.
Well, thank you.
I know you’ve done action before with Professionals but were there any action heroes of yours that inspired what you brought to the table here?
I mean, man, how much time do you have? James Bond was a big thing for me growing up. I used to pretend to be sick so I didn’t have to go to school some days because I knew my mom would go and get James Bond VHS and I’d watch it all day. That’s the biggest one but I watch every action movie. I mean, the first Iron Man, how can you beat that? I would love to be in more action movies like that, especially the high, crazy level. I’m also a big fan of Westerns. I like a good romantic comedy here and there, but yeah, there’s just…all of them [Laughs]. That’s my answer, I guess.
I know you and Michael are still hoping to develop an animated Smallville sequel, but if the chance ever came up in live-action, would you like to don Superman’s costume? We saw a glimpse in the series finale and you’ve said it was about Clark’s journey for you but would you wear it now?
You know, I think now because of the two boys that I have with my lovely wife...we have a bunch of costumes at home. It started out at the first Halloween and now we have, I don't know, 40 or 50 costumes. The one costume we don't have is the Superman costume. I asked my son why and he said, 'Because he's taken' and I said, 'By who?' 'By [you].' That was like, 'Alright, I think I'm open to the idea now.' So, if you know anybody, I think it would be great. I think it would be fun to be part of.
Terry Jacobs (Tom Welling) is a recently paroled felon forced to go undercover to bring down Griff (Cam Gigandet), the head of the most infamous mob syndicate in Italy.
Mafia Wars is available on Digital and On Demand on October 11.