Smallville’s Cassidy Freeman Gives Destiny a Push

May 14, 2009 by Cynthia

It’s been a “TV year” since Cassidy Freeman joined Smallville as Tess Mercer, the new editor of the Daily Planet and foil for Clark Kent. But even after all this time, there are still quite a few mysteries surrounding this tough, no-nonsense lady. We know she has ties to Lex Luther (she’s living in his mansion, for heaven’s sake!) and we know she had a steamy romance with Oliver Queen and she seems to have a handle on Clark Kent. But the big question still remains — is Tess only out to save Tess, or is she secretly one of the good guys?

I went right to the source for the answer and here’s what Cassidy Freeman had to say.

Cyn: So, flat out, is Tess a good guy or a bad guy?

Cassidy: She’s a tricky one, isn’t she? It’s funny because people always ask; is she a hero or is she a villain, and I don’t think that she’s either. I think that she’s passionate; I think that she’s someone that’s driven by what she wants and how she feels. They did such a good job of making her quite ambiguous which makes her very frustrating, but it’s also fun to play.

Cyn: It’s interesting that you say she’s driven by how she feels, because there are times when it seems like she doesn’t feel anything! She’s one tough lady.

Cassidy: I think it’s really cool that they’ve got this hardcore woman that everyone thinks is supposed to be very hard-shelled, very business and actually all of her motives are born out of her emotion. She genuinely wants the best for Clark and I think that kind of tough love is her point. She wants him to be what he’s supposed to be and maybe not for him, maybe for herself, maybe for humanity, but she needs for that to happen. She’s willing to kill people to do it, obviously.

Cyn: We have seen a few glimpses of her softer side, particularly in her relationship to Oliver. Does Tess have an Achilles heel?

Cassidy: Yeah, absolutely. It’s all in the timing – someone has to hit it and she has to be willing to let it be hit, because I think that she is very strong. She’s very in control of herself. She’s able to put up those walls, but I definitely think that someone could hit it, Oliver has hit it. That that’s why he seems to be her Achilles heel and then she has to so tightly grasp it back together because he was a part of her life when she was most vulnerable and being vulnerable is not something that she’s used to being.

Cyn: This season you have the pleasure of being directed by two of your co-stars. Last week Tom Welling directed you in “Injustice.” How was that?

Cassidy: It was a lot of fun. Tom was the only director that actually gave me homework before the episode started – he made me watch a Danny Boyle movie called Sunshine. It’s kind of like a team of people who go out and try to reactivate the sun, it’s a really beautiful movie and I don’t know why it didn’t get more press. He made me watch it, then it got me all excited for the episode and then it was all kind of done so amazing. Tom and I get along very well and being directed by a fellow actor, especially for me who maybe doesn’t know all the directors that well, it was really nice to be directed by someone that I had a relationship with prior to the episode.

Cyn: Earlier this year, Allison Mack directed you in “Power.” Tell me about that.

Cassidy: [Power] was the first one that Allison directed, so everything that she lacked in knowledge of camera, she made up for it by really knowing the motive of the characters and really knowing the story that she wanted to tell, even if she didn’t have the ability or the vocabulary to tell it yet on the technical side. Whereas Tom has directed a bunch of episodes, and he’s also just been there for eight years, he’s super savvy and very quick to know how things are suppose to look.

They are a bit different. Allison likes to dig in there and get into the conflicts, and the motives, and the reasons. Tom’s a little more laid back and very linear about his story telling, which then ends up looking beautiful. Also, Tom does this great thing – I don’t know if he always does this, but he did it – we’ll do some takes, we’ll get the coverage we need and then at the end he’ll go okay this one’s for you, and he’ll let the actors just do one for themselves i.e. go for it. And he said nine times out of ten that’s the take he chooses, which is really cool.

Cyn: Incredibly, it’s been almost a year since you started.

Cassidy: Nine months, it’s my baby.

Cyn: So how have thing changed for you, either on set, off set? It’s got to be a big shift.

Cassidy: It is a big shift and it’s funny that you say shift because it makes me think shifting a car. It’s kind of like, now I’ve shifted into second gear, but I’m also kind of on a plateau. You know when you’re looking for a job and you’re trying to find what the next thing is, you often feel like you’re chugging up a hill. Looking for work is work. So now, I went straight from looking for work, into doing work – really hard work.

The beginning of the season, especially, was pretty rough hours and there was so much change, I almost felt like an athlete training for something. When I wasn’t working, I was sleeping – I was so exhausted – but it was really great conditioning and it totally changes my rhythm of life. Now, if I get a week off, I take it off. I don’t stress about what I could be doing, I do the things I wanted to do that I haven’t been able to do, like paint my bathroom. And now, once in a while, I get recognized which is really cool.

Cyn: Are you anything like Tess Mercer?

Cassidy: No, I’m not. People who meet me, they’re like, ‘wait a second… you’re that evil bitch on television?’ I’m like, ‘yes, yes I am.’ I’m also like 5′10, so I try not to wear heels whenever I don’t have to.

Cyn: Tess is surrounded by superheroes. Who are the superheroes in your life?

Cassidy: That’s such a great question! I just got to spend some time with my mom and grandmother in Tulsa, Oklahoma and they are superheroes in my life. They are just so cool. And you know what else? I come home after nine months of living in Vancouver pretty much the whole time, and I get to sit down with my friends for more that ten minutes . . . I get to hear about all that they have done and all that they are doing, and I’m just so thankful to be surround by them. All my friends, they’re doing so well. It’s all just like more fuel for the fire, I feel like we’re all just standing around a big bonfire and just throwing in our achievements and it’s growing bigger and I’m just so proud of them. I’m proud of the people in my life.

Cyn: It’s interesting to note that both Smallville and Supernatural have taken up the question of destiny and if people can be redeemed… what are your thoughts about destiny and whether we can escape our fate?

Cassidy: I think that everything can change, but you have to make it change. You can’t sit back and let things happen. I attempted to learn to surf a year and a half ago. I was okay…. people always say surfing is life and I’m like you’re on drugs, surfing is not life, surfing is a sport. But if you have a surfboard and you’re out there and you’re paddling against the waves, if you wait for the wave to hit you you’re going to get pummeled every time. You have to charge the wave. That doesn’t mean you have to be crazy aggressive and angry and flailing, but you have to have a steady attack on that wave to get through it and I think that is a metaphor for life. You have to know, you don’t have to charge, you don’t have to be aggressive, but you have to be clear and you have to be focused and specific about what you want. And I think that we can do that in our lives everyday, lots of little things – like doing the dishes. I woke up this morning and I said I have to do my dishes and I did them.

As cheesy as it sounds, I always knew that this is what I wanted to do and there were a lot of times where I didn’t think I could, where I had these belief systems of I’m to old, I’m too tall, I’m too whatever. Whatever people try and make you believe because they believe it of themselves. And you really just have to make your own rules for things and then your fate in inevitable and it’s exactly what you want it to be.

Find out the fate of Davis Bloome, Clark Kent, Tess Mercer and the whole gang when Smallville wraps up another season tonight at 8:00 on The CW.