The CW Source

Happy 36th birthday to Michael Rosenbaum, the man behind one of our favorite charismatic villains on the CW. His Lex Luthor is all snaky charisma and off-kilter charm. We know he's evil, and even so, we can't help but be swept away by him. We've seen Lex kidnap innocent people, perform experiments on the meteor-infected, lie, steal, shoot people, attempt to create his own army, and oh yeah, throw his own father off a building and to his death. But despite all of that, Lex just leaves us weak in the knees.

Alas, we're not going to have Lex to swoon over next season on Smallville. We were a bit shocked when Michael announced he was leaving Smallville. Of course, he was his usual sweet, funny self in his note to fans on his web site: "I hope that I gave you some enjoyment over the years, and that you found my portrayal of Lex Luthor to be satisfying. I am truly grateful, as Smallville fans are the best fans out there. I sincerely hope that you will continue to follow my career through my hair growth period and beyond."

That's one of the only upsides we can see about Michael leaving Smallville -- poor Michael can finally stop shaving his head!

Much as we'll miss Michael's Lex, we're looking forward to seeing him take on his post-Smallville career. Will he go the hero route? After all, he already provided the voice of the Flash in the Justice League cartoon. Or will we get to see more of Michael's comedy chops, like what we've seen in Sorority Boys or Kickin It Old Skool? Whatever role he chooses, we'll be watching!

Until he figures out his next step, we bet Michael will be kicking back and enjoying life. We hope he spent his birthday doing something he loved, like playing hockey or listening to some serious 80s rock. Or maybe he combined both loves, and played hockey against the members of Journey while Foreigner sang! Rock on!

Happy birthday, Michael, and thanks for giving us seven years of Lex. We can't wait to see what's next.

Leave your birthday wishes for Michael in the comments!

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Last week we unveiled Part One of our exclusive interview with Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum. This time around he has a lot to say about his character's relationship with the controversial Lana Lang, plus what it's like kissing Kristin Kreuk (*blush*). Watch now!

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A couple of weeks ago we asked y'all to send in your questions to Smallville star Michael Rosenbaum. Here's The CW Source's interview with the infamous Lex Luthor. Thanks for your questions and enjoy! (Stay tuned for the second part of this interview next week!)

Posted by Claire at 11:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (56) | TrackBacks (0)

Michael Rosenbaum is amazing as Lex Luthor on Smallville, but - as all his die-hard fans know - he's quite the funnyman as well. Another Rosenbaum comedy, Kickin' It Old Skool, opens nationwide this Friday.

Prankster Jamie Kennedy gets top billing as a comatose 12-year-old breakdancer who emerges from unconsciousness twenty years later, soon finding his moves and mannerisms a tad bit outdated and his parents' financial situtation in dire straits. Realistic? Maybe not. But hilarious? Hey, why not?

Rosenbaum once again is the bad guy, this time the fiancé of Jamie's love interest, played by Maria Menounos. Hmm, the parallels... Of course, playing the badass in an '80s spoof is pretty different from portraying one of the most nefarious characters in comic book history. We don't think Michael's in any danger of getting typecast as a heavy anytime soon.

Check out this interview with MR for more scoop on our favorite baddie and his new flick. It's pretty sweet. (And don't forget to ask some questions of your own for our future interview!)

We love it when Rosenbaum is evil, but we also think laughter is the greatest feeling in the world. Do you like your Mike funny or dramatic?

EARLIER: 'Progeny': Family Matters

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Every single day we thank our lucky stars that we get to write about our favorite network, The CW. And now we have one more star, who's not just lucky but incredibly talented and fun, to thank... Smallville's Michael Rosenbaum! YES! We're going to interview him! Squee!!!!

Okay, we're outta schoolgirl crush mode now. We think. Anyway, we have a ton of things we want to ask him, but we're sure you do too. Here's your chance. Post your questions here!

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Michael Rosenbaum is in demand these days. Not only did he just finish directing his first episode of Smallville, but now he has two upcoming film projects, a comedy, Kicking It Old Skool, and an animated flick, Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight.

We're so happy for him. All this talk of Season Seven being his last had us wondering if we'd ever see him again... But now we know he's not leaving us for good, and we can sleep a little better tonight. *wink*

For the full story, click here!

MR's not the only busy one on the set. Kristin Kreuk has been working on an Operation Iraqi Freedom documentary with her boyfriend, actor Mark Hildreth. Check out this video for more information about this very interesting and thought-provoking project.

Smallville returns tomorrow night, 8/7c!

Posted by Claire at 10:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

As all you Smallville fanatics know, tonight is 'Freak,' Michael Rosenbaum's directorial debut. We're glad MR is getting so much notice. He's our fave guy on the show. He's smart, he's funny and he's turning out to be quite the vicious villain... Hot!

It turns out Kristin at E! loves him too. (Great minds think alike, eh?) Here's her revealing interview with Mike. He spills the beans on how much longer he'll stay with the series, his hopes to jump into more films and - of course - Lexana.

Also, check out some video of MR and the rest of the cast on our Smallville homepage!

MORE: Al Gough shows Smallville fans the love by answering more of your burning questions!

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We know there are Clark fans... and Chloe fans... and Lana fans...and Lois fans. But what about Lex fans? We know you're out there!

We here at The Source love Lex. Why? Because he's not just a villain. He's tortured and misunderstood but not in a depressing emo way. His tumultuous past merits the current issues he's having. While it looks like this upcoming season he's going into full-blown baddie mode, we do have some background as to why he turns out the way he does. Which, of course, is what makes Smallville so great in general, right?

Outside of Smallville, we still dig Michael Rosenbaum. We're not ashamed to say our favorite flick of his to date is Sorority Boys. Come on, you laughed! You cried! You cringed as they tried to walk in heels and fight off unsuspecting men! As a bonus, 7th Heaven's former resident cutie Barry Watson also tried his hand at being a girl. Not so easy, is it, guys?

Get your Lex fix by checking out this hot photo gallery!

So, who else out there finds Lexy sexy? Do you prefer him with or without hair? Is the evolution of evil Lex what you are most looking forward to in Season Six?

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