Tom Welling
Ημερομηνία
Γεννήσεως
26/4/1977
Καταγωγή
Νέα Υόρκη, ΗΠΑ
Filmography and Biography
Thomas John Patrick Welling was born in Putnam Valley, New York. He spent
his early boyhood in Wisconsin before moving to Delaware in third grade. His
family moved again, this time to Okemos, Michigan, just after Welling's freshman
year in high school. There, he lived with his father, mother, two elder sisters, and
younger brother.
During elementary school in Delaware, Tom appeared in several school plays
and pageants until the sixth grade. At Okemos High School in Michigan, he was
considered a jock; he played basketball, baseball, and soccer (he was third-string
goalkeeper for the varsity school team during senior year). He was never
particularly studious, however, despite an enjoyment of subjects such as history,
he graduated on 4 June 1995 with "fair" marks. Afterwards, due to his grades, he
decided that a university education was not for him. Instead, he worked as a
construction worker at a warehouse. He continued to live at home and hung out
with friends in his spare time.
While on vacation with friends in Nantucket in the spring of 1997, Welling was
approached by an Abercrombie & Fitch shoot scout working for world-famous
photographer Bruce Weber. He returned home to Michigan to consider the offer,
then headed to Lake George, New York for the shoot. It was the start of a
modelling career, and his photos were published in the 1997 Abercrombie &
Fitch Christmas Quarterly.
Welling soon moved out of his parents' home and to Manhattan, where he
modelled sporadically for the next two years. He also modelled for the Louisa
Modelling Agency, taking jobs from their offices and modelling for them in
Europe. While working in Miami in 1998, he met his future wife, Jamie A. White,
a fellow model and two years his senior. They had previously met each other a
couple of times during each of their careers.
While he was very successful as a model, Tom ultimately decided that modeling
wasn't his career. With encouragement from family and friends, and with the help
of contacts he made during his time as a model, he headed west to Los Angeles
in January 2000 to start an acting career. He had no formal training and didn't
intend to take lessons (he thought it looked easy), but still gave himself a year to
decide if it would be a more fulfilling career.
Numerous auditions soon came up, and Tom realized that he actually found the
auditioning process quite enjoyable. He started out in television commercials for
7-Up, TJ Maxx, and Verizon, then received a large role in the music video for
"Picture Perfect", by Angela Via, in March 2000. He landed his breakthrough role
in late 2000: that of Rob Meltzer, a karate instructor and the title character's 10years-junior love interest, on the CBS television series Judging Amy. Tom was
originally only supposed to be recurring on the show for three episodes, but with
the success of the storyline and the good impression he made on the producers
during the shooting of the first three episodes, it was increased to a six-episode
arc.
In October 2001, after making guest appearances on several shows, Tom
debuted in what would come to be his signature role: that of the teenaged Clark
Kent/Superman in the series Smallville. He had originally turned down the role
twice before accepting it, thinking it would be "lame". However, after auditioning
hundreds of other potential candidates, the producers were so sure that Tom had
just the fresh-faced look they were seeking that they called him back one last
time. He took the audition, reading the infamous "graveyard scene", and loved it.
On the way home, he decided to stop at a gas station and call his agent. When
Tom's agent told him that he had just received a phone call saying that Tom had
won the role, he was overjoyed, and just stood at the side of the road screaming.
Tom married long-time sweetheart Jamie White on 5 July 2002 (after dating for
three years previous) in a private ceremony at Martha's Vineyard attended only
by family and close friends. Among the invitees were Tom's co-stars on
Smallville, Kristin Kreuk and Michael Rosenbaum. At the groom's request,
Rosenbaum sang a special rendition of "Brown-Eyed Girl". Tom wore a custommade Yves Saint-Laurent tuxedo for the occasion. Following their wedding, the
couple relocated to Vancouver, where Tom was slated to start shooting the
second season of Smallville in late July. After shooting wrapped up in mid-April
2003, he immediately travelled to Santa Rosa, California, to shoot his part as
Charlie Baker in the movie Cheaper By The Dozen, starring Steve Martin and
Bonnie Hunt. The movie was released in the United States on 25 December
2003. Since then, Tom has completed two more seasons of Smallville, filmed the
remake of the 1970's horror classic The Fog (2005) (co-starring Lost's Maggie
Grace) and a hit sequel to Cheaper By The Dozen (2005).
Tom currently resides in Los Angeles with his wife and their dogs. During the
shooting of Smallville, he stays in hotels in Vancouver. He runs, skis, plays
basketball, and visits with family and friends in his spare time.