Well, the producers have tried and tried but actor Michael Rosenbaum is sticking to his guns. He’s not returning for the last episode of Smallville.
According to EW, a show source says Rosenbaum turned down the latest offer to return to the CW series, saying, “He has put the show behind him and moved on… He’s pursuing his other creative outlet [writing]. By all indications, he is not going to be involved.”
Apparently producers are leaving the door open just in case he changes his mind before the Smallville cast and crew wrap up production on the final three hours in the next seven weeks.
Tom Welling is surely hoping that his seven season co-star will change his mind at the last minute. Late last year he said, “I don’t know how you end this show without Lex Luthor.”
What do you think? Will Rosenbaum change his mind before time runs out? Should Lex Luthor be included in the finale somehow without him?
UPDATE: Rosenbaum will return after all.
Edit: Rosenbaum WILL be back
http://splashpage.mtv.com/2011/02/23/michael-rosenbaum-smallville-return/
@Burt Chitter: Yes.
edit: Just read on IGN that he WILL be returning for series finale, I will actually tune in for that just to see him return. I haven’t seen more than a few episodes since he left but that has to be good news to the viewers who stuck around.
Once again we have an actor who is “too good” for the role that made him/her famous! After all, “I am a serious actor, and I don’t do TV series!”. We’ve seen this before (David Caruso leaving “NYPD Blue” to do serious movies, Denise Crosby walking away from “ST-TNG”, Jessica Steen walking away from just about EVERY series she has ever been cast in!). Rosenbaum has forgotten that it was “Lex Luthor” that made his career. Would he still be a good actor without that role… yes. Would anyone care about him without that role? Not likely! There are lots… Read more »
It weird because on Smallville.Wikia.com it says that he will return attach to the link of the website that claim he will return.
He shouldn’t return, from what I’ve heard he left on bad terms and hated what they were doing with his character and they did nothing to stop it. When he left the show was really starting to get bad and once he left I lost interest. Both he and John Glover stole every scene they were in so losing both of their characters ruined the show for me.
I think its kinda crappy for him not to come back for the final episodes. How can an hour or two affect his career so much that he would show a little courtesy to his ex-coworkers and the people that gave him a job for so many years.
Hopefully the people on the show are just making up this info to throw off the fans so when Michael does return, we’ll be surprised
Its not like he’s doing anything else – I hate it when these D-List actors snub the their noses at the roles that made them remotely popular …
It’s sad, we loved him as Lex… someone must have hurt him badly to turn away from his fans.
Rosenbaum isn’t going to return. I gave up on that dream a loooong time ago. He has tried to distance himself from the role of Lex for this long, no way he’s coming back. It would be an incredible way to end the show, but egos are egos.
i think rosenbaum should return in the finale smallville episode. for one im a huge superman fan and i have been watching smallville since the very first episode. the cast of smallville is awesome i couldnt have picked it better. lex is as much of a part of smallville as clark kent is. you can’t have superman without a lex luthor. i hate that it’s finally coming to an end. but what better way to wrap it up with one last comfirtation between lex and clark. godbless the cast of smallville and godspeed to what they do after the show… Read more »
I stand shocked and corrected:
http://www.tvline.com/2011/02/smallville-michael-rosenbaum-back-for-series-finale/