Erica Durance is opening up about her strained offscreen relationship with Smallville costar Allison Mack. Mack appeared in all ten seasons of Smallville as Clark Kent’s best friend and confidant, Chloe Sullivan. Her inquisitive mind and devotion to Clark made her a staple on the show. She played such a major role in the series that several story arcs revolving around her character were introduced, with the most notable being Chloe’s ill-fated love interest in Davis Bloome, the man destined to transform into Doomsday.
Sadly, a majority of Chloe’s storyline was marred with tragedies, however, Mack’s personal story has not turned out much better. Following her stint on Smallville, the actress was arrested for her involvement in NXIVM, a cult tied to sex trafficking and other heinous crimes. Mack allegedly was responsible for helping recruit new members, even going so far as to solicit several Smallville costars like Tom Welling and Michael Rosenbaum. Mack was found guilty on related charges and sentenced to four years in prison.
Durance joined Smallville in season four as Lois Lane, Chloe’s cousin. While the two characters appeared to be close on the show aside from their shared interest in Clark, reality was evidently a stark contrast for the actresses. In a recent interview for Rosenbaum’s podcast Inside of You, Durance revealed that Mack attempted to recruit her despite their superficial relationship. Read below to see how Durance responded when approached to join NXIVM and how Mack usually treated her costar.
“I said the idea of sharing all of my personal secrets brings up a visceral reaction in me. She didn’t bring it up until the latter part of the seasons. We had an interesting relationship, me and Allison. I think that she felt like she wanted to like me. I think that she wanted people to see that she wanted to like me but I don’t think having me there was something that was great for her. Maybe it came off as her being threatened but I found there was too many little idiosyncrasies that would happen. I would walk away and was like, ‘I thought we got along today.’ Then I would go home and be like, ‘Well, that was mean.’ Nobody would ever see it. There was all sorts of those little things that would go on…I think she liked being in that position of knowledge and wanting to recruit. I think she really believed in it but I didn’t really trust her motivation when it came to me...”
Even though Durance and Mack spent seven seasons together as core actors on Smallville and shared quite a bit of screen time, their personalities never quite meshed in real life. Durance attributed the hostility to two clashing personalities in another portion of the interview. Luckily, the personal distance between the individuals also helped deter Durance from any interest she might have possibly had in NXIVM, sparing her from the possible trauma or legal issues that would have likely ensued.
An animated Smallville series is currently in the works and it is reported that a majority of the show's original cast will reprise their role for the show. Welling and Rosenbaum are currently heading the project and Durance has agreed to rejoin the crew for the endeavor. Obviously, Mack's incarceration makes it impossible for her to collaborate with the animated series but, according to Durance's statements about the actress, that may make for a much more positive working environment.
Source: Inside of You