‘I Wasn’t Right for the Project’

Actress Kristin Kreuk is opening up about getting fired from a pilot of a television series, which featured Eugene Levy.

Kreuk, who famously played Lana Lang on the hit ’00s series Smallville, appeared on the October 21 episode of her former co-star, Michael Rosenbaum‘s podcast, Inside of You. While recording the podcast episode, she shared that she was once “fired from a pilot.” The actress explained that the series, which didn’t make it to air, was “a full half hour.” She said while she “can be funny,” she didn’t fully understand the comedy beats in the script, like Levy did.

“I remember watching him and the man understands a joke. Like really just gets the math of a joke and can make anything funny. And I couldn’t do that. But it was hard. But I wasn’t right for the project. I don’t think the project was working fully. I just don’t think any of it really came together,” said Kreuk while speaking to Rosenbaum, who played Lex Luthor on Smallville.

She also explained that it was determined she wasn’t right for the show when she did the table read for the pilot.

“But listen, people get fired after table reads all the time. It’s a really common occurrence,” said Kreuk during the podcast episode. “I think they needed to make a significant change to make the thing work and I totally get that. Was that easy? No. Being fired sucks.”

Kristin Kreuk Explained Her Complicated Feelings About ‘Smallville’

Kreuk starred as Lana in the first eight seasons of Smallville, which had a 10-season run, per IMDb. In a 2020 interview on Inside of You, Kreuk said she was not comfortable with her level of fame when Smallville was on the air from 2001 to 2011.

“I really struggled with it,” said Kreuk in the 2020 interview.

She also said that she started to not “take certain roles” and “didn’t do as much press” because of all the attention she received.

“I kind of pulled myself away from the spotlight a little bit. Because I didn’t like how famous we were when we were on Smallville,” said the actress.

Kreuk shared that her views about Smallville has changed over the years in a September 2024 interview with The Movie Podcast. She said that she now has an appreciation and understanding of how much the show means to fans after appearing at Smallville conventions.

“Doing these conventions has helped me redefine my relationship to the show, through the eyes of people whose lives it it impacted in positive ways,” said Kreuk in the interview. “Because so many people, for a lot of people, it’s their comfort show. It’s the show that they watched with their families.”

Kristin Kreuk Shared 1 of the Reasons She Enjoys Playing Her ‘Murder in a Small Town’ Character

Kreuk is currently starring in the Fox series, Murder in a Small Town. During the Movie Podcast interview, Kreuk shared one of the reasons she has enjoyed playing her Murder in a Small Town character, librarian Cassandra Lee. The actress said she appreciates that Cassandra “is very free,” unlike some of the other characters she has played.

“Almost every character I’ve played for the last little while has been very contained. And deals with the their lives in a way that they kind of turn inward and get swallowed inside of themselves. And she’s the opposite,” explained Kreuk in the 2024 interview.

This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 23, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.