Tom Welling Talks Ben Affleck As Batman At 'Parkland' Premiere

Tom Welling, known for playing Clark Kent/Superman in Smallville, voiced his support of Ben Affleck taking on the role of Batman while promoting his new film, Parkland at TIFF.

“It’s great. He’s a tremendous actor, he’s a wonderful director and I wish him the best,” Welling told E! News.

Welling is no stranger to the scrutiny playing a superhero on the screen attracts – he spent ten years playing Clark Kent on The CW’s Smallville, ending in 2011.

"It's hard to criticize things before they even happen," Welling said, commenting on the backlash Affleck's casting has received.

Welling was in Toronto promoting Parkland, a film about JFK’s assassination directed by journalist Peter Landesman. The film, which also stars Zac Efron, Colin Hanks, Paul Giamatti, Jacki Weaver and Billy Bob Thorton, premiered to mostly disappointing reviews Friday despite its star power.

Parkland focuses mostly on the people who dealt with the aftermath of the shooting: medics and nurses working at the hospital the President was taken to, for example. Welling plays Secret Service Agent Roy Kellerman.

“You don’t see a lot of the President in this; you see the people trying to take care of him. It’s not that you don’t care about those people, it’s that you don’t know to care about these people,” Welling told reporters before the premiere.

Parkland will be released Oct. 4.

– Olivia Truffaut-Wong

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