Superman - Allison Mack From Smallville To Cult Interview

Welcome back to the channel. I hope you're having a great day. And so today we're going to talk about Chloe Sullivan of Smallville. Um, Chloe Sullivan is the fictional character name, uh, portrayed by, uh, Allison Mack in the Smallville series, right? Now I'm at a— I'm at the point where I don't even, you know, I don't even know if you can consider yourself a, a true Superman fan without being, uh, uh, immersed in the Smallville fandom, right? And I know that's gonna be controversial to a lot of people because a lot of— interesting enough, a lot of people have read Superman comic books. They're well-versed in them. They've seen all the Superman movies. They, uh, know those movies well. But in some weird situation, they never watched the episode of Smallville, right? So Smallville, ah, in, in many respects isn't even canon to Superman. This is where it gets crazy. And we're looking at somebody like the character of Chloe Sullivan, who I believe was created, uh, exclusively for the Smallville television show, right? And then later Smallville got a comic book and she was featured in that, of course. But, uh, the character, uh, of Chloe Sullivan portrayed by Allison Mack was done so well, right, that many Superman fans, uh, just respect the character to a high level. And, uh, it wouldn't be possible without Allison Mack. Of course, Allison Mack and, uh, Chloe Sullivan are pretty much one in the same, right? And what I mean by that is, as it was created, the character was created just for the show and Allison Mack, right? It wasn't like a comic book or anything like that. And so you I can't think of Chloe Sullivan without thinking of Allison Mack. And I think to date, it's probably her most important role, her biggest role. And the reason that Smallville, I think, has been so important to the Superman mythos, right, as a kind of expanded universe, if you will, I, I, I, I think ultimately it comes down to, um, it lasted so many seasons, right? 10 seasons. And to say Smallville was a just a comic book television show, I think would be an understatement. I, I, I think it kind of reached into drama and the growing pains many of us had in our youth coming to age. And that's another thing about Smallville. A lot of us grew up on Smallville. Many of us very young, started watching Smallville. And this was Superman for a lot of— even though he never suits up, this Clark, you know, this story of Clark Kent, you know, at the very end, the last episode, he suits up. But it would be more of a Clark Kent series, right, than a Superman. But even so, you got all the elements of the Superman mythos entering in, and it was so much material right, over, over a decade. Uh, the show was so good they just couldn't end it. That, um, you know, uh, it taught us a lot about Superman. We got to explore many concepts of Superman. Um, now the, the, the problem comes along for many who don't know— of course, Smallville fans would know this, but The issue comes along when Allison Mack, the phenomenal actress who portrayed Chloe Sullivan, gets into this kind of weird sex cult that harms a lot of people, a lot of them being celebrities or famous people. Seems like they were targeting these people. I'm not sure why. I don't know if it was money, it was monetary, uh, monetarily, uh, targeting, um, or because it seems like they wanted to target people in that kind of Hollywood kind of acting area, um, or probably target people with money. I'm not, I'm not sure exactly what the entire direction was, but there was a documentary created about it, I believe called The Vow. And if I'm not mistaken, the cult was called Nexium. So it just takes this real weird turn for it. And a young actress so talented with seemingly so many opportunities that was going to be given to us later, her later, because a lot of these Smallville alumni, uh, went on to star movies. Tom Welling got some you know, some pretty big movies. Uh, the, the guy who portrayed the Superman in the series, uh, just about all of them got movies after that. Uh, Michael Rosenbaum, uh, he had been in some Marvel movies, and, uh, you know, he had been in some big movies prior to that. And, um, so seemingly— sorry guys, had a big sneeze coming. So Um, Allison Mack, right? Uh, her co-star Michael Rosenbaum, um, does this podcast called Inside of You, a fantastic, uh, fantastic podcast, right? Um, when he first started doing the podcast, I was hoping that it was going to cover Smallville, but it's really more about— is covering a lot of his friends in Hollywood, a lot of, you know, actors and actresses, and they just kind of go in depth with, uh, who these people are, right? Who these various people are. Uh, Michael is a— it seems to be a big, you know, advocate for like mental health, uh, you know, awareness and, you know, such. And, uh, so he, you know, a lot of actors and actresses who, you know, have encountered, you know, issues throughout the course of their career, just had to navigate Hollywood. Sometimes he gets into that and just, uh, you know, and just aspects of life in that world, right? And so it's a pretty interesting show. A lot of famous people show up there, uh, and so Michael Rosenbaum apparently knows everybody in Hollywood, um, you know, uh, and, uh, so pretty darn good show. The thing about it though, um, well, I, I think the fear— because what I was concerned about, you know, obviously from being, uh, from Smallville being a huge part of my life, you know, Superman and Smallville and all those things. One of my all-time favorite television shows. I drop everything to watch it. I'm gonna be very biased to Allison Mack, right? Because she was one of my favorite characters. This was a young actress at the time who showed a great deal of range, right? She, I mean, she, I mean, I'm not downplaying, everybody had their role to play. Everybody played their character. In that, you know, in that television series. But, you know, obviously these are very young actors and actresses, right? And so, uh, you know, some of them not as seasoned as others. Uh, Michael Rosenbaum, you know, a lot older than the rest of the cast, but, you know, people hail him as the best Lex Luthor to ever play the role to date. Uh, Tom Welling, you know, being slightly older than everybody else. But when you get down to Kristen Krueger, who played Lana and Chloe, uh, I think they were like around 18 years old or something when they started. So, uh, it just showed how talented Allison was because she carried that show a lot. You know, everybody kind of had their lines and, and had their arcs and whatnot, but Khloe was a staple and a very important anchor to that show. And I just couldn't imagine that show being as good as it was without Khloe being there for those 10 seasons. Um, so the concern whenever you're in these crazy sex cults and a lot of people get harmed and injured and abused, uh, people end up going to prison, federal prison, get life in prison and all this stuff, uh, is you never want to give these people a platform to, uh, because what can happen in some cases if you're not careful is these people can kind of create a victim-like situation, or they can kind of absolve themselves of responsibility, I guess you could say, right? And that's not what happened. That's— I don't believe that's what happened. Hopefully I'm not saying that because I'm biased to, to Adam Sabbat. But I don't think that's what happened. But I can see why someone like Michael Rosenbaum would be very concerned about letting her get a platform and making her come off like a good person who's harmed all of these people, right? And I don't think that's what happened. I thought Michael Rosenbaum did a good job, and I'm just so happy that he gave her a chance. Because she was saying something like his show was like— she was like one of them, you know, main friends she associated with that, uh, as she had lost, you know, many of her Hollywood friends. Because of course what happens in Hollywood, you know, uh, when you get a reputation or you get in trouble like that, nobody wants to work with you, nobody wants to be around you, and, uh, you can lose a lot, or if not all, your friends, right? And so I'm glad that Michael Rosenbaum, um, gave her a chance to tell her story, you know, knowing her so long and, you know, the relationship they had. But, uh, you know, as well, I think, um, uh, you know, he had actually had two on the show, which I found interesting, some other actresses who had been abused who were part of the cult. And, uh, so this story they was telling, it, it— Allison sound like a monster, basically. And it's hard to— and it's unimaginable to watch Smallville because she's always this kind of spunky, cute, smart character. And the darkness that you hear about this cult with the branding— they would actually brand you like a— how they'll brand cattle or something. Right, and, and all this crazy stuff, uh, to put her, you know, to, to imagine her being something like that, it was just, uh, I, I mean, it's just insane. Let's hear a little bit about what she was saying to Michael about what was going on. And, uh, I don't want to get any copyright or anything, so make sure you go over there and watch the full interview with, uh, Michael Rosenbaum um, uh, inside of you with Allison Mack. I'm just gonna play a little bit, just give you a little feel of what it was like.

Um, yes, I would say less the need for attention and more the need to be great. Like, I needed to be the best at whatever I was doing.

But it wasn't a power thing to you?

What, the attention or the greatness?

The attention, the greatness, all that?

Um, I wasn't like seeking power. But I won't lie and say that power didn't feel good, right? And I definitely—

that's interesting, right? Um, it's a good— it's a good— it's a good show, right? It's a good interview, uh, talking to Allison. Um, the, you know, the thing when you're a talented actress on the level of someone like Allison Mack, the other fear I guess would be how she is presenting herself at this point is more so as a person who has dealt with her demons to a large degree, and, uh, she's changed for the better, right? Uh, she's, uh, in this rehabilitation mode, right? And, uh, is she reformed, right? Is it true? Because The problem is when you're a great actress, uh, you can be acting throughout the course of your life to the point the actress and the, and the real life person, right? You don't know when the acting starts or ends and the truth begins, right? So if you're a great actress, I would imagine that you could present yourself in almost any way and play a character. To where you can almost come off like a victim and have everybody rooting for you, right? And I, I'm pretty sure that's the fear Michael Rosenbaum probably had. And, uh, he kind of lets you watch the show and you decide, you know, where you're at. Now, my opinion with Allison Mack is I bought it, but then again, I like Allison Mack, I like Chloe Sullivan, so I was gonna buy it anyway because I want to believe that she wouldn't be capable of these monstrous things. And I want to believe that she is reformed and doing better. And she does tell a series of great stories about her reforming after prison, working in prisons to help to rehabilitate other people going through similar difficulties as such. But the documentary where all this takes place is called The Vow. I would recommend you watch it. And the people who were victims of Allison Mack, they present a very dark, different Allison Mack. And I just think it's important that you hear everybody's side and everybody's stories, right? Uh, also during the, the, the, the podcast Um, I was very concerned because anything— some, some— anytime something like this happens, you know, you want the victims— it's very important that, that these people reach out to the victims and try to get some type of, um, you know, uh, uh, mercy from them, hopefully forgiveness. And unfortunately, Allison Mack, because she's still on probation, right, she was potentially facing like 22 years or something like that in federal prison. It's crazy stuff. And, uh, I'm sure that stressed her out, you know, she was talking about. But I think she only ended up doing 2. Lucky her, you know. Um, and, um, and so, uh, you know, her, her reform, right, uh, it was believable to me, right? I can, I can believe it. Uh, but just like in this little excerpt how she was saying that she, she wouldn't lie and say that power didn't, uh, you know, do something for her, right? That's, that's pretty scary because then it kind of makes me think about, uh, her, uh, activities in this cult, how maybe there is deep down there's this dark Allison that's really craving for power and what we— and power over people, right? And abusive people. Uh, and, uh, you know, well, that's the real Allison, right? But of course I don't want to believe that. Uh, what else, um, you know, could I, you know, could I say about, you know, this thing? Uh, you know, interesting enough, just some interesting information, uh, many people know that how she got involved with the NXIVM cult was from Kristen Krug, who played Lana Lang. I know that's crazy to think about, and I don't know the full story what made Kristen get out first, it looks like it would have raised red flags. But I, I would imagine Allison at that point was already, um, hooked, right? She already getting something out of that, right? Uh, the cult leader went by the name of Keith Raniere, right? And of course, apparently this highly intelligent manipulator because the people who were in these cults were, you know, accomplished actresses, people in Hollywood, intelligent people. So it wasn't like just like, you know, people you could take advantage of. These were somewhat intelligent people that, uh, you know, that you had to have a certain level of skill to brainwash. Yeah, so Kristen introduced her and somehow the red flags came up. I think, and I think they were trying to also get the character that was playing Supergirl, who's playing Kara in the series. Her name is Vander— I can't think of her name, but she was the real-life girlfriend of Michael Rosenbaum too for a moment. Jeez, I can't think of her name. She was also in the series V, but they almost got her I think as well, and she kind of dodged the bullet. But Allison Mack ended up staying, and all the atrocities went on after that. So the, the other, the other things I like to mention too is, um, uh, I was really hoping for the redemption, uh, of Chloe and— or I'm sorry, Allison— and for her to, uh, get back in the Superman universe. Because, uh, as many of y'all know, uh, Michael Rosenbaum and Tom Welling have been talking about doing a animated series for Smallville. And I would imagine they're going to be trying to get the original people back to voice the characters. And I was always wondering, like, what they were going to do about Allison Mack, right? Were they going to just kind of get somebody to pretend to be her, you know, get somebody else to voice her character? I would love if they could get her back in there, uh, and she can kind of be on the road to redemption, like, you know, many of these other characters who kind of, you know, crashed out and, and came back. And it's, um, and she won't be the only one who's done right? It's been people who have— I think the kid from A Bronx Tale, right? He made an acting comeback after years of prison and robberies and some other bad crimes. You've had who else? You know, Robert Downey Jr. did a big return to the comic book world, and maybe Allison can do so as well. And maybe on that road back to redemption, right? She can see herself, because I would love to see her back in this universe. Just a few other things before I get out of here. Michael Joseph Presley always told this story about how she came to the house one time and they was doing all this crazy stuff. And I thought that was a missed opportunity for Michael. I wanted to hear Allison talk about you know, what happened, like what she was thinking and what was on her mind, right? When he was like, get the funk out my house, right, to them. I would have loved to hear, you know, what she was thinking about, right? Uh, you know, what was the idea behind that? Um, and, and he didn't get a chance to ask. And, you know, as far as, uh, just going back to, uh, you know, her reaching out to the victims and such, her being still on paper with the probation and stuff, right? Uh, you know, and just some of the things she says, right? I, I think she's contained in a way, right, from just, you know, uh, because she's— when you're on probation, you're still kind of not out of this prison system, right? It's kind of like you're in jail but you're on house arrest, kind of. So she's not technically out, right? So I don't know if it'll be a good idea for her to just be like telling too much of the story and end up incriminating herself because it's probably a lot of stuff that went on that wouldn't be good for, you know, her situation, right? And so, uh, hopefully everybody heals through this situation and, um, you know, Allison's paying her debt to society and hopefully she can bounce back off of this. And I've been a big fan of Chloe Sullivan. I was shocked when I saw and heard all this stuff. But, uh, you know, hopefully, um, you know, um, you know, things work out very well for her. She did say though, if she doesn't act again, she's— her life as it is now, uh, she's married, she's, um, you know, doing these little acting shows for the prison, like, uh, I think it might be nonprofit or something like that. And so I think she seems to be perfectly fine with whatever happens with that. Uh, just another quick little tidbit of information also who was caught up in that, that NXIVM, I think it's called, cult, uh, was the daughter of the granddaughter of the princes of Yugoslavia. And you might recognize her father more so from the science fiction series Starship Troopers, Casper Van— Casper Van Dien, uh, from all those Starship Troopers movies, right? His daughter, I believe, right? The Oxbow, Carolyn Oxbow, something like that, right? So very interesting stuff. But again, that documentary is called The Vow. You can check it out. I haven't watched it yet. I just saw some excerpts from it and saw some people talking about it. I don't think I'm going to watch it. I think I want to, much like Allison Mack, I probably want to put all this behind us. But that's all I got to say on this video, guys. If you like content like this, don't forget to like, subscribe. Till next time, as always, take care of yourselves and each other.