zap2it.com
Teen Faves Emerge on a 'Choice' Show

On the TV drama front, Kreuk is pleased to be a first-time Teen Choice nominee for her portrayal of Lana Lang on The WB Network's "Smallville." Having attended the ceremony once before, she muses the experience was "kind of scary," since the celebrities are seated among highly enthusiastic fans. Still, Kreuk takes her nomination as acknowledgement of Lana coming into her own much more, what with her operating Smallville's Talon theater-turned-coffeehouse and spending time in Paris lately.

"When you're young and you've basically lived your whole life in one place, you can't go away for a summer like that and not come back changed," Kreuk says, adding that she herself has changed in addressing concerns to the show's writers and producers. "I'm still not completely comfortable doing it, but Lana has progressed so much, she's just a joy to play."

Kreuk, who has spent part of her summer working with Isabella Rossellini on the upcoming Sci-Fi Channel miniseries "Earthsea," reports other alterations to "Smallville" for its fourth season. They include the arrival of Lana's ultimate rival for Clark Kent (Welling): Lois Lane, to be played by relative newcomer and fellow Canadian Erica Durance. However, Lana won't necessarily be sitting around waiting for Clark to make his choice. She'll have a new love interest, too, portrayed by Jensen Ackles ("Days of Our Lives," "Dark Angel").

"I think actors are just like fans when a season ends," Kreuk reasons. "We don't know what the heck's going on, so we're just as anxious to come back and find out what happens to the characters."

Kreuk got in some R&R after finishing her series work last season, visiting Paris with "Smallville" co-star Allison Mack ("research," she calls it with a laugh) and also traveling to Cuba and New York. Whatever the result of her Teen Choice Award nomination, Kreuk is ready to get back to the job that earned it for her. "It's kind of hard to make everything that happens in Smallville seem real, but it's been a great experience for me."