Veneers did what Kryptonite could not... it brought down Superman
The downfall of Tom Welling, the actor that played Superman on Smallville
Youtube
A few weeks back someone made a post on our Skool community talking about actor Tom Welling.
In the post it talked about how he went from “Superman to Superdad” in both face and body.
It didn’t occur to me at the time that this was the actor that played Superman on Smallville, a show i’m quite familiar with from back in the day. It played from 2001 - 2011.
You see my dad lived in the Vancouver area at the time they were filming and his ex-wife worked on set. So i used to hear stories about this guy, “Tom”, who played the lead role of Superman.
According to these stories from my dad’s ex-wife he was a bit of an arrogant dude. At the time he’d turned into one of America’s biggest teen heart throbs so I guess it’s understandable how it may have gotten to his head.
In any case I literally don’t remember seeing the guy since that show so the story intrigued me and I figured i’d investigate more and write about it.
Who is Tom Welling?
Tom Welling shot to fame in the early 2000s with his breakout role of Clark Kent/Superman in the hit series "Smallville." The show ran for an impressive ten seasons from 2001 to 2011, making it one of the longest-running science fiction television series in the United States.
Before landing this career-defining role, Welling had worked as a model for brands like Tommy Hilfiger. His tall stature (6'3"), chiseled jawline, and classic good looks made him the perfect casting choice for Superman.
During the height of Smallville's popularity, Welling was one of TV’s biggest heartthrobs and seemed poised for Hollywood superstardom.
Tom Welling Did Veneers
Sometime around 2011, Tom Welling appears to have undergone a significant dental transformation. Though there's no official confirmation from Welling himself, it is covered in numerous social media videos like the one above.
The veneers likely involved grinding down his natural teeth to create space for the new dental facades.
Here is a pretty good analysis of how it changed his smile.
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Now… the main change that gets analyzed is his top front six teeth. Which doesn’t typically affect the occlusion much as they don’t have cusps the way the back teeth have.
But perhaps additional teeth were done?
Or maybe additional changes were made by the dentist during this ‘smile makeover’?
It’s hard to tell from the information that I found to be honest. And so it remains a bit of a mystery to me.
But it almost definitely made it made it harder for the positions of the jaw to be supported by the cusps of the teeth as I describe in this article below.
Because his appearance declined rapidly in the years after.
It Changed How He Looked
The changes in Tom Welling's appearance after 2011 appear to happen quite fast. You can see in the pic above of him in 2013 he already lost some of the ‘pop’ in his facial features.
He’s still a good-looking guy but no longer model-level the way he was.
His face was losing some of its defined angles and contours. The strong jawline that had been so characteristic of his Superman look started to soften.
His face appeared wider, and he seemed to age more rapidly than would be expected for someone in his 30s.
The changes weren't limited to his face. His neck posture altered, with his profile shifting from a nice horizontal line to more of a diagonal one—suggesting changes in his cervical spine. His overall body shape changed as well, appearing wider despite no reports of significant lifestyle changes.
It was classic ‘biomechanical collapse’.
And not just the normal aging process.
It Changed His Career
As Welling's physical appearance changed, his career trajectory seemed to shift as well. After Smallville ended in 2011, many expected him to leverage his decade of playing Superman into major film roles. Instead, his presence in Hollywood diminished considerably.
While he did appear in films like "Draft Day" (2014) and "The Choice" (2016), these roles were much smaller than what might have been expected for someone coming off such a successful, long-running series.
His next significant television role didn't come until 2017, when he appeared in "Lucifer" as Lieutenant Marcus Pierce/Cain.
I have a feeling he’d not only gotten worse looking. But neurologically he had changed as well.. making him less interesting for a starring hero role.
Also he’d built his acting career partly on his looks, which had evaporated.
These days he seems to be struggling
In April 2023, Tom Welling was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence in Ventura County, California. Law enforcement officers pulled Welling over after observing signs of impaired driving. After failing a field sobriety test, he was taken into custody.
Then he was again arrested for driving under the influence (DUI) in Yreka, California on January 26, 2025.
Why is he drinking and making such poor decisions to drive?
Could it be related to what i’ve mentioned here?
I definitely think it is.
Closing Thoughts
In the show Smallville Lex Luther often tries to weaponize Kryptonite to defeat Superman.
But Superman always manages to get out of difficult circumstances and survives strong and powerful.
But biomechanics ain’t Kryptonite.
You don’t beat it.
You either leverage it by understanding it or you get hammered by it till it crushes you.
And that is what is happening to poor Tom Welling.
Will he figure it out in time?
Who knows? Maybe he will and in some years they continue making the show “Smallville” with him looking even more like a “Chad” than he did in 2001.
How cool would it be for Reviv if Tom Welling saw this and used your products and then transformed back to what he was like in the late 2000s?! That would be irrefutable proof of effectiveness.
Hollywood has a lot of power over people in that business. I wonder if that extensive dental work was his own decision or not.