Going from Superman to comedy straight man

Tom Welling, who plays a teenage Clark Kent on the WB series “Smallville,” says he’s interested in comedy. So when he finally gets to appear in his first movie, what does he do?

He plays straight man to 13 other actors, including comic veteran Steve Martin and adolescent heartthrob Hilary Duff. “I’m the only one who’s not funny,” Welling says of his role as older brother Charlie among the cast of “Cheaper by the Dozen,” a slapstick family film that opened Christmas Day.

It doesn’t take Superboy’s X-ray vision to see the irony. But further inquiry reveals that Welling, 25, is indeed serious about making people laugh.

He says he examined Jerry Seinfeld’s recent documentary about searching for jokes and didn’t realize the comedy trade was so difficult. And he put “Cheaper by the Dozen” on top of a stack of scripts for three reasons: Steve Martin, Steve Martin and Steve Martin.

He has long admired Martin, having seen in repeats his “Saturday Night Live” gigs. Suddenly, Welling found himself playing HORSE in an empty gym with Martin between takes.

As for Welling’s part in the film, he says he liked the idea that Charlie acts more like an observer. When his dad (Martin), a small-time football coach, decides to uproot Charlie and his 11 brothers and sisters from their Midwestern burg to take over the team at Big U, Charlie becomes the moral chorus. He sees the festering unhappiness and tells Dad he’s being selfish.

Welling plays eight years younger in the film and on “Smallville,” but he already is an industry pro. He worries about where his next paycheck will come from. “It goes even further that before you even take a role, you wonder if that role, if you take it, will hurt you for the next role,” he says.

He’s safe for now. He has an adoring fan base, and the show, despite its different take on Superman’s youth, has been able to appeal to purists as well, Welling says. The “Smallville” lad is a teenager who realizes he is different but just wants to fit in. The powers come slowly. Welling’s blossoming crime fighter does not fly and does not wear tights.

Welling shrugs off talk of playing Superman in a much-hyped screen revival. Part of the problem is his schedule, which keeps the New York-born, L.A.-based Welling in Vancouver nine months a year. The time away also insulates him from the growing pressures of celebrity.

“I relate it to being in a submarine,” he says. “You go down in a sub with the crew for a week; there’s limited communication with the outside world. It’s wet and it’s rainy because it’s Vancouver. Then you pop up on Friday, maybe 10:30 at night, and you get shore leave.”