Tom Welling portrays Clark Kent, a young man with superhuman abilities, who tries to find his place in life after discovering he is an alien. He uses his abilities to help others in danger. Clark's problems in season one include not being able to share his secret with anyone else and his desire for a normal life. After months of scouting, Tom Welling was cast as Clark Kent. David Nutter had to convince Welling's manager that the role would not hurt Welling's film career in order to get Welling to read the pilot script. After reading the script, Welling was convinced to audition. Kristin Kreuk portrays Lana Lang, the girl next door. She has a "hole in her heart," because of the loss of her parents, and feels empathy for everyone. She feels connected to Clark. Gough and Millar were initially trying to find someone for the role of Clark Kent, but Kristin Kreuk was the first to be cast after David Nutter saw an audition tape the actress had sent. Kristin Kreuk left the series after the seventh season, but returned for five episodes in season eight as a guest star. Michael Rosenbaum portrays Lex Luthor, a billionaire's son sent to Smallville to run the local fertilizer plant. After Clark saves his life, the two quickly become friends. As the series progresses, his friendship with Clark crumbles until the pair consider themselves enemies. The role was hard to cast, as no one could agree on who they liked for the role. Michael Rosenbaum auditioned for Lex Luthor twice. Feeling he did not take his first audition seriously, Rosenbaum outlined a two-and-a-half-page scene, indicating all the places to be funny, charismatic, or menacing. His audition went so well that everyone agreed he was "the guy". After seven seasons, Rosenbaum left the show.