Big Purple Marble got the scoop last year when Jon Cryer first took on the role of Lex Luthor on Supergirl. We had no idea that within a year, he would play the character on five different shows.

Actually, neither did Cryer.

Although he hasn’t beaten the record of the most times an actor has played one character on separate television shows—that goes to Richard Belzer, who played Detective John Munch on 10 shows—he’s well on his way.

“You’ve given me my life purpose,” jokes Cryer when we mention Belzer’s record. “I’ve got to knock out Belzer. It’s all about taking him down a peg.”

More seriously, he says, “Belzer really has done an amazing thing. But I do have a shot [at breaking his record] because I haven’t done Black Lightening. And they’ve [the CW] got Stargirl coming out soon. It’s not outside the realm of possibility. There’s Superman and Lois, but I’m not on that one at this point.”

To date, Cryer has played Lex Luthor on Supergirl, Arrow, The Flash, Batwoman, and DC’s Legend of Tomorrow.

But this wasn’t how it was supposed to be.

Arrow — “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Four” — Image Number: AR808A_0177r.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Melissa Benoist as Kara/Supergirl, Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor, Osric Chau as Ryan Choi and Ruby Rose as Kate Kane/Batwoman — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Lex Luthor Becomes a Mainstay

Cryer reveals that he was only supposed to play Lex Luthor for a few episodes in 2019 on Supergirl. “We were going to introduce the character, and then he was going to die because his sister, Lena Luthor [played by Katie McGrath] is a very big part of the show. The feeling was that they weren’t sure it would work at all with the fans. I knew I could do this, but I could see why they would see that this was a very odd choice,” says Cryer. “We all felt like we caught lightening in a bottle. The DC people and Peter Roth, who runs Warner Brothers Television, really wanted more of Lex on Supergirl. I knew they were doing ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ [the episodes on the different shows that overlapped various characters] the next season, and I knew that Lex was a big part of that.”

Behind the scenes, Jon Cryer says that he lobbied to be part of “Crisis,” as he knew it was a world-changing event in the comic book universe. “I was happy to be a part of it,” he says.

While playing Lex Luthor on all these shows, we asked if Cryer played him differently on each. “Arrow was very much a dark crime show. Supergirl is much brighter and more hopeful. Batwoman is dark and twisted. Flash is lighter, but more emotional, and DC’s Legends of Tomorrow is kind of loopy and fun,” Cryer explains. “What’s been nice is Lex can be a great foil in all of those iterations. And the great thing was also that they were willing to incorporate sort of the lighter DC Universe. Like they brought back Tom Welling from Smallville, and I got to have a scene with him that I was super duper nervous about because fan expectations were incredibly high. Michael Rosenbaum, who played Lex on Smallville was so fantastic. So I could absolutely see me stepping into those shows and having fans hate it.”

Luckily for Cryer, they didn’t.

The Flash — “Crisis on Infinite Earths: Part Three” — Image Number: FLA609d_0250b.jpg — Pictured: Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor — Photo: Dean Buscher/The CW — © 2019 The CW Network, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Various Incarnations of Lex Luthor

There have been a few interpretations of Lex Luthor. Cryer says that there was Superboy Lex who was friends with the young Superman in Smallville. “That’s similar to what they did in Smallville, the TV show. But they really played off the idea that they were friends and that their friendship went bad, and that’s where things went so terribly wrong. Whereas in the ‘80s, instead of Lex being the mad scientist, they made him an evil billionaire who even became president at some point,” says Cryer. That’s not the version that Cryer wanted to play.

“The lore of DC is very, very complicated. There are a lot of different versions of Lex Luthor. The one I wanted to play was the guy who was the brilliant scientist, who was the master strategist. He’s fueled by rage and envy, and we’ve taken it to this certain level of a sociopath. We’ve given up a measure of his humanity in his effort to destroy Superman, and you know, that guy has been really fun to play so far,” admits Cryer.

As for the future of Lex, Cryer would like to play him on as many DC superhero shows as possible. But there’s something even more that he’d like.

“I was actually talking to the studio about a villains-based show,” says Cryer. “That could be their farm team where you create all the villains and end up populating the DC Universe. Or at least you get to see their origins or you get stand-alone stories with it. We’re still working on it.”

Supergirl — “The Bodyguard” — Image Number: SPG514a_0367r.jpg — Pictured (L-R): Jon Cryer as Lex Luthor and Jesse Rath as Brainiac-5 — Photo: Diyah Pera/The CW — © 2020 The CW Network, LLC. All rights reserved.

How Does Jon Cryer…

Play

I bought an old model kit. I haven’t made a model since I was 12, and I thought, “Wow, this will be fun.” But my daughter has become this fantastic artist. We have this little art room in our house, and she really doesn’t like it when I’m around when she’s working. So, I have barely touched it.

It’s a World War II plane. It’s just totally the kind of thing you do when you’re 12. You know, get the model paint and do the whole nine years. I’m looking forward to that.

Explore [ we asked where he would like to go if the quarantine were lifted.]

I would go to a crowded restaurant. I miss that so much. I miss it terribly. My wife [Lisa Joyner] and I used to have our date night, and we can’t have date nights anymore because there’s no place to go, and we also can’t get child care.

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I was hoping to finally watch The Wire. [Gasp! He hasn’t seen The Wire?] I know. Don’t even…

Feature photo by Dean Buscher/The CW

With this interview, Wojo has a new record. Jon Cryer is the actor she’s interviewed the most—at seven times. All those conversations, and he’ll still take her calls.

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