Callum Blue gives genre television a useful streak of bad behaviour. We value the harder edge of his Zod in Smallville, while recognising that a persuasive supporting villain cannot cure a programme's habit of repeating itself.
Fi1m perspective
Callum Blue's Zod gives the later seasons of Smallville (2001) a harder edge. The programme already distinguishes comfort from unease through its lighting: cinematographers Attila Szalay and Glen Winter give the Kent farm golden warmth and the Luthor mansion cold blues and greys. Blue and Cassidy Freeman, as Tess Mercer, make its later company less reassuring. We were relieved by that added threat, because the repeated delays in Clark's story had become wearing. It is good supporting work in a programme that still asks for too much patience.
The casting makes sense across his work, which often gives us rogues, aristocrats and villains. His first major series role was Mason, the sarcastic grim reaper in Dead Like Me (2003–2004), followed by Sir Anthony Knivert in The Tudors (2007) and Zod from 2009 to 2011. Between those television parts came Andrew Jacoby in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004). His work moves between dark comedy, court drama and fantasy. There is room for both wit and a more forceful dramatic presence.
The Tudors is a less compelling reason to follow him. Knivert belongs to the first-season cast of a diverting royal soap whose persuasive courtly wealth cannot settle its wandering pace. Maria Doyle Kennedy is the stronger recommendation there, and the impatient king remains a problem no supporting player could be expected to solve. Blue's suitability for historical drama is useful, but we would not turn it into a claim that his presence makes a series worth the entire commitment.
After later guest work and a multi-year break from acting, he returned as Brad Torrance in 9-1-1 in 2024. That recurring role continues a career largely built in supporting and guest parts, rather than leading film roles. We would welcome another sustained comic part that lets him behave badly, with enough time for the character to become more than an amusing interruption.
Biography
Callum Blue is an English actor. Born Daniel James Callum Blue on 19 August 1977 in London, he has worked in film and television since the late 1990s.
He is known for his role as Mason in the series Dead Like Me (2003–2004), Sir Anthony Knivert in The Tudors (2007), Alex in Secret Diary of a Call Girl (2008), and Major Zod in Smallville (2009–2011). His film roles include Andrew Jacoby in The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement (2004) and appearances in Colombiana (2011) and The Peripheral (2022). He trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts.
