A group of furious fans has rushed to defend 2000s heartthrob Tom Welling after one X user went viral for comments describing his looks at age 48 as “below average.”
The social media troll contrasted a recent photo of Welling with one taken when he was in his early twenties.
Welling, who made headlines last January for driving under the influence, famously played Clark Kent in the superhero series Smallville for a decade, from 2001 to 2011.
Highlights
- A photo of Tom Welling, who starred in ‘Smallville’ in the 2000s, has gone viral on social media.
- The user who shared the image claimed the actor looked “below average” at 48 compared to his former “model” looks.
- The post garnered 6.4 million views, prompting hundreds of users to criticize the post and defend the actor.
Tom Welling sparked online chatter about his appearance two decades after rising to fame on Smallville
He is also known for appearing in Lucifer as Lt. Marcus Pierce/Cain and in Cheaper by the Dozen, where he played Charlie Baker, the eldest son of Steve Martin’s character.
The anonymous post by The 4Chan Archives described a young Welling as “one of the best-looking actors ever” with a “model face,” claiming he had become “below average” two decades later.
The post has racked up 6.4 million views on X at the time of writing, along with hundreds of replies.
Users on X criticized the comparison between a professional photo from Welling’s Smallville days and a lower-quality image taken in unfavorable lighting.
“Bruh he is a handsome dude, what y’all on about,” one fan wrote.
“That’s just a bad photo of him from 2022, he probably just put on weight and let himself go a bit through the pandemic, a lot of us did,” shared another.
Social media trolls contrasted a photo taken when Welling, 48, was in his twenties with a recent image
“Bro is a happily married dad, he’s not worried about what 4chan dorks think about his looks,” remarked someone else.
One user said Welling is “still a gorgeous man,” while another asked, “What are you talking about?! He can still get it.”
“Idk why they expected him to look 23 forever,” a separate comment read.
“’Below average’ and it’s the hottest picture of a man you’ve ever seen,” another user chimed in.
Others said Welling looks like a typical 48-year-old who has not undergone any cosmetic procedures. “This is how most white guys age without surgical enhancements.”
Fans also agreed it was “weird” to compare two photos taken decades apart to analyze how “well” or “badly” someone has aged, adding that the actor was still handsome.
Before becoming an actor, Welling modeled for brands including Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein
Welling lives in California with his wife, equestrian Jessica Rose Lee, and their two sons: 7-year-old Thomson Wylde and 4-year-old Rocklin Von.
The New York native was a construction worker in the late 1990s when he was discovered by a casting director who suggested he try modeling.
He later relocated to Los Angeles and modeled for Tommy Hilfiger, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Calvin Klein.
Still, he said his ambition was always to become an actor, a dream he pursued while modeling for the major brands.
“To me, it’s not a very expressive job,” he said of modeling. “It’s really based solely on what’s the outside. I didn’t find that it was fulfilling at all. I find acting to be much more fulfilling. You can be much more expressive and you can show a lot more of who you are.”
He portrayed Clark Kent in the superhero series Smallville, which follows the character’s life before becoming Superman
His first acting role came in 2001 in the legal drama Judging Amy, in which he played a karate teacher, Rob “Karate Rob” Meltzer, the10-years-younger love interest of Amy Gray.
Though he had originally signed a contract to appear in three episodes, the storyline received positive feedback, and producers kept him on for three more.
