SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "O Mother, Where Art Thou?," the latest episode of Superman & Lois.
Lana Lang just risked it all for her family and her town. In "O Mother, Where Art Thou?", the latest episode of Superman & Lois, she volunteered to undergo a risky Kryptonian procedure in order to take on the consciousness of Lara-El, Superman's scientist mother. Fortunately for everyone involved, the move was a success, and Lara provided the means to reverse the damage her son Tal-Ro had done on the citizens of Smallville. As a result, anyone who had been implanted with a Krpytonian consciousness was freed, thus foiling Tal-Ro's plans to take over the planet -- for now.
Speaking to CBR, Superman & Lois star Emmanuelle Chriqui explained how she changed her approach to distinguish Lara from Lana. She noted that Kryptonians have a much more proper way of speaking and shared how she modified her own voice to reflect that. She broke down the way this event will impact the Cushing family dynamic, including how it will affect the way Sarah sees her parents. She also discussed Lana's friendship with Lois and more.
CBR: In this episode, you play two entirely different characters. How did you change your approach to distinguish them from one another?
Emmanuelle Chriqui: I had a conversation with our creator Todd Helbing, and I think the whole approach was that he didn't want it to be this wildly unrecognizable character. So what I ended up doing was I really focused on the speech. So if you notice, or if you would pay attention, you'll see that when I become the other character, my speech is very, very proper. It's very proper; there's no kind of slang or anything like that, and the register of my voice is super -- it's a lower register, and it rarely gets excitable. I tried to make it as different as Lana, because one of the key notes was that everybody on Krypton -- a mother on Krypton is different than a mother on Earth and is far less emotional. So I took that and ran with that.
How will the events of this episode impact Lana's relationships with her family as the season continues?
Well, I think it impacted the family in a whole slew of ways. First and foremost, I think that our daughter Sarah is definitely going to look at us with different eyes. You know, Lana has come a long way since the beginning of the season. By "a long way," I mean that, I think, by this episode, you've finally seen Lana step into her power and be a lot less -- you know, she's far more fearless.
You see her loyalty for the town kick in and with that, there's immense strength that I think Sarah really comes to respect. Because in the beginning of this season, Lana was a little bit searching and not very happy and not very in her power and a little bit confused, a little bit threatened by Lois being there, who she looks up to so, so much, but in a lot of ways, felt like she could never compare. So I think there's been so much that's happened this season that in this present moment, with all the things that go down in this episode, I think our family, we just see how resilient they are, and that we can actually get through anything, apparently.
I adore the partnership that Lana has established with Lois so far. What has it meant to you to portray such a solid female friendship on TV, and how will that dynamic evolve moving forward?
First of all, I couldn't agree with you more. Hats off to our creator Todd! You know, Bitsie had told me -- Tulloch, obviously, who plays Lois -- Bitsie had told me that there was a very specific conversation where they wanted to be very careful that we weren't rivals, but that we were grown-ass empowered women holding each other up, having each other's backs, that we weren't these fighting little girls. We're both mothers, we're both married, we've both lived a lot of life, and there's just a beautiful friendship that's evolving -- a really, really beautiful and empowering friendship. I think that we're just going to continue to explore those things, that we as women are so much better being supported by women than when we're not. I think that we definitely see that in their friendship.
Lana is a huge part of the reason Morgan Edge's plan failed. What are the odds that will come back to haunt her?
I have no idea! [laughs] I'm like, "Wow, let's see what they come up with!"
Superman & Lois stars Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloch, Dylan Walsh, Alex Garfin, Jordan Elsass, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Inde Navarrette and Wolé Parks. The series airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.