"A Sh-tty Way To Basically Get Fired": Smallville Star Aaron Ashmore Addresses Controversial Jimmy Olsen Death 16 Years Later

Smallville actor Aaron Ashmore looks back on the shocking death of his DC character on The CW TV show. Tom Welling's Smallville TV show took its liberty with the Superman mythology, and one of the controversies that came out of the series' changes was the fate of Jimmy Olsen in season 8. Not only did Smallville kill off Jimmy, but the season 8 finale ended up revealing that Ashmore was not actually playing the Jimmy that fans know from the Superman lore, but rather his brother, Henry James Olsen.

On the latest episode of Inside of You with Michael Rosenbaum, the Lex Luthor actor was joined by one of his former co-stars, with Ashmore's ending on Smallville being one of the topics discussed. When he was asked about Smallville not only killed his character off but how he had to learn that he wasn't actually playing Jimmy Olsen, Ashmore stated the following:

Aaron Ashmore: I don't know... Literally, what they told me, was that because this wasn't the actual Superman timeline, this canon that we all know, it's slightly different. 'You can't be Jimmy Olsen because it's too young. Clark needs to be older,' all this sort of stuff. So at first, I was bummed, because I've been doing all these interviews for three years. People [went like,] 'Hey, you are part of the canon, you are [one of the] lucky people to play this Jimmy Olsen role,' and I was like, 'Yeah, this is great!' Then all of a sudden, I don't even get to freaking be Jimmy Olsen! I've been lying to people, I've been telling them this for years!
I was disappointed, I didn't like how they did it, because it just felt a bit of a cop-out. They didn't tell me till the very end of the season too. They could have told me at the beginning of the season, 'Hey, this is what's happening.' I don't think it was a surprise, I don't think they came up with this out of nowhere. I think they knew that this was going to be the thing, but they told me the episode before, so this just feels like a sh-tty way to basically get fired, is through this bizarre, 'Well...you are not really the [Jimmy Olsen.]' I was like, 'Okay...like what am I going to do?' But yeah, I was definitely a little disappointed.

What Aaron Ashmore's Jimmy Olsen Comments Mean For Smallville

Even 16 years later, Smallville season 8's Jimmy death remains controversial, especially given how the show always made it clear that they would redefine the hero's mythology, including having Superman's best pal show up in Clark Kent's life early. It's clear from Ashmore's comments that he was just as confused with this decision as fans were, and his death came after Smallville season 8 put Jimmy through his darkest year yet in the series.

In the end, Jimmy's death was nothing more than collateral damage from the Justice League attempting to stop Davis Bloome/Doomsday once and for all. This may also tie in with how Smallville had to deal with a lot of DC restrictions over its decade-long run, which included several Justice League members not being allowed to show up, leading to some unusual story decisions that fit into the parameters of what kind of story the series was allowed to tell.

Our Take On Aaron Ashmore's Jimmy Olsen Comments

Jimmy Olsen on Smallville wearing a hat looking offscreen

Based on the actor's description of his experience, it's perfectly understandable for Ashmore to feel the way he did about how Smallville dealt with his character. While the Smallville season 8 finale death was incredibly disappointing, it was at least great to see Ashmore appear in the series finale during the flash-forward, playing a grown-up version of his younger brother. For anyone who wants to relive every season of Smallville, the DC TV drama is available on Blu-ray/DVD and on streaming.