Erica Durance

Erica Durance (/dəˈræns/; born June 21, 1978^[2]) is a Canadian actress known for her roles as Lois Lane in the superhero television series Smallville (2004–2011) and as Dr. Alex Reid in the medical drama series Saving Hope (2012–2017). She has also appeared in films such as The Untold (2002), The Butterfly Effect 2 (2006), Final Verdict (2009) and Painkillers (2015).

Erica Durance
Durance at GalaxyCon, Raleigh, 2022
Born	(1978-06-21) June 21, 1978 (age 46) Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Other names	Erica Parker[1]
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2001–present
Spouses	Wesley Parker ​ ​ (m. 1996; div. 1999)​ David Palffy ​ ​ (m. 2005; div. 2024)​
Children	2

Early life

Durance was born in Calgary to parents Gail and Joel Durance and grew up on a turkey farm with her older brother and sister in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada.^[2] Durance moved to Vancouver in 1999 to pursue her interest in acting professionally and study at the Yaletown Actors Lab.^[3][4]

Career

Durance began her career with background work. She appeared in commercials for Kokanee Beer.^[2] She has guest-starred in television series, including Andromeda, Stargate SG-1, Charlie's Angels, Harry's Law and Private Eyes.^[5][6]

In 2004, Durance was cast in her breakout role as Lois Lane on the television series Smallville.^[7] Durance was acting part-time and working as an agent for background actors and booking photo doubles for TV series and had considered quitting acting.^[8] "I was at a point in my life where I was a bit frustrated with the business," Durance said. "[my manager] had to talk me into going out for it."^[9] Producer Kelly Souders said they knew Durance was Lois for the series after seeing her casting tape, "there were a lot of wonderful actresses who came in for the role but I remember the entire writing staff watching her tape and just saying, that's her. She had everything. She had attitude but she was loveable and brought all of it in her audition tape."^[10] Durance played a sassy, teenage Lois in season four in a recurring role.^[7] She was promoted to series regular in season five and became part of the Smallville cast.^[11][12] She played the character for seven seasons. "Everyone has their specific idea of who Lois Lane is for them, and you have your overall blueprint, but then you have to try to make it your own. That's the only way to try to stay truthful to what you're doing," Durance on playing Lois Lane.^[13]

In 2012, Durance began starring in the lead role in the CTV medical drama television series Saving Hope, as Chief Surgical Dr. Alex Reid.^[14][15] She was also a producer on the series and directed the season four episode "Torn and Frayed".^[16] In season 3, Durance's real-life pregnancy was worked into her character Alex Reid and the series. Saving Hope ended its run in 2017.^[16][17]

Durance appeared in the television series Supergirl in a recurring role as Kara's Kryptonian mother, Alura Zor-El.^[18][19] In 2019, Durance and her Smallville co-star Tom Welling reprised their roles as Lois and Clark in the Batwoman episode of the Arrowverse crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths".^[20][21]

Durance has appeared in several Lifetime and Hallmark films, including I Me Wed (2007), Wedding Planner Mystery (2014), Color My World with Love (2022) and A Scottish Love Scheme (2024).^[22]

Personal life

Durance was previously married to Wesley Parker. In 2001, she began dating Canadian actor David Palffy. They married in 2005 and divorced in 2024.^[23] Durance and Palffy have two sons.^[24] She also has a stepson from her husband's previous relationship.^[25]

Durance is a supporter of World Vision Canada.^[26] In August 2006, she co-hosted the Superman/Batman #26 art auction with Jeph Loeb at the Wizard World Chicago convention. The auction raised $70,000.^[27][28] The event honored Loeb's son, Sam Loeb, who died at age 17 after a long battle with bone cancer, and all of its proceeds went to the Sam Loeb College Scholarship Fund.^[29]

Accolades

Durance was ranked No. 38 on FHM magazine's "100 Sexiest Women in the World" in 2006 and #20 in 2007, #15 in 2008, and #14 in 2009.^[30] She has also appeared on the cover of FHM and Maxim magazine. In 2009, Durance was on Entertainment Weekly's Sci-fi Hotties Women.^[31] BuddyTV ranked her #26 on its TV's 100 Sexiest Women of 2009, and #16 on its 2010 list.^[32] In 2012, BuddyTV ranked Durance #9 on their list of Summer 2012's Sexiest Stars.^[33] Hello! magazine listed her as one of Canada's 50 Most Beautiful People in 2012.

Film

Durance at Adventure Con, 2006

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2002	The Untold	Tara Knowles		[34]
2003	House of the Dead	Johanna	credit as Erica Parker	[35]
2004	The Bridge	Amy	Short film
2006	The Butterfly Effect 2	Julie Miller		[36]
2010	Sophie and Sheba	Natalia		[37]
2012	Tim and Eric's Billion Dollar Movie	Paris Waitress		[38]
2015	Painkillers	Trudy		[39]

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref
2001	The Lone Gunmen	Dancer	Episode: "Maximum Buyers"
2003	Devil Winds	Kara Jensen	Television film, credit as Erica Parker	[40]
	111 Gramercy Park	Maddy O'Donnell	Television film	[41]
2004	The Chris Isaak Show	Ashley	Episode: "Let the Games Begin", credit as Erica Parker
	Tru Calling	Angela Todd	Episode: "Drop Dead Gorgeous"
	Andromeda	Amira	Episode: "Time Out of Mind"
	Stargate SG-1	Krista James	Episode: "Affinity"
	The Collector	Rachel Slate	Episode: "Another Collector"
2004–2011	Smallville	Lois Lane	Recurring role (season 4) Main role (seasons 5–10) 141 episodes
2006	Island Heat: Stranded	Carina	Television film	[42]
2007	I Me Wed	Isabelle Darden	Television film	[43]
2009	The Building	Jules Wilde	Television film
	Final Verdict	Megan Washington	Television film
	Beyond Sherwood Forest	Maid Marian	Television film	[44]
2011	Charlie's Angels	Samantha Masters	Episode: "Angels in Chains"	[45]
2012	Harry's Law	Annie Bilson	Episode: "Gorilla My Dreams"	[46]
	6 passi nel giallo	Angela/Christine	Episode: "Gemelle"	[47]
2012–2017	Saving Hope	Dr. Alex Reid	Main role, 85 episodes
2014	Wedding Planner Mystery	Carnegie Kincaid	Television film	[48][49]
2017–2019	Supergirl	Alura Zor-El Agent Noel Neill	Recurring role, 10 episodes Episode: "Midvale"
2019	Batwoman	Lois Lane	Episode: "Crisis on Infinite Earths Part 2"
The Christmas Chalet	Grace	Television film	[50]
Christmas Stars	Layla	Television film	[51]
2020	Private Eyes	Lauren Campbell	Episode: "Family Plot"
2021	The Enchanted Christmas Cake	Gwen	Television film
Open by Christmas	Simone	Television film
2022	North to Home	Hannan	Television film
Girl in the Shed: The Kidnapping of Abby Hernandez	Zenya	Television film	[52]
Color My World with Love	Emma	Television film	[53][54]
We Need a Little Christmas	Julie	Television film	[55]
2023	Unexpected Grace	Noelle	Television film
Ms. Christmas Comes to Town	Amanda/Ms. Holiday	Television film
2024	A Scottish Love Scheme	Lily	Television film
Murder in a Small Town	Emma O'Brea	Episode: "Prized Possessions"	[56]
Happy Holidays from Cherry Lane	Penny	Television film
Private Princess Christmas	Queen of Wingravia	Television film

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2004	Saturn Award	Best Supporting Actress on Television	Smallville	Nominated	[57]
2005		Best Supporting Actress on Television			[58]
2008	Gemini Awards	Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series	I Me Wed		[59]
2010	Saturn Award	Best Actress on Television	Smallville		[60]
2011	Teen Choice Award	Choice TV Actress – Fantasy/Sci-Fi			[61]
2012	Canadian Screen Awards	Best Actress in a Dramatic Role	Saving Hope		[62]
2016		Best Actress in a Dramatic Role			[63]