Jane admits freely that she's not an expert in the Superman myths and legends but doesn't consider that a disadvantage working on Smallville.

"I watched one or two the films but not all of them," she says. "I definitely watched the first one, and I probably watched the second one, but it was so long ago. I think it's interesting when you think about the acting process. It's not about having an overview of the entire genre. It's about taking the material and the characters, and making them real and interesting. It's not really my job to know everything about the show; that's for the fans to do. That's who we're entertaining."

The actress has encountered fans over the years who are considerably more knowledgeable about the roles she's played than she is. "I always find it astounding the things that people know about Dr. Quinn that I had no idea about," she laughs. "And I played her for seven years! Every day people say to me, "When Michaela did that, she did it because of.. and I say, She did? Of course she did. Is that what happened?" There are people who know more about Somewhere in Time and Dr. Quinn than I will ever know, and I was definitely there at the time. It's astounding - but people do see what they want to see in things."

It's clear from the way Jane talks that she is a fan of one particular Superman -the- late Christopher Reeve, with whom she struck up a friendship during the filming of the time travel love story, Somewhere in Time. In his first major role after appearing as Clark Kent in the first two Superman films, Reeve plays a modern man who is handed a pocket watch by an elderly lady who begs him to come back to her. When he sees a photo of the woman from 70 years earlier, he uses a novel method of time travel to cross the decades but keeps being returned to his present day body when he encounters anachronistic articles. "I love that movie, and Chris did too,"Jane says. "We became really, really close friends, literally- to the day he died. There is no other person who I've ever worked with thatt I've ever been that close to, from the moment we met. We used to speak on the phone for hours on end - we were very very close."

Like the characters within the story, Somewhere in Time had to battle against the odds to receive the recognition that it deserved. "When we made that movie, we totally believed in it," Jane explains. "'Then we were completely crushed when Universal, who produced it, did nothing whatsoever to support it. (There was an actors' strike at the time it was released], so we weren't allowed to talk about it in the press. Universal issued it for like, a minute-and-a-half lin the theaters, and Chris was then told by all the big agents that he'd made the biggest mistake of his life to do this aftler Superman."

Neither actor believed that was the case. "Christopher and I used to talk about the fact that at the end of his days, it was Somewhere in Time that people remembered more than Superman," Jane continues. "It happened when it happened and to this day people all over the world stop me and go,? My God, Somewhere in Time is my favorite movie.' I hear that every single day - I hear it from heads of state, from very famous people. It's amazing how this movie impacted people. There's something about it that's really real. It just happens and hits a nerve. It played for over a year in Hong Kong to packed houses -Sir Run Run Shaw, wino owned all the movie houses in Hong Kong at the time, actually invited me to go over there because he wanted to see why this movie was the most successful movie that had ever been in Hong Kong apart from Gone With the Wind. It ran for over a year, then they took it off for six months, and by request they put it back on, and again it played to packed houses. People watched it 15 or 20 times, and now I believe it's one of the top videos."

Jane worked with Christopher Reeve supporting his American Paralysis Foundation, and since his death in
Oc tober of last year she has continued to support the cause. "I actually did a painting of Chris and I called "The Kiss,"' she says. "I'm a painter, and if you go to www.janeseymourcom, it's under the art section."

Understandably, given that she devoted seven years of her life to it, one of the roles that Jane is proudest of is of Michaela Quinn. "I think Dr. Quinn has to be up there, because what it did was change the face of television in America for about seven years," she says. "It brought family television back. and created a time slot that doesn't exist any more. It was intelligent family -friendly entertainment that was appealing to all age groups, male and female. I'm also very proud of War and Remembrance - that was a great miniseries. In terms of films, Somewhere in time has a very special place in my heart, because I just feel it's one of the ultimate love stories, and personally, it was a very special experience."

In terms of the future, Jane sees herself "getting back to playing some wacky parts and villainesses -doing some character stuff'. I've just done a film that is called The Wedding Crashers. My manager and my press agent saw it recently, and they were screaming and yelling on the phone. I think I will end up doing more comedy in future - I'm starring with Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn. I've done some comedy in the past, but I think you get stereotyped doing drama when they look at you and you're leading lady type of material."

But whatever the future holds, of one thing Jane is certain: "It'll be fun."