Erica Durance

**Erica Durance** (born June 21, 1978 in Calgary, Alberta) is a Canadian actress who portrays Layla McDaniel in the LGBT series, Sweet L.A. Life and its spin-off, Sweet L.A. Life: The New Generation. She is perhaps best known for her role as Lois Lane on Smallville, in which she also played Faora. Durance was born in Calgary, Alberta and was raised in Three Hills, Alberta. After graduating from high school, Durance moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, to pursue her interest in acting professionally.

## Trivia

* First discovered by well known agent/talent scout Jeff Palffy, formerly of Ford Models, now with PMG Management in Vancouver.

Ranked #38 in FHM US's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2006" supplement. (2006).
Sister-in-law of Jeff Palffy.
Is of French Candian descent.

* Unlike her Sweet L.A. Life character, Layla McDaniel, Erica is heterosexual and has two sons.
* Ranked #20 in FHM Online's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2007" supplement. (2007).
* Ranked #15 in FHM Online's "100 Sexiest Women in the World 2008" supplement. (2008).
* Her favorite movies are the BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice", Elizabeth (1998), "The Lord of the Rings", Underworld (2003) and Trainspotting (1996).

Loves singing and is a trained singer.
Voted TV Guide's Healthiest and Most Physically Fit Star on Television in an online poll.
Voted the best "Lois Lane" ever in a poll by Attack of the Show! (2005).
Admires actresses Sandra Bullock, Angelina Jolie, Cate Blanchett and Ashley Judd and, as a child, Erica admired Madonna.
Husband, David Palffy, is also her acting coach.
MSN TV has compiled a list of the Top 25 Fall TV Hotties in 2006 that viewers should look out for and Erica is one of their choices.
Considers her family to be her most important asset.
Very good friends with Smallville (2001) co-stars Allison Mack and Kristin Kreuk.
Favorite comic book character was Lois Lane, even before she was cast in the role.
Once threw out the first pitch at a Toronto Blue Jays game.
As a teenager had braces on her teeth.
Phobias are water and birds.
Ranked No.97 in AskMen.com's "Top 99 Most Desirable Women".
Favorite "Lois Lane" actress is Margot Kidder.
Works out 6 days a week and does cardio, weightlifting, and yoga for at least 1 and 1/2 hours to 2 hours. Relies on high protein and low carbs/fats for her diet.
Favorite authors are Jane Austen and Ellen Montgomery.
One of her favorite books is Harry Potter.
In 2006, she and Jeph Loeb co-hosted the WWC: Sam Loeb College Scholarship Fund Charity Auction with all the proceeds going to the Sam Loeb College Scholarship Fund at the Wizard World convention in Chicago. The auction raised $72,000 and Erica also refused the offer of $15,000 for her appearance and, instead, donated the money towards the auction and did the event for free.
October 2007 cover girl for Maxim Magazine.
May 2006 cover girl for FHM US Magazine's 200th Edition.
One of the 6 beautiful women of Sci-fi featured in the 2007 Women of Sci-fi Calendar.
Gave a brief tribute to Dana Reeve, who passed away March 6, 2006 after the Smallville (2001) episode, Smallville: Hypnotic (2006).
Smallville (2001) co-creator Alfred Gough said he was blown away when he first met her.
Good friends with Jeph Loeb. Jeph says that Erica is great as "Lois Lane" and he had a lot to do with her getting hired for the role. They stayed friends even after he left Smallville (2001).
In a Supergirl comic, a poster of her can be seen in the bedroom of Superboy.
Favorite Superman actor is Christopher Reeve and favors Tom Welling over Brandon Routh.
Loves being a step-mom, is very close to her step-son and wants to have her own kids someday.
Trained with a friend who is an exotic dancer to prepare for her role in a Smallville (2001) episode where "Lois Lane" plays a stripper.
Big fan of the Christopher Reeve "Superman" films.
Netscape named her one of the "Sexiest Sci-Fi Babes".
Laughs off the rumors of cosmetic surgeries and that she is all natural. Says it all comes from all the hard work she does in the gym like running on the treadmill and doing bench press exercises which contributed to her bust increase.
Her brother-in-law is actor Jeff Judge, brother of Stargate SG-1 (1997) star Christopher Judge. Jeff is married to her sister, Jenny Durance-Judge.
Posed for the "2007 Women of Sci-Fi" calendar, which was produced by Christopher Judge (who was also the photographer) and Michael Shanks.

1. 14 in FHM Online's 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2009.

Ranked on Entertainment Weekly's "Sci-fi Hotties of '09: The Women".
Said that she will only play Lois Lane in a Superman movie if her Smallville (2001) co-star Tom Welling is her Clark Kent/Superman, otherwise she would feel as though she's "cheating" on him.
Grew up on a turkey farm in a small town called Three Hills, Alberta.
Ranked #15 in FHM's "Sexiest Women" list in 2008.
She has appeared with Michael Shanks in three different series: Stargate SG-1 (1997), Smallville (2001) and Saving Hope (2012).
The television series Smallville had originally planned for Erica Durance's character Lois Lane to appear in only a few episodes in season 4. The producers was so impressed with Durance performance and her chemistry with Tom Welling, who played Clark Kent. Her appearance on the show was extended. The next season Durance became a regular cast member on the show.

* Gave birth to her 1st child at age 36, a son, Lochlan William Pallfy on February 10, 2015. Child's father is her husband, David Palffy.

Replaced Laura Benanti as Alura, Supergirl's biological mother Alura in Supergirl (2015) (Season 3).
Stars as Superman's love interest Lois Lane in Smallville (2001), and as Supergirl's biological mother Alura in Supergirl (2015).

* In Smallville: Combat (2007), she beat Ashley Massaro.
* Gave birth to her second son, Liam Jeffrey Palffy, on Dec. 7, 2016. Father is husband David Palffy.