Erica Durance was born in Calgary and grew up on a turkey farm before moving to Vancouver to study at the Yaletown Actors Lab and pursue acting professionally. Her career began with guest-starring roles in series such as The Lone Gunmen, The Chris Isaak Show, Tru-Calling, Andromeda and Stargate SG-1, and movies including House of the Dead.

Erica landed her breakout role as Lois Lane on Smallville in 2004, transitioning from a recurring role in her first season to starring as a series regular for the next six seasons, until the show’s conclusion. “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 said on playing the iconic character.

During her run on Smallville, Erica starred in movies including The Butterfly Effect 2 and Beyond Sherwood Forest. After the show’s conclusions, she guest-starred in more shows and movies, such as Charlie’s Angels, Harry’s Law, and Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie, before securing her next leading role, as Dr. Alex Reid in the medical drama Saving Hope, also working as a producer and directing the season four episode “Torn and Frayed”.

Erica was then cast in Supergirl as Kara’s Kryptonian mother, Alura Zor-El, before reprising her role as Lois Lane alongside her Smallville co-star Tom Welling in the Batwoman episode of the Arrowverse crossover event “Crisis on Infinite Earths”.

More recently, Erica has become a stalwart of Lifetime and Hallmark films, including Christmas Stars, The Enchanted Christmas Cake, Open by Christmas, North to Home, Color My World with Love, We Need A Little Christmas, Unexpected Grace, Mr. Christmas Comes to Town, and A Scottish Love Scheme, while also guest-starring in shows such as Private Eyes, Murder in a Small Town, with Smallville co-star Kristin Kreuk, Wild Cards, Law & Order Toronto: Criminal Intent and Tracker, alongside her Smallville co-star, Justin Hartley.