Kristin Kreuk, who plays Lana Lang in The WB’s teen Superman series Smallville, told SCI FI Wire that her small-town-girl character gains a lot of new confidence after traveling to Paris-not to mention a new boyfriend, played by Jensen Ackles (Dark Angel).

"Lana this season is actually really great," Kreuk said in an interview. "I’m really excited to play her this year. Not that I wasn’t before, but ... my character gets a drastic change this year. She goes to Paris. She has a wonderful, ... fantastic time. So she’s being an artist. She has this awesome apartment that I want. ... She meets this guy, this wonderful guy, who’s funny and easy, unlike Clark, who was this big, huge heaviness."

Smallville will move away from the long-running Clark (Tom Welling) and Lana relationship, Kreuk added. "The two of them together, ... their issues would just like combine and cause tension," she said. "But [Lana’s] happy and confident in herself and interested in art and in style. ... Before, she was kind of directionless. She didn’t know what she wanted. And I think ... she’s getting perspective on her life."

Kreuk is especially delighted that Lana will get a new wardrobe and a new look. "No more, like, really tight jeans with pink T-shirts," she said with a laugh. "She’s a more mature woman, and ... it’s so much fun."

And Kreuk has already worked with her new co-star. "I’ve worked a couple of days with Jensen, who plays Jason, her new boyfriend," she said. "And it’s so fun to laugh and to be giggly and to be confident and to walk down the street and to just be in her right now, because she’s in a great time in her life. So I’m actually really excited. And the mythology this year will be really interesting. Really interesting. I don’t know exactly where they’re going, but even in the first episode, [there’s] this whole big Egyptian theme I think is going to start coming into the show." Smallville begins its fourth season on Sept. 22 in its regular 8 p.m. ET/PT Wednesday timeslot.