Erica Durance - Smallville promo stills

Erica Durance (pronounced /dəˈræns/; born June 21, 1978) is a Canadian actress. She has also been credited as Erica Parker. She is best known for her role as Lois Lane on the Superman-inspired television series Smallville.

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. "I wanted to get my feet wet in a smaller area than Los Angeles when I gave it a try", Durance has said. She continued to study acting at The Yaletown Actors Lab for many years from her husband, David Palffy. She starting out with background work, graduating to commercials, and then guest-starring roles, landing more substantial roles each time.

In 2004, she guest-starred on The Chris Isaak Show playing Ashley, a woman on a date with Chris. In Tru Calling, her character was a contender in a beauty pageant opposite Eliza Dushku's character. On the Sci-Fi Channel, she played an intergalactic librarian in Andromeda and a love interest for Teal'c in Stargate SG-1. She also played a sister to one of the leads in the Canadian show The Collector.

Durance was a frequent guest star for the 4th season of Smallville and was then promoted as a series regular for the 5th season. She is still part of the regular cast as of the 9th (and current) season.

Durance appeared on The Howard Stern Show in September 2004 after she had already filmed a number of her first episodes on Smallville. She was listed as the highest new entrant and cover girl in FHM's May 2006 issue, including the World's 100 Sexiest Women at #38 and was listed by FHM at #20 in the World's 100 Sexiest Women in 2007 and #15 by FHM in the World's 100 Sexiest Women in 2008. She is currently placed at #14 on the 2009 list. In October 2007 she was the cover girl for Maxim.

On October 9, 2006, she again appeared on The Howard Stern Show to promote the DVD release of The Butterfly Effect 2.

In 2009, Erica was slated to star as Heather in Ecstasy, based on the #1 bestselling book by Irvine Welsh.

On August 26, 2008, Durance was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series, according to the Canadian Press.