The CW Source

Smallville hottie Erica Durance has a big birthday coming up – the actress, who plays Lois Lane, turns 30 on Saturday. Happy birthday, Erica!

Erica started out in a real-life Smallville – she grew up on a turkey farm in Three Hills, Alberta, Canada. Since she’s said she has a phobia of birds, we can’t imagine that was a lot of fun for her! After school, she jumped to Vancouver to test out acting, and she’s never looked back. After a series of roles in some pretty cheese-tastic horror flicks (think “The Untold, aka Sasquatch,” “House of the Dead” and “Devil Winds”), Erica started landing guest roles on TV shows like “The Chris Isaak Show,” “Tru Calling,” “Andromeda” and “Stargate SG-1.” Then came the role of Lois Lane on Smallville, and the rest is history.

It’s a role that Erica relishes – she’s said that Lois Lane was her favorite comic-book character even before she’d landed the show – and she’s made a splash with it. Comic writer and former consulting producer Jeph Loeb lobbied for Erica to get the role, and the two remain good friends even though Jeph has left the series. In fact, Erica co-hosted a charity auction at Wizard World: Chicago to raise money for a scholarship set up to honor Jeph’s son Sam, who died of cancer at age 17. Erica donated the $15,000 fee she was offered to the charity and did the gig for free.

Of course, Erica does have some fans who are just as interested in her smokin’ bod as in her good heart and her acting talent. She was voted one of TV Guide’s “Most Physically Fit Stars on Television,” and has appeared on FHM’s list of “World’s 100 Sexiest Women” three times: She made her debut on the list in 2006 at number 38, then hit number 20 in 2007 and showed up at number 15 in 2008. She’s also been a Maxim cover girl, appeared in the 2007 Women of Sci-fi calendar, and was named by Netscape as one of the "Sexiest Sci-Fi Babes.” That fame has spread to other arenas – a poster of Erica can be seen in Superboy’s bedroom in the Supergirl comic. Sorry, guys – Erica has been happily married to actor David Palffy since 2005.

We hope Erica has a great time for her 30th birthday. Leave your birthday wishes for Erica in the comments!