 Ashmore indicates that his casting was both a surprise and what he wanted . The actor states , " I auditioned for [ the role ] and I put myself on tape . I hadn 't heard anything , and a couple of weeks later , all of the sudden , I got the call saying , ' You 're going to Vancouver to start shooting Smallville . ' It 's a dream come true , really . " Aaron Ashmore 's twin , Shawn , who is better known as Bobby " Iceman " Drake in the X @-@ Men film series , appeared in two episodes of Smallville as the power leeching Eric Summers . After three seasons with the show , two as a series regular , Ashmore was written out of the series . According to Ashmore , when the producers were first trying to get permission to use the character on Smallville , DC Comics had qualms over how close Jimmy was in age to Clark and Lois , as the character was supposed to be at least ten years younger . The producers guaranteed the department they would eventually reveal the Jimmy Olsen who appeared on the show was not the Jimmy Olsen who would one day work alongside Clark and Lois . At the character 's funeral , his full name is shown to be " Henry James Olsen " , and it is alluded that Jimmy 's younger brother , who is given a brief appearance at the funeral , is the DC Comics version of Jimmy Olsen who will one day work at the Daily Planet with Clark and Lois . Although Ashmore was sad to leave the show , he feels that the redemptive story that was given to Jimmy in the finale , through the self @-@ sacrifice he makes for Chloe , makes a good send off for his character . 
