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Making It Roles Being a Working Actor Critics Awards Dreams Future Plans Random Facts MAKING IT Although he didn’t always want to be an actor (Apr 29 2001), Chris knew he had to become an actor "right after college when I learned I had no desire or aptitude for pretty much anything else" (Mar 2 2000). He moved from working construction to being an actor when "I realized that I could not spend my life hammering nails, so I finally moved up to NY and took a leap of faith" (Aug 1 2004). When first starting out, Chris did not give himself a certain number of years to "make it" in the business before he'd give up (Apr 26 2000). He says, "My experience was that this business is/was an unknown, scary, lonely landscape. I made sure I knew my craft, I denied myself a lot of things to stay focused and I never trusted that anyone would do anything for me. It's up to you - how hard you work, how well you're able to push the fear away, how thick your skin is. Listen to the good voices inside (and outside) yer head, not the bad ones" (Aug 27 2000). When asked if there was any point where he became frustrated and thought he wouldn't make it, Chris replied, "Yeah, the first 10 years of my career" (Mar 2 2000). He also said that the play he wrote, Drowning in L.A., helped his frustration a little (Mar 2 2000). On the way to career success, Christopher has been helped by a number of people. The people who have been "career engines" for Chris are "Sherman, my agent, Alexa Fogel, David Milch, the Wachowski brothers, Tom Fontana and Dick Wolf" (May 6 2001). "I think Alexa was the driving force, along with my agent, for the NYPD Blue/Oz thing. The Souler Opposite just happened" (May 6 2001). Chris owes his role in Bound "in large measure" to Joe Pantoliano (Apr 11 2000). Chris also mentions that Pantoliano's work in that movie "was one of the best jobs" Pantoliano has done (Apr 11 2000). Chris says that he first felt that he had "made it" after "my first job where they picked me up from the airport in a limo (my first limo ride)" (Aug 10 2000). It took "13 years" between the moment he decided to become an actor and realizing that he had a successful career, but he knows "it can go away at any time" (Oct 19 2000). In fact, when a fan asked whether he senses "any elitism in the biz," even after having "made it," Chris responded, "I have not made it - don't believe the hype. Elitism? I just gotta prove that I'm worth hiring. There are still many people I have to prove my talent to…that's the way it is" (Aug 27 2000). Despite his success, Chris does not have an assistant (Mar 26 2000; Nov 4 2000). ROLES Christopher's first acting job came when he was 26 or 27, when he filmed a commercial for "a Belgium burger joint" called Quick Hamburgers, where "I actually had to say my lines in Flemish" (Mar 7 2000; May 18 2000). The first television or film appearance where Chris was actually recognizable was a commercial for Stroh's (May 18 2000). He's done about ten national commercial spots in his career and says that he's glad that they are behind him; the last one he made was one for McDonald's (Apr 13 2000). When he was breaking into the business, Chris tested for the soap opera As the World Turns (June 10 2000); he says now that he would not do a daytime soap (Sept 17 2000). Over the course of his career, he's lost roles to several other actors: "I've lost roles to Oliver Platt a few times. Peter Berg did me in once. There are others, I think more than five or six - I think (I hope) I'm getting tougher to type" (October 17 2000). The part that Chris auditioned for, but that is now the "role that got away" was the opportunity to play "the bad guy in The Matrix" (Mar 28 2000). Christopher has commented on several of the acting experiences he's had. Filming The Souler Opposite was a "great experience. Good movie. Did it simultaneously with NYPD Blue. Shot Tuesday to Sunday, then would shoot out all of my NYPD scenes on Monday. One month, no break" (Mar 28 2000). The best surprises he's received career-wise were "getting The Fanelli Boys and Runaway Bride" (Apr 26 2000). Shift and Carlo's Wake won't ever air or be on DVD, if Chris "can help it" (Jan 12 2005). He enjoyed "the concept and the people" involved in making Leaving L.A., but about the execution, he says, "Well, we tried" (Jan 12 2005). Chris would have liked it if Leaving L.A. had enjoyed a longer run (Mar 12 2000). He says he saw all six episodes of the episodes that were shot of that show and "liked them very much. It needed more focus on what it wanted to be. It had no support from anywhere - ABC or the public" (Aug 20 2000). A fan asked how Chris felt about doing voice work for the show Dinosaurs. Chris replied, "I loved it, because I thought it was intelligent. It was a different gig than acting, but rewarding" (July 30 2000). When asked how he felt about his character, Spike, on that show, Chris said, "I love Spike - have always and will always. I though he and the show were great" (Mar 3 2001). Chris explains that his show The Boys didn't catch on because it was a "summer replacement" that was "dumped on the schedule in August. People were busy vacationing" (June 13 2000). He says he thinks the show had "holes in it" and comments, "I didn't think I was particularly well cast" (June 13 2000). There are pictures of Chris as a child in the opening montage of In a Child's Name (June 19 2000; Jan 12 2005); Chris had this to say to one fan who asked if he was "the cute little boy" in that montage: "I'm up on the wall. I don't know if I'm the 'cute' one, though - oh heck, sure, yeah, I probably am the cute one…I mean, obviously, right" (Jan 12 2005). If he could take any performance off of his resume, Chris would remove "all TV movies" (Apr 17 2000). When asked to name the most embarrassing acting role he's had, he says, "Pick a TV movie, any TV movie" (Mar 3 2000). However, when a fan asked him to recount his most embarrassing moment, Chris mentioned "auditioning for a singing coach and being unable to hit anything with my voice cracking or being off…but I've got plenty of other embarrassing stuff" (Apr 26 2005). In terms of his work on stage, the longest run Chris has had was "three months" (Apr 22 2000). Doing a one-man show would interest him more than doing an ensemble piece, since "I've done ensemble" (Apr 22 2000). Earlier in his career, Chris said, "You don't wanna know and I don't wanna remember" the live theatre he has done aside from Corners, The Rainmaker and Bug (Mar 2 2000). However, of all the work he's done, he would take a second crack at his role in The Rainmaker if he had the chance (Mar 28 2000). More recently, Chris said that doing the play Autobahn was "not tough at all" (Apr 8 2004). In terms of when he would do more theatre work, he said, "I plan to make much more eclectic choices (interesting film and theatre choices) once this SVU gig runs its course…so, soon" (Apr 8 2004). In terms of when he would do more theatre work, he said, "I plan to make much more eclectic choices (interesting film and theatre choices) once this SVU gig runs its course…so, soon" (Apr 8 2004). The "perfect" role for Chris would be "anything that made me a bankable commodity" (Apr 20 2005). BEING A WORKING ACTOR Christopher would prefer to act in movies, but does television because "ya gotta do what ya gotta do and hopefully you make the right moves to move the career along and pay the bills" (Mar 7 2000). In order to get those roles, Chris says, "My last name ain't Clooney, so I audition" (Oct 29 2001). A fan asked how Chris chooses his projects and whether he had anything new on the horizon. Chris responded, "At this point in the game, I usually take what I can get and do the best I can. There are no projects - I'm too busy with SVU" (Aug 26 2000). Another fan wanted to know if his success with Oz, Runaway Bride and SVU has convinced him he now has "a strong pass" that would secure desired acting opportunities. Chris replied, "No. I believe my opportunities will open, but I also know the biz is strange, frustrating and fickle. What I'm doing now, I think, are good steps in the right direction" (Sept 16 2000). When asked if he has a "five-year plan" for his career, Chris replied, "I know what the Five-Year Plans did for the U.S.S.R., so I live it a day at a time...but I do dream" (June 12 2000). A fan wondered whether Chris would rather have a "soaring movie career with a mixture of incredible roles and typical movie fare" or a career comprised of a "consistent group of Stablers and Kellers." Chris replied, "A soaring movie career can give one any mix they want" (Sept 16 2000). Christopher responded to rumours that NBC was planning to do a mini-series style cross-over between all Law and Order shows: "I hear alotta things. One thing needed for me to survive in this business is not to believe in anything until I'm guaranteed the money or the project has just been wrapped, or I'm sitting in the theatre watching the project. So…so far, I've seen no script and I have not been approached in any official way to be in it" (June 1 2001). He later commented that the movie was supposed to have been about bio-terrorism (Apr 2 2004). A fan asked whether Chris still has to work for money as well as for the fun of acting. Chris replied, "With my bills? No. But maybe in a couple more years, if I cut down on what Dante eats" (Apr 20 2005). When asked whether he would do a commercial overseas, Chris said, "A million bucks is tough to turn down" (June 14 2000). Chris says he's "not yet" ever passed on a script, then regretted it (Dec 2 2000) and that he would "never" do Hollywood Squares (Apr 24 2001). He normally does not like watching his work in the dailies when working on a film (Apr 17 2000). Chris reads his reviews, but doesn't remember them (Apr 21 2000). CRITICS Chris says that negative reviews of SVU or Mariska Hargitay don't bother him. Instead, he tries "to use opinions and comments as constructive tools or I just drop them if I feel someone is off-base" (Mar 7 2000). Chris has "no expectations from the audience" (May 22 2000), but to critics, he says, "My opinion of anyone's opinion is - let me see you ATTEMPT to do a better job and then we can discuss" (Sept 26 2002). When asked whether professional critics serve "some worthwhile purpose to society," he replied, "No real purpose that I can see" (Oct 30 2001). AWARDS Chris says, tongue-in-cheek, that "a vast conspiracy to keep me down" that is responsible for him not getting more publicity for his work on Law and Order: SVU (Jan 12 2005). On a more serious note, he has commented, "Awards are good tools for the career. It's a recognition factor - you suddenly become known as 'an award-winning actor' to money people, and they are willing to now bank on you to bring people into the venue. Emmy? I don't sit up and dream about it, but hey - why not" (Mar 4 2000). When asked if he has "any say-so in which episodes of SVU get selected for Emmy consideration," particularly the ones in support of snagging a nomination for his work, Chris said, "I have a say-so about me" (Mar 28 2000). About the Emmy process, Chris says: "Like the corporate monkey I can play (it is part of the game after all), I submit or get submitted every year. In my heart, I could care less, but to win would be the best way to say thank you to the others that have played a part in me doing what I do - after all I get enough recognition. So...an Emmy? I don't care" (Sept 28 2003). DREAMS Of all the actors with whom Chris has not yet acted, Robert DeNiro is the one that Chris would love to work with (Mar 7 2000; June 9 2000). Emma Thompson is the one actress he would want to work with, if he could only choose one (June 9 2000; June 19 2000), although he would also love to work with Meryl Streep (June 19 2000). Jane Alexander and Johnny Depp are the two actors he's worked with before that he'd love to work with again (Apr 11 2000). If Chris could have the career of any actor, he would choose "Harrison Ford or Robert DeNiro, depending on whether it would be me doing the roles they did, or whether I would be living their life - 'cause I'd never be able to be better than DeNiro" (Oct 17 2000). FUTURE PLANS Chris takes his career "one day at a time," rather than planning out exactly where he'll be in his career in 10 years (Jan 3 2000). However, when a fan asked in 2000 where Chris imagined he would be in five to 10 years, Chris answered, "Making movies" (Apr 17 2000). Chris has also said that he writes and will eventually direct (Dec 27 1999). If he had not become an actor, he would be directing now (Jan 20 2005). RANDOM FACTS When a show is canceled, it's the producer of the show who calls to break the news (June 13 2000). It is "very rare" for Chris to invite people to visit him while he is filming (Jan 20 2005). Last updated: March 04/06 | |