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Oz Co-workers Law and Order Co-workers Movie Co-workers Television Co-workers Random Fact OZ CO-WORKERS Chris has nothing but praise for his Oz castmates. He says, "I love to see any of my old working friends. Love to see them working and getting work" (Jan 31 2005) Edie Falco "is the best - great actress" (Sept 16 2000). Rita Moreno is "wonderful. She's the type of actress that elevates the other's work" (June 12 2000). Chris describes her as "saucy" (Oct 4 2000) and "funny, life-affirming, ballsy, smart, insightful, vulnerable, beautiful and a few other things" (Dec 25 2002). As of May 25, 2001, Chris had not yet listened to Rita Moreno's CD, but had "seen her cabaret act" and said, "She was unbelievable." Chris and Kirk Acevedo "don't hang out, but as working actors, I'd say we're close. It's always good to see him" (Feb 15 2002). He says that Kirk or Eamonn Walker "would be fun to work with," since they "never really had scenes to do together" on the show (Jan 31 2005). Luke Perry is a "great guy. Very nice and smart" (Jan 16 2001). If Chris and Chuck Zito had an arm-wrestling match, "Chuck would tear my arm out of the socket" (Apr 17 2000). Brian Bloom is a "nice guy" and is also "very smart," "very respectful," "funny" and has "cool eyes" (Feb 4 2001). Brian only comes up short in one area: He is not as good a kisser as Lee Tergesen (Feb 4 2001). Three regular Oz castmates also have worked with Chris on Law and Order: SVU in regular roles: Dean Winters, J.K. Simmons and B.D. Wong. Chris describes Dean as the "coolest guy in NYC, baby. And a good guy, too" (Mar 4 2000). Getting to "stare at Dean Winters all day, every day" made Chris feel like he was "on the verge of a heart attack 24/7. Multiply your thoughts by 1000 and then maybe, just maybe, you'd taste of the glory and wonder of being near…him" (Aug 15 2000). It is little wonder, then, that Chris was "bummed" when Dean Winters told him he was leaving SVU (Apr 24 2000). In real life, J.K. Simmons is a "great guy - smart, fun" (Oct 19 2000). Chris likes B.D. Wong "much," but says that on the set, they "don't really talk much. Sometimes, we hug and laugh, but that's really it" (Mar 1 2003). Chris says that he prefers "working with B.D. one-on-one" (Dec 25 2002). [This might mean that Chris prefers the one-on-one scenes with B.D. that he had on Oz to the ensemble scenes they share on SVU. - Editor] LAW AND ORDER CO-WORKERS Despite all the love he has for everyone on the SVU set, as of November 3, 2001, Chris felt closest to Richard Belzer and Mariska Hargitay. When asked who would win in an Olivia vs. Munch fight, Chris says the winner would be "Olivia by a knockout" (Dec 6 2001). Richard Belzer is "one of the gentlest souls in the world" (Dec 8 1999) and is "smarter and more hilarious" than his character, John Munch (Sept 12 2002). According to Chris, Richard mentioned his SVU castmates on The Howard Stern Show because "he likes us and us him" (Feb 13 2003). When asked if Richard had "said any words of paranoia" about the 2000 presidential election, Chris asked, "Paranoia or truth? Man has got a lot on his mind about a lotta stuff" (Dec 2 2000). When a fan proposed "Belzer for President," Chris gave this endorsement: "Now more than ever. Ice-T for VP" (Oct 9 2002). At one point, Chris and Richard were "working on a radio comedy show" (Sept 29 2003). Chris had "never met" Mariska Hargitay prior to auditioning for SVU (Apr 22 2000). He says, "She is a ball of fire, light and energy. A live wire, fun and a big plus in my life" (Apr 22 2000) and adds that he loves her "immeasurably. The limited time I have here would never give my feelings justice" (May 22 2002). Chris also says that if we look up "fabulous" in the dictionary, we'd see Mariska's picture (Nov 1 2001), but refuses to say which one of them is smarter, saying instead that each of them is "smart in different ways" (Feb 2 2005). When asked if he thinks Mariska is "hot," Chris replied, "Hell, yes" (Dec 19 2001). If he had to choose between Heather Locklear and Mariska, Chris would pick Mariska (Dec 19 2001). During Mariska's wedding, "the most beautiful women in the room" were "my wife, Sophia and Mariska" (Nov 16 2004). Of those wedding celebrations, Chris says, "Not one moment was unaccounted for. Three days of fun" (Feb 2 2005). When a fan pleaded with Chris not to "get it on with Mariska" on the show, Chris asked, "Can we just play doctor or something?" (Jan 24 2005) When another fan asked whether there was "really no smooching to look forward to" between Chris and Mariska, Chris said, "Only if you catch us in my trailer" (Jan 24 2005). In an effort to clarify the meaning of a photograph showing Chris and Mariska coming very close to kissing over a body bag, Chris said, "It means we're getting together off the show…don't tell our spouses" (Jan 20 2005). Negative reviews of SVU or Mariska Hargitay don't bother Chris; he says, "I try to use opinions and comments as constructive tools or I just drop them if I feel someone is off-base" (Mar 7 2000). Christopher's reaction to Mariska's winning a Golden Globe: "Good for her. I was very pleased 'cause I know it meant a lot to her" (Apr 20 2005). He "never heard" Mariska's mention of him in her Golden Globe acceptance speech, "but I know it was very nice and heartfelt - she gave me some props, as it were" (Apr 20 2005). Dann Florek, who plays Cragen, has been known to spend the week-end with Chris (Nov 4 2004). Chris says, "I love Cragen. I love working with him and often beg them to team us up" (June 28 2002). On the set, "everybody is pretty funny, especially Florek" (Sept 29 2003). Chris says that he and Ice-T are "working friends" (Feb 2 2005) and adds, "I love Ice-T. Very smart, funny, talented cat" (Feb 2 2005). He also describes Ice as "savvy, funny and very observant. Bottom line - he's COOL. Hence, the name 'Ice'" (Feb 2 2005). A fan noted that Ice's character had said both "dick" and "pussy" on the show, and wondered why Chris's character never says "dick." Chris replied, "I think Ice cornered the market on naughty talk" (Nov 13 2001). In a fight between Odafin Tutuola and Elliot Stabler, Chris says the end result would be a "tie" (Dec 6 2001). When it comes to Ice-T's kind of music, Chris says, "Rap and hip-hop are not my first choice, but when done well, I totally hook into it" (Feb 2 2005). At one point, Chris said that he'd "love to" do a rap album with Ice (Dec 3 2001), saying that they would choose Why Can't We All Just Get Along? for the album title (Feb 18 2002). More recently, a fan asked Chris about a rap that Ice-T had written for Mariska to perform on a talk show; Chris denied any knowledge of the rap, saying, "Rap is Ice and Mariska's domain. I'm just a white boy that listens to rock" (Sept 29 2003). Of Stephanie March, Chris says, "I love Stephanie. I consider her a friend" (Jan 20 2005). Diane Neal "is funny! And smart" (Jan 20 2005). According to Chris, Stephanie left the show because "she wanted to get a move on and get a shot at other acting opportunities" (Feb 5 2004); he also says that "it'd be nice to have her on" the show again, since he liked "her thang" (Feb 27 2004). Still, he won't say whether he likes Diane or Stephanie March more: "Are you trying to start shit between me and the people I work with (or worked with)?" (Jan 20 2005) Chris says he loves Isabel Gillies "very much," but he doesn't know "what will happen with my girl" on the show between Kathy and Elliot Stabler (Apr 20 2005). Chris has not mentored any of the actors who play Elliot and Kathy's children, since "they all seem pretty well grounded" (Feb 27 2004). Prior to the death of the late, great Jerry Orbach, Chris said, "A nicer guy and more giving actor, I don't know" (Apr 26 2000). Diane Venore is the actress who has inspired or taught Chris the most, of all the actors or actresses he's worked with (Apr 26 2005). When asked who his favourite SVU guest stars have been, Chris names Diane Venore, as well as "Martin Short, Ned Eisenberg and Henry Winkler" (Jan 31 2005). Chris found Jane Alexander to be "beautiful, elegant, professional, generous...a light" (Mar 12 2000). Jane is one of the actors he's worked with before that he'd love to work with again (Apr 11 2000). It was "great" to work with Martha Plimpton; Chris says, "She's a great lady and very solid. Loved working with her" (Oct 9 2002). Chris liked working with Eric Roberts "very much" and says that he was "very professional" and an "interesting guy" (Apr 10 2001; Dec 19 2001). Chris predicted that the episode "Pique," with Chad Lowe, would be "a good one for me" (Apr 13 2001) and later confirmed that working with Chad was "great fun" and "was the funnest thing to do" (June 1 2001). MOVIE CO-WORKERS Johnny Depp "was a complete professional and very fun to work with" on Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (Apr 20 2005). Of Depp's movies, Chris has said that Ed Wood is his favourite, "but I think he's always great" (Sept 28 2000). On Runaway Bride, Chris very much liked working with Julia Roberts and says, "She was focused, gracious, exuberant and very kind and giving" (Dec 19 2001; Jan 14 2002). Chris "didn't talk too much" to Joan Cusack on that film, but found her "very funny and fun" and he only "told her that I loved her and that was it" (Apr 10 2001). Chris says that Janel Moloney was "great to work with and seemed very confident" on the set of The Souler Opposite (Apr 3 2001). He is also "happy for her success" on The West Wing (Apr 3 2001). TELEVISION CO-WORKERS It was "great" for Chris to work with Valerie Bertinelli on In a Child's Name; he says, "She was very down to earth" (Mar 3 2001). Chris remembers Ann Morgan Guilbert as being a "great lady, fun" and a "good sport" when they worked together on The Fanelli Boys (Apr 17 2000). Chris worked with Ned Beatty and Doris Roberts on The Boys. He describes Ned as having been "interesting to work with" (June 13 2000) and Doris as "very straight-forward, nice, professional, good and ballsy" (Jun 13 2000). RANDOM FACT A fan asked, "Have you ever worked with someone who was so unprofessional or difficult that you'd never want to work with them again?" Chris responded, "Uh…one. Some others have just been a pain in the ass, but not too many" (Mar 12 2000). Last updated: March 04/06 | |