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November 10, 2004
Smits heads 'West'
By MARISA GUTHRIE
New York Daily News
Jimmy Smits left series television five years ago to do theater.
Now he's back on the small screen, but doesn't necessarily like what he sees.
"Look at the landscape of what television has become since I've been away," Smits told the Daily News. "People are into looking at train wrecks. The level of ridicule and the humiliation factor is ridiculous."
Smits reprised his role as Detective Bobby Simone on "NYPD Blue" last night, appearing as an apparition to counsel former partner Detective Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz). Tonight at 9, he makes his debut on NBC's "The West Wing" as a Democratic senator from Houston who could, if the show continues next season, be the next President.
For Smits, who has played a series of introspective good guys, TV has always been about more than just surface gloss. "The medium is very powerful at serving up images," he said.
So the arc of his "West Wing" character, Sen. Matthew Santos, will be one of evolution and growth.
"[Executive producer John Wells] wanted to investigate the dynamics of a person who enters a life of public service, the whys and what happens along the way when you aspire to help and aspire to do better," said Smits. "That was something that really fascinated me."
Smits is signed to "The West Wing" through season's end. If NBC renews the drama, which is in a ratings slump, Smits has an option to stay.
Beyond "The West Wing," he may have a hand in getting the kinds of images he wants on television through his development deal with ABC.
"I've been knocking around for the past three or four years, trying to crack an idea for a show," said Smits. "I still believe that there is a way in this landscape of reality shows on one end of the spectrum and procedural shows on the opposite end to find a place in between where I can live and breath and maneuver.
"I still believe that the audience wants to attach itself to people, not just science," he continued. "They get involved with a Sipowicz character or a Simone character or a Jim Rockford or an Archie Bunker. They let that person into their homes and then they traverse that particular landscape with them."
But the terrain Sen. Santos will be on, said Smits, is still a mystery to him. "I don't know where this character is going to go," said Smits, whose Santos will face a Republican played by Alan Alda.
"Some of the criticism of the show is that it leans a little too much to the left," he said. "Now we'll have both points of view. But we're not in any rush. The story arc is going to be done in John Wells' time and I'm fine with that."
Smits does know what he wants for his future: no more Mr. Nice Guy.
"Whatever character I play next," said Smits, "he will have a lot of foibles and chinks in his armor. There's a part of me that really wants to do something that is darker and grittier."
Originally published on November 10, 2004
Posted by Jo at November 10, 2004 06:45 AM