by Edward Gross
Born on Christmas Eve 1964 in Ogdensburg, New York, Valley’s early credits include the character of Jack Deveraux on the NBC soap opera DAYS OF OUR LIVES (a role which spanned 1994 to 1997), as well as Detective Eddie Arlette in the TV series KEEN EDDIE. BOSTON LEGAL, in which he played Brad Chase followed. In 2008 he appeared on FRINGE as FBI agent John Scott, and ultimately ended up marrying that show’s leading lady, Anna Torv.
In HUMAN TARGET (the comic of which was created by Len Wein and Carmine Infantino) he plays Christopher Chance, who steps in to take the place of people in dangerous situations, willing to take a bullet for them (though obviously he’d prefer not to) as he uncovers whatever mystery he’s involved with. And then there’s the action!
In the first part of this exclusive interview with CBM, Valley discusses how he became involved with the series and his overall feelings about the character, sharing a bit about some of his personal Hollywood heroes.
MEDIA GEEK: You must be pretty tired, physically, from doing this show. I watched two episodes and was exhausted.
MARK VALLEY: Yeah, it’s pretty tiring making it. How did you like it?
MEDIA GEEK: I had the same reaction to the second episode as I did to the pilot when I saw it at Comic-Con, which was how the hell are they going to do this on a weekly basis?
MARK VALLEY: Well, we’re doing it. That was one of the dramatic questions facing us in the beginning, too. But I think with the second episode we were able to prove that we COULD do it on a weekly basis. I think what’s working is we’re doing a couple of days second unit while main unit is shooting most of the dramatic material with the principals.
MEDIA GEEK: When you read the script for the pilot, what was your feeling about the character? What was his appeal to you?
MARK VALLEY: What appealed to me is that it was an opportunity for some subtle humor, which is one thing that is rarely seen on television dramas. Being able to write that sort of irony, or having the willingness to have an ironic character in your show, is really something that attracts my attention. By that, I mean a dark sense of humor, a dark commentary on what’s going on around him. He’s got kind of a gallows humor about him, which is kind of cool.
MEDIA GEEK: From what I’ve gathered, the attempt with this character was to create a hero who has his roots in the past and films like LETHAL WEAPON and DIE HARD.
MARK VALLEY: I asked Simon West [who directed the pilot and worked with Valley on KEEN EDDIE], “How do you think this character is different from Keen Eddie?” and he said, “Eddie was the one who took the beating, but this is the guy more likely to GIVE the beating.” I took that and kind of ran with it. He’s a little bit of a bad ass, and kind of fun. God knows I wasn’t a bad ass in high school, so I get to make up for it now.
MEDIA GEEK: When you look at a show like this with so much action, is there a danger that there could be a lack of character evolution?
MARK VALLEY: If you look at it, once something becomes a real hook for the show, that becomes a risk where you say, “Oh, wow, we have to figure out where to put a chase into the episode.” I find that’s going to be more guidelines than a demand of the show, which inspires the writers to come up with some very clever material and a story that can kind of carry the conflicts that are set up. I’ve got complete confidence in those guys, and to be honest with you, I think that’s more their challenge. Mine is to be able to handle it all in the time we have available and to make the character believable.
MEDIA GEEK: I guess what I’m getting at is that if you have a show that has action, action, action, it has a danger of repetition and, really, boredom if there isn’t a genuine character at the center of it all.
MARK VALLEY: The character is something that they’re very focused on, and it’s been so much fun trying to find this character. In every episode I learn a little bit more about him because you get an opportunity to see him in different situations. From an actor’s standpoint, I don’t think we’re going to have a problem with that, just by the way the writing has been coming out. We’re on episode six or seven right now, and I’m pretty happy about that. That was my concern as well; that was my fear: what if this guy turns into an enzyme for action? But he’s definitely his own organism and it’s working out pretty well.
MEDIA GEEK: I’ve been enjoying the interplay between you, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley.
MARK VALLEY: I think they cast this thing really well, to be honest with you. Jackie, Chi and I both have experience, but from different angles, and we all share this attitude of enjoying ourselves and making the most out of every day and every scene, and let the cards fall where they may. The attitude is kind of infectious and everybody seems worried about the right things, and not what the numbers are going to be or selfishly only worrying about their own character.
MEDIA GEEK: You can’t control the numbers anyway, so all you can do is make the best show you can.
MARK VALLEY: Like Chi says, “I want you guys to like us, not love us.” We’ve all done shows we’ve fallen in love with but really didn’t get the majority of votes with the Senate, so to speak. Whatever happens, we’re making a show we’re proud of and that’s something I’m pleased with.
MEDIA GEEK: Now that you’re playing an action hero, who were the ones that you looked up to when you were younger?
MARK VALLEY: I liked Indiana Jones. Harrison Ford as Han Solo was pretty cool, too. When I was a little older, probably in high school, I thought Bruce Willis was great. On television, I used to watch shows like MAGNUM P.I. and SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN. I loved those guys, and the way they played it with that kind of shrugging the shoulders, ROCKFORD FILES kind of casualness. I used to really enjoy that. Of course, there was William Shatner in STAR TREK, too. Those are the heroes. Now I’m meeting them out here in Hollywood.
MEDIA GEEK: Is that exciting, given your own celebrity?
MARK VALLEY: Oh my God, yeah. It’s like you’re a kid and somebody saying, “You’ve got a phone call.” “From who?” “Santa Claus. He wants to talk to you.” It’s sort of a two-edged sword. On one hand it’s such a thrill to meet them, but then you also have to kind of give up on the illusion that the characters they played actually existed.
READ PART 2 OF THIS INTERVIEW WITH MARK VALLEY HERE!