Television
54 AMERICANWAY
JULY 1 2009
On cOming back tO tV:
“I read this script, and it was just so well
written. It’s very rare that an actor atmy level gets offered stuff that’s
really that good. It’s very different than
Alias
, but the common thread
is that it’s got a very strong leading lady who gets to be vulnerable
and flawed and strong and giving. And the internal strife between the
nurses and the doctor is really interesting.”
OnhisunusualOffers:
“I get some of the craziest offers you could
imagine. I’m not in that Matt Damon stratosphere where I’m turning
down playing the starting pitcher for the Yankees. I turn down playing
the giant tomato in
TheAvocado Jungle of Death
.”
On acting:
“I feel incredibly lucky to have such a great job, but if
someone knocked onmy door tomorrow and said, ‘You’re never going
to act again,’ I’d be totally fine. I’d find something else to do in sports
or with animals. If I won $15million in the lottery, I’d never act again
a day in my life.
Alias
was a great experience, but after season three,
when you’reworking 16 hours inSanPedro at night, it’s like, Iwouldn’t
mindworking at Kinko’s from nine tofive nextweek.”
OngiVingup his Online-pOker habit:
“Sometimes, you do things
and you feel like there’s this invisible camera, where you’re watching
yourself act like a complete idiot. That happenedabout sixmonths ago.
It was aMonday morning at 2:30, and I’d just gotten knocked out of
this [poker] tournament. Iwasyellingatmycomputer screenat the top
ofmy lungs, and I had that out-of-body experience. Iwas like, ‘MyGod,
man, what are you doing?’”
On hOckey:
“Hockey is the greatest sport, hands down— the speed
of the game, the violence, the excitement, the pageantry of putting on
all that equipment like a gladiator going towar. They’re justmeat-and-
potato kind of guys. They’re all polite, they’re all humble, and they all
come from small towns inCanada.With them, younever hear about all
the craziness like in the rest of the sportsworld.”
OnwOmen:
“I don’t like the skinnymodel types. I like normal people.
My dream girl would work in a dentist’s office or be a librarian or a
schoolteacher— a nice girl fromMichiganwho’s had her hands in the
earth and who sometimes gets confused between Prada and Banana
Republic. I’m either with someone with the potential of it being very
serious or I’d ratherwake upwithmy dog.”
On dOgs (and his ObsessiOn):
“I point out to my mom there are
muchworse things to be obsessed about. I’ve hadMillie since shewas
about sevenweeks, and she basically didn’t leavemy side for the first
year, so she likes tohangoutwherever I am. I can’t say that Idon’t love
it. It’s so nice to come home at the end of the day and have that source
of unconditional friendship.”
On dOgs (sOmemOre):
“I was on Facebook for about five minutes,
under Millie’s name. I’d come home a little drunk once in a while, and
I’d just start surfing, and every time I saw a picture profile that had a
dog, I’d invite them as a friend. I had friends from South Africa and
Israel and China. It was an invitation-only type of thing. [
Laughs
.] It
was so lame.”
is in love. Crazy, headoverheels in love. The
lucky lady? His chocolate Labrador, Millie.
“Igete-mailsfrommyfriendssaying, ‘Dude,
you have to get a girlfriend,’” he says, only
half joking. Nodoubt Vartan’s single status
isgoodnews for the
Alias
star’s female fan
contingent, as is the fact thatVartan, 40, is
backonTV, this timeonTNT’snewhospital
drama,
HawthoRNe
, and costarring with
Jada Pinkett Smith. We chatted with the
handsome heartthrob about his new show,
his bad habits, and his perfectmate.
MichaelVartan
Michael Vartanwithhis
HawthoRNe
castmates
