Smallscreen Features

Haley, Valley and McBride talk 'Human Target,' Jan. 17 on FOX

By April MacIntyre Jan 18, 2010, 0:53 GMT

Jackie Earle Haley - © Albert L. Ortega / PR Photos

One of the better panels from the recent TCA winter press tour was "Human Target" for FOX.

"Target" is a new series is shot in Vancouver, B.C. from series Executive-Producer McG ("Terminator Salvation") and the premiere episode is directed by Simon West ("Con Air," "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider")

The series is a new action-drama based on the popular graphic novel, and follows Christopher Chance (Mark Valley), a unique private contractor, who along with his partners, Winston (Chi McBride) and Guerrero (Jackie Earle Haley), will stop at nothing to keep his clients alive.

When the cast was asked about their special dynamic, Chi McBride was first to talk about his and Jackie's characters' special chemistry.

"I think that I enjoy playing characters who are often annoyed. And Jackie loves that because he takes great pleasure as Guerrero in just needling Winston, but I think but it's almost like a brotherly kind of relationship.  There's jabs, but, you know, deep
down they both have a healthy respect for each other, and that's what makes us all a family. It's a dysfunctional family, but we all put the fun in dysfunctional.

Haley was in agreement, "And we have a blast, or I  know I do. Working with this guy, well, with everybody, we've got our scenes and some days together, it's pretty neat.  We were just shooting a sequence in an airport at midnight on Saturday night and we're still having a blast out there."

McBride shared what he brought to his new role. "I didn't do a particular amount of research.  I just look at it as just having a really good time.  I try to do something a little bit different from whatever the last thing that I did was, and this is an opportunity for me to do some action and do a little handling of firearms, do some stuff you haven't seen me do since I've been in my career because I haven't had the opportunity.  This is a great chance to do that, and the writing is so good; the characters are so well fleshed out, and what little quirks or idiosyncrasies these characters have...that's been the best part of it.  Doing [first episode] 'Rewind' was very liberating for me.  I hadn't had a chance to really cut loose.

Mark Valley was happy to get physical for the role too. "I've done a little bit of martial-arts stuff, and I was in the Army as well.  They use guns in the Army. So I'm a little bit familiar with that sort of thing.  I've got a little gym about as big as the 
corner of this podium, on the studio lot, where I have a few little things where I can exercise on when I have some free time.  I'm hoping, my second season, we are going to double the size of the gym.  The size of the gym is going to dictate the success of the show, I think."  
                 
Valley was asked if he had to learn any new skill sets for the role of Chance. "Yeah.  I've been working on Spanish for this past episode.  Anybody who says acting isn't brain surgery, I was doing a scene in Spanish, driving a Jeep through a tent, shooting at a gas tank that explodes and blocks the gate so we are not chased by the Latin American rebels.  
                
Haley was quick with a zinger: "They cut the juggling out of that?" and was asked about his character Guerrero, the computer geek and the toughest guy in the room, and doles out pithy tough guy lines like, "I'm going to come back and kill you later."
                 
"I just thought it was a real interesting kind of fascinating character, especially in this action-hero world.  He's definitely an unhinged character, and that always kind of fascinates me.  It is a fun process still working with these guys in terms of figuring out exactly where we are going with them.  Every week a couple more little layers kind of come to be.  So it's kind of fun developing and getting to some multidimension with this guy.  
                
Haley delineated his ass-kicking character from his real-life persona. "I'm not much of a computer geek, and I'm also not a tough guy.  So I guess maybe I like to do things that are opposite of me.  For some reason, it's like the characters I play are really kind of nowhere near me.  I'm pretty much an amicable guy; I try to avoid conflict, definitely walk away from physical conflict.  I am an avid exerciser, and I've done a lot of karate stuff, but that's more for fun and for physical fitness.  I'm not out trying to get into fights."

In the opening episode, Chance is hired to protect the engineer of California's first bullet train as it makes its maiden voyage from Los Angeles to San Francisco.

The awesome Tricia Helfer guest stars as Stephanie; Mark Moses is cast as Hollis; Sean Allan is cast as Lydecker; Adrian Hough is cast as James; Hiro Kanagawa is cast as Lt. Peale and Michael St. John Smith is cast as McNamara.

"Human Target" premieres on Sunday, January 17, 2010 following FOX's NFL playoff coverage. The show will then follow an "American Idol" audition show at 9 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 20, before moving to 8 p.m. Wednesdays starting Jan. 27.