February 2002 - TV Extra (Sunday Herald Sun,Australia)

Guardian but no angel ...

Lawyer Nick Fallin is clever, ambitious and morally ambiguous - not your typical TV series hero. And Australia's Simon Baker, who plays Fallin in the smash series 'The Guardian', would not have it any other way. Julie Hosking reports.

Simon Baker should be on top of the world. After five years of toiling in the capital of entertainment, the 32-year-old Tasmanian-born actor has been touted as the next big thing from Australia.

His television show, 'The Guardian', is not only being hailed by critics, but was the highest-rating new drama on American television. And, after earning a crust in supporting roles in films such as 'LA Confidential', he also has a starring role in a major film, 'The Affair of the Necklace', with Oscar winner Hilary Swank.

But speaking from New York where he is promoting the film, he sounds a little weary. The whole publicity roller-coaster ride is taking its toll and Baker seems not entirely comfortable with his new celebrity status.

"I am really so busy that I haven't got caught up in being hailed or all that stuff. It's just what it is, it's the nature of what I do," he says matter-of-factly. "You know, I understand the necessity of the publicity and the press, of doing that, it's a conduit to an audience, (but) if you live by it you'll end up dying by it. If you think that's who you are."

However he may feel about the star label personally, professionally it means the difference between the minor and major leagues.

Only last month he found himself in some salubrious company as a nominee for best actor in a TV drama, 'The Guardian', at the Golden Globes. On a night when the Aussies cleaned up, Baker may have lost out to Kiefer Sutherland, but he is now a player in Tinsel Town.

A decade ago he was up for another award - the Silver Logie for best new talent for his role in 'E Street'. He walked away with that one, although he was then going by his stepfather's surname, Denny.

The father of three made the move back to television primarily for family, rather than professional, reasons.

"I came back from shooting in Europe for five months at the end of last year for 'Affair of the Necklace'" he says. "With a couple of kids and a third on the way I decided it would be good to stay in one place for a while.

"I was sick of, you know, chasing films, having to go wherever it was being shot, whenever it was scheduled. I like to keep busy and although I have based myself in LA for the past five years, I spend a lot of time moving around and that's one of the reasons why I decided on this TV show."

"My eldest is eight so I can't get her out of school and just juggling all that was difficult. So I asked my agent here to show me what was going on as far as TV pilots for next year, to just let me have a look at some scripts."

The script for 'The Guardian' was the first he read. The plot revolves around slick corporate lawyer Nick Fallin, who is sentenced to 1500 hours community service for drug abuse and must represent children in the legal system. Fallin initially sees it as an irritant to his real vocation - overseeing million-dollar deals and making partner at dad's firm. And, even though it is clear some of the cases thrust upon him will have an effect, Fallin still does not take the high moral ground.

It is this ambiguity that attracts Baker to the role. "I thought it could be done quite well. A lot of drama is very fluffy," he says. I kinda liked the idea that this character is very flawed and is sort of struggling with himself."

Coincidentally, CBS chief Leslie Moonves had been following Baker's career and asked to see him.

"I sat down with him and chatted, and at the end he said to me, 'Listen I'd like you to take a look at this script', and it was 'The Guardian', which he didn't know I had already read."

Even then, Baker was reluctant to take the step, not because of any fear of being typecast by television, but because it is "bloody hard work".

"It really is, its jut relentless. Some days I work 15 to 17 hours and it's really difficult trying to maintain that," he says. "I re-read the script and then read a bunch of other stuff, but I was still apprehensive about it."

So he sat down with series creator David Hollander to see if he could commit to the project.

"We had three or four meetings of about four hours each, just discussing the character and the story ... a lot of different things, just to see. I mean you've got to audition, from my perspective, these guys just as much as they want to look at you.

"We got on quite well and then it came around that he wanted to do it with me, it was mine if I wanted it."

Still hesitating, he turned to an unlikely source to help decide his fate - an ancient Chinese probability text.

"I pulled out the I Ching. I'd never used it before You throw a series of coins and you get a series of patterns. Basically it's a way of letting the universe help you form a decision.

"It told me not to get in the way of yourself, the path that was in front of you is the path you should take, so the whole idea of doing 'The Guardian' sort of unravelled itself in front of me, and I said 'this pilot, let's do it' and after that stick to my intuition."

Fate was smiling on him. Audiences have embraced 'The Guardian', and there is no doubt the good-looking actor is a big reason why.

"Women want to sleep with him and men want to have a beer with him," Moonves has said. "The mail we are getting from women is unbelievable. He is like a throwback to the classical Hollywood heartthrob."

Bad luck girls. He has been with wife Rebecca Rigg since 1992 and says she still "continuously fascinates me".

In an industry where good looks are a dime a dozen, the no-nonsense Baker is more inclined to put the success down to the quality of the script and the cast, which includes veteran Dabney Coleman and Alan Rosenberg.

"I always thought it was either going to be something that went down well or didn't go down at all," he says, "And quite frankly, that's the way I wanted it to go. I didn't want to sit in TV limbo land forever."

Front Page Photo Caption - Lawyer Nick Fallin is no angel - but for Australia's Simon Baker the role could be a ticket to super-stardom. Meet The Guardian

Article Photo Caption - Flawed: Simon Baker plays hotshot corporate lawyer Nick Fallin.

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