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'The Guardian' Describes Lead Antihero The popularity of HBO's "The Sopranos" may be influencing more than just more violence on television. With the character of Tony Soprano, deliciously played by James Gandolfini, a new type of TV character has started to emerge -- the antihero, a character perhaps a little more flawed and complex than you average TV caricature.
During Tuesday's (July 24) introduction of the new CBS fall drama "The Guardian" at the Television Critics Association Press Tour in Pasadena, CA, David Hollander, the show's creator, introduced the lead character of the show as an antihero, saying he didn't want to make him too "good." "I'm hoping that I'm not going to create a character that ultimately chooses to be a do-gooder," Hollander says. "The Guardian" stars Simon Baker ("Red Planet" ) as Nick Fallin, a corporate lawyer on the rise who gets forced into doing community service after he gets busted on a drugs charge. As part of his community penance, Nick must take on child-advocacy cases free of charge. The drama also stars Dabney Coleman ("9 to 5" ) as Nick's father and boss in the law firm, and Alan Rosenberg ("Chicago Hope") as the child-advocate worker assigned to oversee Nick's progress.
/>"Simon's character, in my mind, is someone that really wants to do well in the corporate world. And I think the aggregate of the experience hopefully will effect him and keep his foot in [child advocacy]," Hollander adds.
Baker says what attracted him to the role was that the character was more complex than your average TV character. "One of the first questions that I asked David when we first met was, 'Please don't make this guy into a simple one-dimensional likeable guy,'" Baker recalls. "He's very human and he's someone that is emotionally detached that is reattaching himself to his emotions again. I was really drawn to the dimension of the character, how flawed he is." Because of his flaws, Nick may not be well liked by the audience -- or in this case, by Baker's sister. "I did sit down with people when they watched the pilot. My sister, in particular, has a physical reaction to my character in the first couple scenes and in the end, she was sobbing," Baker says. "Maybe part of the reason the [Nick] feels unlikable is in the first episode, he's in a world that he simply does not want to be in, doing something that he doesn't feel he has the time to do. I think the more he gets into it, the more engaged he'll become and the better he'll become at doing it," Hollander adds. "He'll evolve into somebody who is the guardian." Related Shows
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