Checking in with PHILIP WINCHESTER

After doing a couple of other series for the network, Philip Winchester has found “Justice” at NBC.

The veteran of “The Player” and “Crusoe” – as well as the Cinemax action saga “Strike Back – arguably is the first among equals in the Sunday drama “Chicago Justice,” the newest show i executive producer Dick Wolf ’s Windy City franchise. Winchester is front-and-center as tough but compassionate prosecutor Peter Stone, whose lineage can be traced earlier in Wolf ’s oeuvre He’s the somewhat estranged son of Ben Stone, the fellow attorney played by Michael Moriart in the early years of the original “Law & Order” series.

“He took the chance ... all the chance,” the friendly Winchester says of initially meeting with Wolf about the role. “He said, ‘Let’s give it a shot. If it doesn’t work, it doesn’t work.’ And we had an amazing (pilot) script, and we lucked out.”

Still, Winchester did due diligence in researching his role with a real-life lawyer: “We had dinner a few nights and just sat down and talked. And I watched him handle a case, and watched some of the guys he trains. Every day I get in there, I can’t believe I’m doing this. It i a lot of fun, because I can’t rely on any of the stuff I’ve relied on for the last seven years of my career.”

Though his work with Wesley Snipes on the action-driven “The Player” ended up being sho lived, it wasn’t long before Winchester got the call to “Justice.”

“I had a few months off in Montana with my wife and my daughter,” he recalls, “then (last year’s) pilot season rolled around, and I had a few things on the table. I was sitting in the car park at CBS and my agent called and said, ‘Dick Wolf wants to speak with you about his new show. Do you want to go meet him?’ And I said, ‘I would be a fool not to.’ I went up and chatted with him, and the rest is history.” Birthdate: March 24, 1981 Birthplace and current residence: Montana Marital status: Married; has a daughter Other television credits include: “Chicago P.D.,” “The Player,” “Strike Back,” “Crusoe,” “24: Live Another Day,” “Camelot,” “Fringe,” “A Walk in My Shoes,” “Warehouse 13,” “Alice,” “Maneater,” “Great Performances: King Lear,” “CSI: Miami” Movie credits include: “Undrafted,” “In My Sleep,” “Solomon Kane,” “The Hear of the Earth,” “Flyboys,” “Shaking Dream Land,” “Thunderbirds,” “The Patriot,” “The Hi-Line”

His foreign exchanges: Though his personal background is innately American, Winchester spent three years as a student at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts, and he has put in considerable time working overseas (particularly during “Strike Back,” which was filmed in South Africa and Hungary) Favorite movie: “That is so tough! Here are the top contenders: ‘The Fifth Element,’ ‘Legends of the Fall,’ ‘The Red Shoes’ and ‘Tombstone.’ ” Favorite TV program you’re not on: “‘Brideshead Revisited,’ ‘Game of Thrones’ and ‘Breaking Bad.’ ” Favorite singer: “Neil Young, Led Zeppelin and CCR (Creedence Clearwater Revival).”