John Corbett
The star of My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Northern Exposure joins the new drama series Rebel (April 8 on ABC), inspired by the life of workplace activist Erin Brockovich. Corbett, 59, plays charming jack-of-all-trades Grady Bello, the husband of blue-collar legal advocate Annie “Rebel” Bello (Katey Sagal).
What’s it like working with Katey Sagal? She scares me. You know why? She commits. In one of our scenes, she has to yell at Grady, but I couldn’t tell if she was yelling at Grady or at me. That’s why she scares me. She’s so good at what she does.
Tell us about Grady. He’s Rebel’s third husband. They’ve been married for 10 years and have a kid. He’s a custom car maker, a builder, but he might not be the most reliable guy in the world. Mostly, I’ve played guys you can count on in my career, and that’s one of the reasons I wanted to do this show.
Your partner of 19 years, actress Bo Derek, recently said it’s the laughter that keeps you together. We were walking our three German shepherds
yesterday and holding hands, and I said, “Look at this, we still hold hands when we walk.” Not that we were teenagers when we met, but sometimes we act like teenagers when it’s just the two of us.
Is there an achievement that makes you the most proud? I didn’t get a whole lot of education after high school. I worked in a steel factory and I thought I was going to be a blue-collar guy who made a nice wage but wouldn’t have the great life that I saw in my head. So I’m most proud that I created that life, through acting, with a lot of people’s help.
Rebel Wilson