Hunk Metcalfe takes new role
TORONTO — If anyone knows camp and high drama, it’s soap opera veteran Jesse Metcalfe.
But the hunky alum of over-the-top serials Desperate Housewives and Passions says the days of outrageous histrionics are behind us.
Now TV is ready for a more grounded take on sex, duplicity and dirty dealing, he says, noting that his latest nighttime serial Dallas plays the genre pretty straight.
“And I love that about our show. It’s relatively grounded,” Metcalfe says during a recent stop in Toronto to promote the return of the ‘80s smash.
“Obviously, at times it’s a bit of a heightened reality but it’s a straightforward family drama.
The 33-year-old Metcalfe — who cut his acting teeth as Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald on the paranormal Passions and as shirtless teen gardener John Rowland on Desperate Housewives — says the tongue-in-cheek camp that took hold over the last decade has run its course.
“I think that pendulum is definitely swinging back towards a more grounded, more serious tone. People certainly get enough of that in reality television so if you’re looking for another option hopefully the new Dallas can fill that void,” says Metcalfe, who plays adopted son Christopher Ewing alongside returning originals Patrick Duffy as the principled Bobby and Larry Hagman as the scheming J.R.
“I think they put together a very capable cast that really makes these stories come alive and breathes life into these characters. I’m very proud of the show we’ve created.” And he’s not alone. Just three weeks into its 10-episode summer run, word came that Dallas had notched enough of a following to warrant a second season.
There’s plenty more story to tell, Metcalfe said during his press tour to promote early episodes, at the time still crossing his fingers for a return to Southfork Ranch.
So far, the next-generation Ewing clan has rolled out its fair share of drama: the romantic Christopher has just learned his new bride (Julie Gonzalo) and her brother are gold-diggers, greedy cousin John Ross (Josh Henderson) is trapped in a deal rapidly heading south, Bobby just learned J.R. has hoodwinked him out of protecting the future of Southfork, while Bobby’s wife Ann (Brenda Strong) appears to be hiding a dark past of her own.
Metcalfe, whose character also continues to pine for his first love Elena (Jordana Brewster), says he likes that most of the characters here are not so black-and-white.
“There’s a lot more grey area there, you know. The line between right and wrong, and good and evil is a little less defined,” says Metcalfe, whose character is pushing the family business into green energy initiatives.
Metcalfe was born in 1978 — the year the original series premiered — and turned to old episodes of the series to get to know the work of his new co-stars Duffy, Hagman and Linda Gray (who returns as a more polished, independent Sue Ellen).
Metcalfe says it was important to him to “to get a sense of tone, a flavour for what the show is really all about.”
“In a lot of ways, it’s the same show — the themes that were at the heart of the original series are very much the same themes run- ning through the new series,” says Metcalfe, a selfdescribed “Yankee” who grew up in Connecticut.
“It’s about ambition and greed and loyalty and betrayal, it’s about the interpersonal relationships in this dysfunctional family.”
He notes that Dallas basically films on a working ranch filled with horses and cattle. It’s also a favourite tour destination for hardcore followers of the original series who occasionally turn up while shooting takes place.
“A lot of times you’ll be shooting a scene with an audience,” says Metcalfe, adding that the crowd nevertheless doesn’t compare to the “hordes” that turned up during the show’s heyday.
“We haven’t reached that level yet, but I’m hoping that the new series takes hold just as much as the original one and hopefully we can continue in the tradition of the original series and have another television phenomenon on our hands.”
Dallas airs Wednesdays on Bravo.