By Kurt Anthony Krug
Legal News
Detroit native Courtney B. Vance isn't a lawyer--he's just played numerous attorneys and federal agents on television.
"It's the nature of the business: once they see you do one thing, they think it's all you can do," said Vance, an alumnus of Detroit Country Day High School. "It's the way it goes. Sometimes, you just have to break it up and say 'no' to the role they want you in and go in a new direction and redefine yourself. It's human nature. We like predictability."
Vance, a graduate of Harvard University and the Yale School of Drama, is arguably best known as Ron Carver, the assistant district attorney, on NBC's "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" from 2001-06. He played Stanford Wedeck, the head of the FBI's Los Angeles bureau on ABC's "FlashForward" from 2009-10. Currently, he plays high-powered (and high-priced) criminal attorney Benjamin Brooks on the hit ABC drama "Revenge," which was voted Favorite New TV Drama at the 2012 People's Choice Awards.
His "Criminal Intent" character--named after George Washington Carver--had an unyielding, no-nonsense interpretation of the law and no sympathy for those who broke it, regardless of the circumstances.
"I was talking with (creator) Dick Wolf and there was not a lot of other things happening at the time," said the 52-year-old Vance, who currently lives outside of Los Angeles with his wife, Oscar-nominated actress Angela Bassett and their two children. "Dick and I talked about the ability to do things in L.A. while shooting the series in New York. It gave me an opportunity to be flexible. My wife and I were newly married and we had to learn how to carry on a long-distance relationship for five years. We spent a lot of time on the phone. This was before Skype and Facebook."
After 111 episodes--the longest as an ADA on "Criminal Intent" and the second longest in the entire "Law & Order" franchise (Diane Neal's ADA Casey Novak on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" holds the record at 113)--Vance left the series.
"Our twins came and I needed to be home," he explained of his reason for leaving.
Vance's Benjamin Brooks is a recurring character on "Revenge," whose season finale was Wednesday, May 23. It is a modern-day retelling of Alexandre Dumas' "The Count of Monte Cristo," where his character serves as a defense attorney in a murder trial.
"It's another opportunity to expand onto another big show and be seen by a wider audience. It wasn't a lot of commitment in terms of time on my part, I said, 'Sure why not?' It's a great show. While we're waiting for a series to come along, something comes up like that where you can do an episode or two on another big show. We like doing that-- it's fun," said Vance.
Originally, Vance was committed to three episodes but it was increased to four. He is tentatively scheduled to return for a second season should the series get renewed (the chances of which are likely, given its strong ratings).
Asked what's happening on the finale, Vance answered: "I can tell you nothing because I know nothing. I won't be on the finale."
Published: Thu, Jun 21, 2012
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