Eric Close breaks out with 'Now and Again'

Close says he plays a "reluctant superhero" on his new show, "Now and Again"

April 3, 2000
Web posted at: 5:06 p.m. EST (2106 GMT)

NEW YORK (CNN) -- "Now and Again" has made Eric Close look like an overnight success. But the actor says that's a misperception.

He has paid his dues on "Dark Skies," "Magnificent Seven" and "Sisters." None of those series, though got the immediate recognition that the CBS series did.

"You've heard of other series that started out and it took them a couple of seasons to really kind of get their legs," Close says. "This show -- right out of the gate -- has taken off and has sustained its audience. Everywhere I go now, walking around the street, people come up to say, 'We love your show.'"

On "Now and Again," which airs Fridays at 9 p.m. ET, Close plays a genetically engineered wonder man who has the brain of a deceased pilot. The story has elements of action, drama, comedy and romance. Close says he had an inkling it would be a hit.

"I just had this feeling (that) this one could click," he says. "And there was a real buzz about it. ... The other thing was that when the show aired, the press was really positive to us, and that was something new to me."

Close went on a strict diet when the show began, and has since abandoned it. "It's impossible," he says. "They keep putting me in these scenes with these steaks and potatoes with butter."

Most scenes, he says, depict him as "a guy who is a reluctant superhero. He is a family man. I am, myself. ... I'd give up my life for my family, like he would."

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'Now and Again' (CBS)

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