By TERRY MORROW
Tuesday, April 17, 2007
"This is a dark guy, who feels like a killer inside," says Rick Schroder, once known as the ray of sunshine on the NBC kiddie comedy "Silver Spoons."
Now, after stints on "NYPD Blue" and "Strong Medicine," the 37-year-old actor is tackling new territory as a gritty government agent on "24" (9 p.m. EDT Mondays, Fox).
"On 'NYPD Blue,' it was relentless, the pressure," he says, sitting on a stool on the "24" set. "This is a much more organized kind of environment. But the intensity is similar."
He plays Agent Mike Doyle, a man with a singular mind when it comes to the mission at hand.
Mike is "consumed" by his job and protecting the country, Schroder says. "Everything else in (his) life has been put on hold. He has no personal life. He's ruthless. It doesn't matter who he hurts. It's just a means to an end."
That can't be true of Schroder, who's been married for more than 15 years and has four children. He even gave up his job on "NYPD Blue" to devote more time to his growing family.
But career is still very important to him. He's one of the rare actors who transitioned from childhood star ("Silver Spoons," the big-screen drama "The Champ") to adult roles.
Schroder's seeing darker roles come his way these days, and he's not certain why. "People seem to like my intensity," he says. " I can be very intense. The older I get the more I try to be mellow and temper that."
The actor had talked to "24" producers earlier in the season about playing another role, but "it wasn't the right fit," he says.
"I didn't set out to say 'I have to be on "24," ' but when the opportunity came to me, I knew it was something I needed to take advantage of."
Later they called Schroder back and offered him Doyle, who seems to be another Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) _ but without boundaries.
He was given little information about the character, even as he started shooting "24." The producers like keeping the actors in the dark. They have said in the past that such a working routine allows the actors to stay in the present with the characters.
Schroder is fine with working that way.
"It doesn't matter what happened previously or what's coming," he says of the character. "I can't think of anything but the moment."
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