Mark Consuelos on Kelly, his new Hallmark Channel movie and more

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He started out as a soap-opera stud on "All My Children," but actor Mark Consuelos thinks of himself as anything but. He eloped with former co-star Kelly Ripa, who now co-hosts the morning show "Live With Regis and Kelly." The couple live in New York City with their three children. Born in Spain, he spent a lot of time in Italy because of his mother's Italian heritage. He stars in the Hallmark Channel original movie "For the Love of Grace," which premieres at 9 p.m. EDT Saturday.Q: When you first got into acting, did you imagine yourself as a leading man?A: No, I still don't. I doubt I ever will. No. (Laughs) Kind of like the dorky friend of the lead.Q: You play a guy who deals with depression. Have you ever had to deal with depression or suffered a big loss?A: No. You know what, thank God. I've been very fortunate.Q: Your character is a good cook. Who does the cooking in your house?A: My wife cooks. I barbecue.Q: Was your mother a good cook?A: Oh, my God, yes! She's Italian, and she can cook an old shoe and make it taste good.Q: Is there any kind of professional competition in your marriage?A: (Laughs) No. Absolutely not. We're very much a team. I'm her biggest fan. She is mine. You know what's good for one is great for the other.Q: Who is more of a workaholic, you or Kelly?A: I think we both have a pretty good balance. You know, I hate sitting, but I think Kelly could probably be on vacation more. (Laughs)Q: As far as raising the children, how do you do it with the careers?A: It's not that bad. You know, she has a morning job and she's done by, like, 10:30-11 o'clock. When I do work it's kind of like in fits and starts. I go away for a few weeks at a time, and then I'm done. We've both made a few sacrifices in not taking work when it seems the schedule would be a little too intense.Q: Any more children in your future?A: No, three is a great number. (Laughs)Q: How comfortable are you doing interviews?A: Umm, as comfortable as one can be. How's that? I'm never really comfortable talking about myself. You know, I read articles, too, and I'm like, "God, that sounds bad." It's usually because I'm reading an article about myself.Q: How about being the interviewer, like when you sub for Regis?A: Oh, God. I'm just a fan. I hope I'm OK with people when they come on. He is the best interviewer. He is really, really good. I think people are secretly bummed or not so secretly bummed when they see me sitting there and not him.Q: Would you say you were a lady's man before you got married? Did you date much?A: No. I was not a lady's man, nor did I date a lot. I usually had a girlfriend. That's about it. I wouldn't say I was the best boyfriend. But, yeah, I was kind of like a nerd.Q: Now I have read different reports about when you met Kelly. Such as it was love at first sight. Is that true?A: Look, I never thought I had a chance with her, first of all. Second of all, she is great to be around, and I watched her be friendly to a lot of people. Not romantic or anything like that, but she was great. We were working together, and you never want to screw up that relationship. So it was a little complicated. But it turned out OK.Q: Do either of you regret not having the big wedding?A: I can't speak for her, but I probably regret her not having one. But from my personal view I never really wanted something like that.Q: Would you say you are more religious or more spiritual?A: I would say a little bit of both. Not too much of either. How's that?Q: Very diplomatic. If you believe in destiny, which you've said in the past that you do, how does that conflict with free will?A: I think it all comes down to this -- You have got to know what you can control and what you can't. I think a level of awareness when it comes to that lets free will and destiny do their thing. Does that make sense? I could run for office.Q: You could with these answers!A: Yeah, there would be way too many investigations.(Patricia Sheridan can be reached at psheridan(at)post-gazette.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)