Mark Valley gives media a “chance” to get some inside information on “Human Target”
"Human Target's" Mark Valley - FOX Photo
The Fox network recently provided a conference call opportunity for media members to speak with its “Human Target” star Mark Valley.
Valley portrays Christopher Chance, a private contractor/security guard, who gets hired to protect all different kinds of people in all different kinds of situations.
Chi McBride as Winston and Jackie Earle Haley as Guerrero assist Chance on his missions.
Here are some of the questions posed to Valley during this conference call, along with his responses:
Valley was asked when he realized there was such a good chemistry between the show’s main characters and he answered:
“I think we all realized that we had something pretty amazing when we were shooting in downtown Vancouver, the pilot scene, I think it was the very end of the episode, it wasn’t the end of shooting but it was the end of the episode, and rarely are the three of us together in any episode, but in this instance we were.
“We were getting ready to set up a shot and we were sitting in the back, all sitting in our chairs, and the three of us started talking as actors do, and just realized, my God, we all come from completely different places in terms of parts of the country and experience in the industry and so forth, and the three of us just kind of clicked.
“The thing that I liked about both of them is that I was just really kind of curious about them and wanted to get to know them better and thought both of them were really kind of interesting. And I think that the three of us sort of had that feeling about each of us, which is kind of cool and rare as well. And I think that kind of shows up on the screen. And maybe viewers will also want to wonder, how did they meet up, or how did they come together, and what was their history?”
When asked how much of a daredevil he is in real life, Valley said:
“I’m a little more into now taking calculated risks. I like to mountain climb and that’s really, the better prepared you are, the safer it is. I don’t just run out and climb a mountain with a T-shirt on, you know? That would be kind of foolhardy. There are some inherent risks, you know, with mountaineering and stuff, but yes, I generally like to be well prepared.
“I have parachuted. I did it in the Army and I also did it trying to get my certification to parachute down in Paris Island. I did it a few times, and that was pretty exciting, but for the most part, I’d say now the biggest risk I take is probably every once in a while I forget to put my seatbelt on. That’s about the limit of it right now.”
When he was then told the producers were probably happy about that because he’d then be uninsurable, his response was:
“Right, or at least I don’t tell them about it.”
Gulf War veteran Valley, who graduated from the United States Military Academy at West Point and began his acting career while serving overseas in the Army, was asked if his military training had been helpful in his acting career, he replied:
“It’s funny, because they lay out all these weapons and they talk about the ammunition and so forth and its effectiveness, and, you know, we worked with weapons obviously in the Army, … but it’s actually something you can pick up pretty quickly. “I’d say there are other aspects of it that are similar. The hand-to-hand fighting, I learned a little bit of that in the Army, and boxing and wrestling and that sort of thing.
“But I think for the most part it’s working as team, working as a team under extraneous circumstances with a limited amount of time to get something done. That’s probably the biggest experience I got from the Army that applies to this job because we’re really making a movie in eight days, and that’s an awful lot of work that has to be done. So, yes, it’s sort of that kind of teamwork and camaraderie that I experienced in the Army that seems to be showing up again here in this show.”
When asked if there was any specific place he’d like to see his character Christopher Chance travel to, he replied:
“I would like to see Chance go to Paris. I’d like to see him go to London. We do go to London in one episode. What else? Africa, I think, would be kind of an interesting place. There’s all kinds of places he could go. Somewhere down south, maybe Texas. I’d love to do an episode that was sort of a quasi-Western in some way. That would be interesting.
“There’s Vietnam and all these other places in Asia that he could go and there’s things going on in China. That would be interesting. You name it. Well, there’s the second season, there.
“And also the cool thing about this cast and the writers we have is, maybe we could even write an episode that takes place inside a contained area, like the airplane episode, for example. We really didn’t go anywhere for that. That all took place inside the fuselage of an airplane, so maybe we’ll be doing something like that as well.
Valley was asked about upcoming guest stars on “Human Target” and he responded:
“Well, we’re going to see – I’m pretty excited about Lee Majors – but you’re going to see Armand Assante. He comes on as my old boss, that one that Chance is talking about – you never met my old boss. So, I finally met my old boss which was fascinating. He’s an interesting guy, a wonderful actor and I’m just really excited that he’s on the show.
“And then there’s this litany of beautiful, talented women that have come on the show. Amy Ackers in the finale – she plays this really pivotal character in Chance’s life. Grace Park is in an episode called “Corner Man.”
“Moon Bloodgood is in one – I forget the name of the episode, they changed it. But Moon Bloodgood is showing up. Leonor Varela is in “Sanctuary,” a beautiful and talented Chilean actress who really, just kind of, made this one episode look and feel like a movie. She just came in and completely took on this character of this ex-revolutionary who lives down in South America, an ex-lover of Chance. She was just fabulous.
“Lenny James from “Jericho” has come on and he’s playing Chance’s nemesis named Baptiste, who is probably the most talented assassin who’s still out there working for hire, and he and Chance come to blows in the episode called “Baptiste” and also in the finale.
“And of course, Emmanuelle Vaugier comes back in another episode that I don’t think you’ve seen yet. She’s in the episode “Baptiste.” She’s still an FBI agent and Chance and Chi and Jackie kind of figure out a way to enlist her help. Also, Autumn Reeser comes back as well. She sort of has a recurring role on our show, and she was in the show about the building that blew up, I think, the kind of Die Hard-esque episode.
When asked about what acting challenges he found in the Christopher Chance role, his reply was:
“It’s funny, when I first read the script, it is based on a comic book character, and there are certain things that comic book characters can get away with that regular actors can’t really do that’s that believable. One is to hold a pose for a long period of time. Like, to look concerned like you’re in a comic book. So, there was that. It sort of had a feel of a comic book so there was a challenge of trying to find a way to bring a real person into this.
“It wasn’t written in any sort of hyper reality. I mean, John’s writing is very, sort of, there is like a kind of casual thing that can exist in it, so it’s not that hard to kind of do it, it’s not complete melodrama or anything. That was the biggest challenge. Reading it and enjoying it like it could have been a comic book and then thinking, okay, wait a second, this is me now. How am I going to do this? It’s kind of hard to explain but that was the biggest one. And maybe picturing all the other people who could do better at it and thinking, okay, I’m going to do this? Wait a second.”
When Valley was asked how he balanced comedy and drama on the show, he replied:
“That’s something that I really love to do is to find the light moments. A lot of it depends on the scene and the person you’re working with and where the jokes can come in or where it seems appropriate, where it doesn’t seem appropriate. There’s a few elements that come into that. And, of course, there’s the way the scene is written as well.
“I generally prefer to – maybe it’s my background on a soap opera where there were no jokes at all. It was all just complete melodrama and I wanted parts of it to be funny so I just remember searching and combing through it and saying, “well, there’s this moment or that moment.” It might have been my experience on a soap where I was just so hungry for something to be funny that I developed, maybe, a perceptive eye for it.”
On how he’s seen the character grow so far, Valley said: “Well, personally, just me, the way I’ve grown is that I’ve become much more comfortable with some of the action and fighting scenes and the way Chance’s relationship with the other characters is starting to become a little bit more clear. His relationship with Jackie and with Chi is becoming a little big more clear to me.
“The way Chance is developing? I’d say that he is starting to come to terms with his past. He made a big change in his life about 6-8 years prior to the present that we have now on the show. And I think the reality of why he made that choice and the repercussions that it’s going to have is starting to come back to him, so essentially his baggage is starting to arrive.”
To see how Chance handles this baggage, and his upcoming adventures, tune in to Fox on Wednesday nights at 7 p.m.
– Melissa Hayer
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