Trusting his instinct

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=90 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Press</B><B>    </B><B> |  </B><B>   </B><A HREF="press.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Press"><U><B>home</B></U></A></div> <div> <A HREF="id44.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="us weekly 06"><U>us weekly 06</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id29.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Ingenue"><U>Ingenue</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id23.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="No more mr cute guy"><U>No more mr cute guy</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id25.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Razor"><U>Razor</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id41.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Manila Times"><U>The Manila Times</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id28.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="inside tv"><U>inside tv</U></A>   |   <B>Trusting his instinct</B>   |   <A HREF="id40.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="GQ Italian"><U>GQ Italian</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id22.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Star Magazine"><U>Star Magazine</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id49.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="solstice"><U>solstice</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id54.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="MPR"><U>MPR</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id31.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="outabout"><U>outabout</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id30.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="soapopera mag"><U>soapopera mag</U></A>   |   <A HREF="id20.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Us Weekly"><U>Us Weekly</U></A><B> / </B><B>Press</B><B> /</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=100 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <B>Septenber 18  2005</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Many thanks to Sarah for</B></div> <div> <B>sending this in!</B></div> <div> <B>actual link:</B></div> <div> <U>h</U><FONT SIZE="1" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" ><U>ttp://www.syracuse.com/entertainment/poststandard/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-0/1126773715161990.xml&coll=1</U></FONT></div> <bR> </td> <td valign="top" height=390 BGCOLOR="#000000" TEXT="#F7F7FF"> <div> <I>Trusting his instinct</I></div> <div> <B>THE POST-STANDARD</B></div> <bR> <div> <I><B>Trusting his 'Instinct'</B></I></div> <bR> <div> <B>Syracuse native Johnny Messner takes top role in Fox cop drama</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>By William La Rue staff writer</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Johnny Messner has a tattoo on the back of his neck that spells "reality." The star of new</B></div> <div> <B>Fox crime drama "Killer Instinct" says he had it drawn in that spot to show he doesn't </B></div> <div> <B>like to see reality.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>With other actors, the tattoo might be seen as a calculated attention-getter in a business</B></div> <div> <B>where everyone seeks an angle, but Syracuse-born Messner isn't like most actors.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>At a press session last year to promote his leading role in the film "Anacondas: The Hunt</B></div> <div> <B>for the Blood Orchid", he reportedly walked into the room dressed in a white undershirt,</B></div> <div> <B>looking as if he hadn't shaved in several days, and belched loudly.  Then, after telling</B></div> <div> <B>reporters he was one of the few "real men" left in Hollywood, he offered up vulger</B></div> <div> <B>descriptions of fellow actors Russell Crowe, Orlando Bloom and Vin Diesel.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B> However, in a recent telephone interview from Vancouver, Canada, where "Killer Instinct" </B></div> <div> <B> is filmed, Messner is soft-spoken, polite and chatty, although his raspy voice sounds at times</B></div> <div> <B> as if he had gravel stuck in his throat.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"Tarzan", he says of the show. "I don't even remember it."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Messner has only good things to say about his role in "Killer Instinct" as sometimes-ruthless</B></div> <div> <B>Detective Jack Hale, a cop who often does the wrong things for the right reasons.  </B></div> <bR> <div> <B>In the first episode, to coerce a serial killer-rapist into giving information that will save a</B></div> <div> <B>woman's life, Hale stings the man with a deadly spider.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"He's not your stereotypical  hero. He's very unethical," Messner says.  "But if you're in trouble</B></div> <div> <B>or if someone in your family has been hurt or killed, you definitely want Jack Hale investigating</B></div> <div> <B>your case. He'll get the job done, no matter what it takes. I think sometimes in life we need that."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"Killer Instinct" is set in San Francisco, where Hale works for the police department's deviant </B></div> <div> <B>crime unit. He has just returned to the force after mourning the on-duty death of his police partner,</B></div> <div> <B>with whom he was romantically involved.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Messner's own career has been on a slow but steady climb since the mid- 1990s when he turned</B></div> <div> <B> to acting after initially planning to be a sportscaster.  He developed a love for sports while playing </B></div> <div> <B>on teams at military bases, where he grew up because his father,  Laurence, was an Air Force colonel.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Syracuse was a brief stop for Messner's parents, who moved from the area when he was 8 months</B></div> <div> <B>old. However, Messner says he still has relatives in Central New York.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>We go back there whenever we have a chance," says Messner, 35, who is single and has no children.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>After studying communications at San Diego State University, he put aside sports broadcasting and </B></div> <div> <B>spent a year as a personal assistant to movie producer Andrew Stevens.  That got him interested in</B></div> <div> <B>acting, so he moved to New York City, did some off-Broadway and regional theater and got a role in </B></div> <div> <B>1998 on the CBS soap opera "The Guiding Light."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Moving back to Los Angeles, he spent time as a bartender until he landed work in several movies,</B></div> <div> <B>including "The Sweetest Thing,"  "Tears of the Sun" and "The Whole Ten Yards".</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Along the way, he has taken guest spots on several Tv shows, including "Friends", "CSI" and, most </B></div> <div> <B>recently, Fox's "The O.C.", where he recently played Lance Baldwin, Julie Cooper's creepy ex-boyfriend.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Although he's still "a movie guy through and through",  Messner  says, he was drawn to "Killer Instinct" </B></div> <div> <B>for the chance to play a guy who isn't a stereotypical Tv hero.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Messner guesses that maybe 70 percent of Hale is really himself and 30 percent comes from the script, </B></div> <div> <B>which he expects is the case for most leading men on TV.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>He says his personality comes across too strong on camera to play a character role or a sidekick.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"Character actors can metamorph themselves into the different roles, while leading males are like the </B></div> <div> <B>800-pound gorilla. You know, there's only one direction. I'm never going to play the best friend." he says.</B></div> <div> <B> "I think every character I play is a lot like me, in one way or another... because that's what they (the</B></div> <div> <B> people who hire him) want. And I kind of do what they want when it comes to that."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>Messner says he never would take a leading role on most of Tv's other "Procedural" crime dramas, </B></div> <div> <B>such as "Law and Order" and "CSI", where character development is downplayed in favor of showing</B></div> <div> <B> step-by-step how police solve a mystery.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>He's pleased upcoming scripts for "Killer Instinct" slowly unveil secrets about the personal lives of it's</B></div> <div> <B> main characters, including Hale's new partner, Detective Danielle Carter (Kristin Lehman), and their boss, </B></div> <div> <B>Lt Matt Cavanaugh (Chi McBride).</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>"I like watching 'Law and Order,'  But as an actor, procedurals are very formulated in a lot of ways," he</B></div> <div> <B>says. "That's why this show is different. There's only three of us, and you have to get involved in who </B></div> <div> <B>these people are. Without that, I don't think I'd be on the show right now."</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>However, Messner avoids precicting how long he expects the show to last.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>While his tattoo placement suggest he doesn't want to face "reality", Messner is well aware of the real-life </B></div> <div> <B>fact that all TV shows struggle for attention on low-rated Friday nights.</B></div> <bR> <div> <B>I'll go back to movies eventually. Whenever that is, time can only tell. It could be next week. It could be five</B></div> <div> <B> years from now," he says. "As long as I keep doing quality work that Iim proud of and stay true to the work </B></div> <div> <B>I really want to do, then I'll be happy. I don't have to be a superstar.  I just want to do great work."</B></div> <bR> <bR> <div>  <script language=JavaScript>  </script>  </div> <bR> <div>  <META HTTP-EQUIV="imagetoolbar" CONTENT="no">  </div> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>