Chi McBride aims for a bull's-eye with 'Human Target'

When it comes to character actors, few get more work than Chi McBride. The 48-year-old Chicago native (hence the nickname, pronounced "shy") has been a featured player or starred in "Pushing Daisies," "House," "Boston Public" and numerous other TV shows, as well as such films as "I, Robot" and "Gone in 60 Seconds." Currently the 6-foot-4 actor is co-starring in the Fox series "Human Target," as the business partner of a security expert (played by Mark Valley) who takes on dangerous assignments. Lewis Beale caught up with the oversized actor with the equally oversized personality during a break in filming.

What is it about "Human Target" that interested you in the first place?

I thought the show was exciting and something I hadn't seen since shows like "Miami Vice," "MacGyver" and "The Rockford Files." I thought it would be fun, and I felt that it would be a sort of revival of TV how it used to be. That's what TV needs; there are a lot of doctors, lawyers and cops on TV, and I think this is the way TV used to be.

You're a really big guy. Has your size ever been an issue in terms of getting parts?

I've not run into any kind of issues about my height or my girth, and I never let it affect me. I came from the "real world," I had no illusions about show business, I was out here to survive. If that's how you look at it, you don't get hung up on things other people don't. I'm pretty well loaded with confidence; it's the only weapon you have in this business. The only thing you can do is have your own level of confidence that you don't let people shake.

You grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist, a group that frowns on popular culture. What kinds of influences did you have growing up?

We did have a TV, and I watched a lot of TV; when my parents weren't at home, I'd soak it up. And I'd sneak into movie theaters, and when I realized I wasn't going to be hit by lightning when I left them, I went all the time. I knew that Seventh-day Adventist jazz just wasn't for me.

Was there any performer from your younger days you particularly liked?

Jackie Gleason was the biggest influence on me. He was a great actor, he was very funny, he just commanded attention. He never had a complex about his size, and he moved so beautifully. He was loaded with confidence. I always gravitated to people with confidence, like Muhammad Ali, Gleason, Reggie Jackson.

You actually didn't start acting until you were 30. Why did you decide to pursue it as a career?

It was because of what I used to do, work for the phone company. I did as little as possible, and the fact I was able to keep a job for 10 or 11 years without doing much of anything, that's all I needed to know, to have the confidence I could act. I was in customer service; I was terrible at it, but I never got fired and made the people around me think I knew what I was doing. That's all being in show biz is; it's all pretend.

If you had to choose between comedy or drama, which would it be?

I'd choose comedy. To be able to make people laugh is a gift that gives something to an audience and to you. I can watch "The Honeymooners" and laugh like I've never seen them before. There are very few dramas that move me every time. I think if you're in show biz, it's about having a good time, that's why I choose comedy.

In April, you co-star in "Who Do You Love," a film about the classic blues label Chess Records, in which you play legendary bluesman Willie Dixon. What attracted you to the role?

I'm from Chicago, and Willie Dixon is from Chicago. I grew up in that area. It appealed to my sense of history. I'm glad to have had the opportunity to play him, because he's a hometown guy. Growing up as a Seventh-day Adventist, I had to sneak to see that stuff, and that was really cool. I listened to a lot of his music, and I read the book that he wrote, and I think doing this was kind of cathartic, because it reminded me of things about home.