Jeffrey Dean Morgan's cop has character in 'Texas Killing Fields'

Jeffrey Dean Morgan is a late bloomer. The Seattle-born actor was in his late 30s when he was cast in his breakthrough role, as a "Grey's Anatomy" heart-transplant patient who falls in love with intern Katherine Heigl. Since then, the now 45-year-old actor has lent his manly presence to a number of films, including "The Losers" and "Watchmen." In "Texas Killing Fields," opening Oct. 14, Morgan plays a real-life homicide detective investigating a series of killings in a down-and-dirty oil town. Lewis Beale spoke with the huge Seattle Seahawks fan by phone from Miami, where he is currently shooting a series for Starz.

Your character in "Texas Killing Fields" is a New York transplant and devoted Catholic. Was it the interesting religious aspect that intrigued you?

I found it to be one of the foundations of this character. I'm playing a real guy, Brian Goetshius. I went and spent some time with him in Texas City; he's a guy who gets up in the morning, he has six children and is happily married, which is amazing for a homicide detective. He goes to church every day. There are parts in the movie where he prays over the victims. This is the one guy I met in this world that somehow had a normal family life, and I think a lot of it had to do with his faith.

You were actually an athlete in high school, and then worked as a graphic artist. How did you get into acting?

It was an accident. My friends were all musicians and actor types in Seattle during the big grunge movement. I was an artist; I would sell paintings in coffee shops and bars, then I started doing graphic art. I had a friend who was an actor who moved to L.A., and I volunteered to drive the U-Haul. I met a casting director who said you should give it a go, and I went on auditions for a lark, and I got a Roger Corman film right out of the gate. I loved it, and that was it for me.

Since you didn't really make it for years, I assume it was tough going for awhile.

The key for me was sticking with it. I had always worked just enough to stay in the business. Just before everything hit in my life, I was ready to quit. I was living on unemployment, building decks for people, every few months I'd get guest-star spots. Then, everything changed in one year, I got "Supernatural" and "Grey's Anatomy" within three months of each other. I was 38 years old, had no education to fall back on, I couldn't continue living from paycheck to paycheck. And then out of the blue, my life changed.

So what was it about the "Grey's Anatomy" character that put you over the top?

Everyone responded to the character. At the height of it, this was a guy who was a man's man, but he was a sensitive guy; he was dying, but he put that aside for love. The audience was mostly women, and here was this guy that not only women responded to but they dragged their men who thought, "he's not that bad." It was catching lightning in a bottle.

You've also attracted a lot of attention for playing The Comedian in "Watchmen." That must have gone over big with the Comic-Con crowd.

"Supernatural," "Watchmen" and "The Losers" have played big at Comic-Con. Wherever I go, I get "you're the Comedian," and I'm flattered by it. This crowd is really passionate about their movies. And the experience of Comic-Con is something I'll never forget. Walking through it, you hear these screams, and it's like you're Mick Jagger, and it's these 35-year old men making these sounds.

You're currently filming "Magic City," a series for Starz. Tell me about it.

A lot of it is based on The Fontainebleau hotel, and Ben Novak, the character I play, owns a hotel that would have been the Fontainebleau in 1959. The "Rat Pack" was there, so much was happening -- Cuba, the Cold War, mobsters trying to legalize gambling.

I've heard that you've also attained a certain Web celebrity because of your startling resemblance to the Spanish actor Javier Bardem. Do you see it?

I've seen some side-by-side comparison photos that are eerily similar. I get it in weird places, when people come up to me and speak in Spanish, and insist I am lying about not being Javier Bardem.