WHAT A PIECE OF WORK IS A MAN! HOW NOBLE IN REASON!— William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 2.
Though written in the 17th century, that quote—an oddity when found in the pages of a contemporary magazine—would sound perfectly appropriate sprouting from the mouth of Chris Stevens, Cicely, Alaska’s resident philosopher, ex-con and morning d.j. As the town’s unofficial therapist, Chris utilizes the musings of great philosophers, thinkers and authors to ponder the weekly dysfunctions of his television family on Northern Exposure. Whether the problem is a disoriented doctor or a chaotic couple, Chris, the dreamer, wishful thinker and sage, is the voice of reason.
But in the real world, far away from the Twin Peaksdom of fanciful Cicely, Shakespeare again comes to mind when describing Chris’s alter ego, actor John Corbett. While his conversations are more likely to be peppered with “yeah…” or “like, that’s what I mean…” than little-known verses from philosopher poets, John possesses the easygoing quirkiness of his character, and just as important, the all-around too-good-to-be-true looks. As he is today, decked out in jeans, a T-shirt and vest, and sporting a week’s worth of stubble, it’s even difficult to determine where Chris begins and John leaves off. What a piece of work? Absolutely. But noble in reason? If anything, Corbett is too reasonable. Try and get him to believe he’s one of the sexiest men on TV today and he wiggles and squirms and quickly tells you why he’s not. Explain to him that women ooh and aah upon hearing his name, and he shrugs in disbelief. Pry into his social life and he laughingly admits, “I’m not real good with ladies.” He can recite all the reasons he’s not sexy at will. That in itself is downright unreasonable.
However, on this particular morning in chilly Seattle (the series is filmed in nearby Roslyn), Corbett is his usual sociable and friendly self. Northern Exposure‘s shooting schedule often involves 18-hour days on the set, but today John isn’t required to appear until much later in the afternoon. Ideally, he’d spend the day rambling around on his Harley Davidson motorcycle, but its battery is dead and he’s been too busy to get a new one. Still, being up in the Great White North of Washington state with two cats, a dead motorcycle, a ’66 Chevy truck and a hit series is no cause for complaint. In fact, it’s what this West Virginia native has been aiming for, for the past six years.
“You know,” he says, his 6’5” lanky frame sprawled over a chair, “in the time it’s taken me to become this ‘overnight success,’ I could have gone to college or med school. I mean, I’ve been on the show for a year and a half, and before that, did a lot of commercials and went in for tons of movies. I’ve paid my dues. And that goes for everyone on the show. None of us just walked off the street and got a job.”
But Corbett may have walked a little farther than most in pursuit of an acting career. The former factory worker even possesses a cosmetology degree.
“Yeah, I was working in a steel mill for six years when pipes rolled off a shelf and onto my back,” he explains of an injury that bothers him to this day. Since John could no longer work, his company came through with rehabilitation money for tuition, but not before he had sat in on a friend’s drama class and become captivated with that profession. “Classes were at night, and I knew I wanted to be an actor, but the steel mill would only pay me to go to school during the day. So, I picked hair school,” he recalls. “I mean, it beat waiting tables, even if I wasn’t very good at it. I was the class clown and a goof and didn’t take it seriously, though I should have. I did get my license and was able to do perms and color and all that stuff, but I only had to work in a salon for a month before I got hired for a commercial. I quit right then and there. Now, I don’t even do my own hair anymore. I haven’t had scissors in my hand for three years.” He ponders that reality and breaks into a conspiratorial grin. “It’s probably a good thing. My license has expired.”
Luckily, Corbett’s skill at performing surpassed that of perming, and one commercial followed another—a fact that causes him to bristle at the term “overnight success.” “In a sense, I guess what happens is that one Monday night no one has seen your face, and by Tuesday morning, they have,” he acknowledges. “With TV, you’ve hit so many millions of people you become an ‘overnight success,’ but there’s a whole process that got you there. Now if people call me that, I just kinda smile because they don’t really know what I’ve been through.”
Yet while the man who’s been called “the Alaskan Adonis” is more than willing to go into detail regarding his acting career, he becomes self-conscious and embarrassed when asked about another area of his life. “Listen,” he asks furtively, “am I gonna have to talk about…sex?”
After being assured that this won’t be a tabloid-like exposé, Corbett is visibly relieved and his eyes once again begin to twinkle. “I really can’t talk about certain things—and don’t want to,” he says. “It’s kind of personal, you know? I just did a TV interview and the interviewer kept asking me if I practiced safe sex. It made me angry—what business was it of hers?”
At the same time, doesn’t he realize that such a line of questioning stems from the fact that he is TV’s man-of-the-moment? Corbett quickly shrugs that one off. “I’m not a sex symbol,” he says earnestly, running his fingers through his long brown hair. “Marilyn Monroe is a sex symbol. Traci Lords is a sex symbol. People aren’t responding to me, John Corbett. They like Chris, my character. He’s intellectual and offbeat, but he’s not out there. He’s like an Everyman that everyone knows and responds to.”
Perhaps. But then why is it that women call this strapping bachelor one of the hottest hunks on TV? Why do they know his real name? And why do they have a burning desire to become his love slave?
“Really, they’re responding to the character,” he insists. “As far as looks go, I’m definitely an average-looking guy. Now, guys like those Beverly Hills 90210 guys, they’re good-looking.”
No argument there. But Corbett does pause a long time after hearing he’s been described as ‘the thinking woman’s Luke Perry.’ “Really? Wow…that’s a nice compliment. He’s an intelligent guy…but then again, I’m in no shape or form of any kind to compete with Luke Perry or Jason Priestly…! just do my little thing here and they do theirs and that’s it. I’m not in competition. They’re talented and good at what they do. I like watching them.” End of lecture. He is clearly uncomfortable with the subject.
Still, he good-naturedly laughs when mention is made of Northern Exposure’s “pheromones” episode, which had Chris exuding hormones that made him irresistible to women. “The writers come up with wacky stuff, and that was nice and cute, but they could have given that story line to anybody. I don’t ever get put out or offended about anything they write about my character.” His voice trails off. “Was I flattered? Well…it was nice….”
Corbett’s skepticism toward his hunk status is more understandable after he confesses he hasn’t begun to enjoy the rewards of his newfound popularity. “You know, I seemed to go on more dates before all this sex symbol business started. Now I think there are less women hanging around.
“Anyway, if you had told anybody in my high school—especially me—that I was going to be a ‘sex symbol’ they would have laughed,” he continues, chuckling at the irony. “I went to a Catholic school in Wheeling, West Virginia and there were only four hundred kids, so even the least popular kid was popular. I was in the middle, I guess.
“Somewhere down the line I’d like to have the whole thing—a wife and kiddies. I’d be a great dad. I think the saddest thing would be being fifty and having to say, ‘No, I don’t have any kids.’”
But first things first. Since Corbett has already confessed to “needing a lot of help when it comes to women,” the pages of PLAYGIRL seem an excellent place for this ersatz Alaskan to strike gold. “Let’s see,” he begins, “I like a woman who sees funny, ridiculous things in the world she lives and also helps me to look at the world that way. When I feel comfortable with someone, I’m always laughing and joking; without that, there’s a big void and it usually doesn’t work out…
…Continue reading on PLAYGIRL+
