Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, November 7, 1993 TAG: 9311090251
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: SUSAN KING LOS ANGELES TIMES
DATELINE: HOLLYWOOD LENGTH: Medium
None of his previous experiences, though, prepared Caruso for how dramatically his life would change as the star of the fall's most-talked-about TV series. His riveting performance as intelligent, world-weary veteran police detective John Kelly on ABC's controversial ``NYPD Blue'' (Tuesday nights at 10 on WSET-Channel 13) has made Caruso the hottest redhead to hit TV since Lucille Ball.
``Oh, man. Geez,'' Caruso is saying, shaking his head. ``You wouldn't believe it. It's unbelievable. I tell you, it's incredible!''
It's noon Sunday and the 37-year-old Irish-Italian actor is munching on a chopped salad at a cozy restaurant here. Caruso had flown in the night before from New York, where the acclaimed Steven Bochco and David Milch police drama was shooting sequences for several upcoming episodes. The majority of ``NYPD Blue'' is filmed in Los Angeles.
``Things have changed, literally, for me,'' Caruso is explaining, ``in the respect as an actor who people knew to somebody they have a relationship with now. They are so into the show and so supportive of the relationships and the characters.''
And they know Caruso by name. ``I was up in Harlem the other day and two Puerto Rican girls come up and say, `Go back to your wife' (referring to Kelly' s recent divorce on the show). They pull the car over to tell you things. They're very personal now. I heard these fantastic stories from Lincoln Center to Times Square. It's just incredible.''
Police officers, Caruso says, also have voiced their support of the series which, in a cinema verite style, depicts the day-to-day grind and horrors of being a big-city cop. ``Cops are very, very courageous people,'' Caruso says. ``They're very moral people. I've played a few other police officers, so I understand them. We've got a great technical adviser on the show, Detective Bill Clark.''
Ironically, Clark is from the 112th precinct, the same precinct Caruso grew up in in Queens. ``There's a very strange element of fate involved in this whole show for me,'' he says. Much like Caruso's early connection with Bochco, who co-created ``Hill Street Blues.''
``There are so many kinds of overlaps that happened,'' Caruso says. ``When Clark saw `Mad Dog and Glory,' he called them because they were looking for [Kelly] and he said, `There's this guy, man, who is the real thing. I don't know if you are aware of this guy or not, but you really should look into it.' It turned out to be me.''
Caruso has found it eerie that ``NYPD Blue'' was shooting in his old neighborhood haunts, ``where I have a deep previous history. Sitting in an unmarked police car on Queens Boulevard ... oh, man, I'm telling you.''
The cinema always spoke to Caruso. ``To me, great film takes reality and improves it and makes it a super reality. I think that a lot of life in Los Angeles - and why people come out here - is about that process. It's about taking their reality and improvising and making it more valuable and more interesting. So I made the right move coming out there. I had to get away from my roots and start this kind of creation.''
``NYPD Blue'' created enormous controversy even months before its Sept. 21 premiere because of its frank dialogue and brief nude scenes. Thirty of ABC's 225 affiliates refused to air the premiere. The Rev. Donald Wildmon's conservative American Family Association launched a highly publicized campaign to get advertisers to boycott the series. It all proved to be much ado about nothing. The series is shaping up to be one of biggest hits of the new season, and several of the hesitant affiliates have begun airing the series.
``There's nothing in the show that's wrong or exploitative for its time period,'' Caruso says. ``That's my opinion, of course.''
Caruso maintains that ``NYPD Blue'' initially incurred problems because ``people don't change easily. When Bochco came out and said he was going to change the format of network TV, you are going to expect a response. You have to change [network TV] in order to have a future. The response so far to the show says the viewership is there.''
by CNB