– Michael Chiklis (“The Shield”) looks somewhat like the star of the old ABC series “The Commish.” Is it him, and can you tell me anything about his background? –Karen Nyman, Montgomery, Ala.
It’s definitely the same actor, but I’m not surprised you had to ask. Depressed when his 2000 NBC sitcom “Daddio” flopped, Chiklis took his wife’s advice to slim down and change his image completely. He dropped more than 50 pounds and shaved his head with the notion of playing a rogue cop in a movie project he had in mind.
Coincidentally, the pilot script for “The Shield” crossed his desk about the same time and Chiklis pursued the role of Vic Mackey until he won it. He’s back on top for now, but, at 39, the actor of Greek heritage knows a thing or two about the vagaries of Hollywood luck.
Just days after earning a degree at Boston University’s School of Performing Arts, Chiklis auditioned for the coveted film role of John Belushi in 1989’s “Wired.” He won the part, but the movie bombed. His 1991-95 run in ABC’s “The Commish” earned him a solid fan base, and he did good work in mostly forgettable films and TV movies until “The Shield” came along.
Chiklis and his wife, Michelle Moran, have two daughters, Odessa and Autumn.
– I’ve been waiting for “Masterpiece Theatre to continue its wonderful “Bramwell” series. The last episode left the audience hanging. Are any more episodes in the works? –Rebecca Cain via e-mail.
No more episodes of the Jemma Redgrave series are expected from England. “The creator/writer, Lucy Gannon, is working on a new project called ‘The Servants,’ an ‘Upstairs, Downstairs’ without the ‘Upstairs’ and with a little hipness and edge,” says a publicist at WGBH, where “Masterpiece Theatre” is produced.
– Is that Ethan Embry from “Freakylinks” co-starring with Ed O”Neill in “Dragnet”? Did Embry once use a different name? –C. Adams via e-mail.
Yes to both your questions. Embry, 24, used his birth name, Ethan Randall, on early projects, including the 1991 film comedy “Dutch” with “Dragnet” partner O’Neill. He later adopted his grandfather’s surname, Embry, as a tribute to him.
– I just heard that Keanu Reeves has wrapped up filming a remake of “Billy Jack.” Any word when it will be released? –John C. Bourdage, Burien, Wash.
You are referring to a rumor, widely circulated last spring, that Reeves would follow up his two upcoming “Matrix” sequels with a remake of 1971’s box-office hit “Billy Jack” for Danny DeVito’s Jersey Films. By May, however, the trade paper Variety was reporting that Reeves and Jersey Films no longer were attached to the project, nor does a “Billy Jack” film appear in Variety’s list of films currently in active production.
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