As day jobs go, making out with a hot actress like Kim Raver may sound pretty good to most guys. And Robert Buckley of “Lipstick Jungle” isn’t complaining, although it’s not as easy as it looks, he says.
“Kim and I decided we would laugh our way through the awkwardness of it, and that made it a lot easier,” says Buckley, who plays photographer and boy-toy Kirby Atwood on the NBC Thursday series.
“The first day, though, it was ‘Hi, I’m Rob Buckley; now let’s kiss,’ and that’s pretty intimidating. It gets a little easier over time, but it’s still not something I’m comfortable with. That would be a pretty odd thing to be at ease with, being naked in a room filled with quasi-strangers.”
Buckley says his TV alter ego is easy for him to relate to, aside from Kirby’s willingness to pursue a married woman.
“He’s basically a straightforward guy, honest and sweet and very passionate about the things he loves, whether it’s photography or women,” the actor says. “I didn’t want him to come off as cheap or sleazy.”
Buckley was a late bloomer himself, discovering his own passion for acting only in his final semester of college. Since he had nearly finished his economics degree, he took a consulting job but knew almost immediately his heart was not in it.
“I remember calling my mom from my cubicle on, like, the second day and telling her ‘I need to resign,’ ” he recalls. I did it for a year and a half. I met a woman who told me I should give up that career and try acting, so I told my firm I was leaving to pursue my MBA, and a month later I had my first commercial on the air.”
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Born: May 2, 1981, in West Covina, Calif.; grew up in Claremont, Calif.
Nickname: Rob.
Education: Holds a degree in economics from the University of California at San Diego.
Hidden talents: Booked his first TV commercial because of his appalling dance technique.
Previous TV series credits: “Fashion House” and “American Heiress,” both on MyNetworkTV; a guest appearance on “The Ghost Whisperer.”
Film credits: “When a Killer Calls,” “Petrified,” “Capturing Q,” “Archer House,” “Robot Battle.”
