james lesure - tvguide

 

Las Vegas' James Lesure Bets on a Shocking Finale
by Angel Cohn

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James Lesure, Las Vegas

It sure was a treat to speak to the delightfully charming James Lesure, one of the hot stars of NBC's action-packed Las Vegas. Unfortunately, we spoke to him before all the big news broke about the show returning for another season, and without original cast members James Caan and Nikki Cox. However, Lesure, who plays smooth-talking surveillance team member Mike Cannon, still managed to spill a few details about his working relationships on the show and hype tonight's huge season finale.

TVGuide.com: Got any fun plans for your hiatus?
James Lesure: I hope to clean up the place where I stay. There's a lot of little domestic projects that I have in my head, and I hope to get to them and accomplish them. That's the first order of business.

TVGuide.com: You are a do-it-yourself kind of guy?
Lesure: Yeah, in a sense. Nothing too extravagant. I'm not knocking down walls or anything like that, but small things here and there.

TVGuide.com: Well, Mike did have to build Ed a barbeque recently. Did that inspire you?
Lesure: [Laughs] Exactly. No, just little things to do.

TVGuide.com: My big question is, why the heck doesn't Mike have a girlfriend?
Lesure: That's a good question. Although, I do have a love interest coming up. It is in the works.

TVGuide.com: Meaning, more than a single-episode flirtation?
Lesure: Hopefully!

TVGuide.com: Is the season finale really a big cliff-hanger, as we've heard about?
Lesure: Hmm... what do you mean "cliff-hanger"?

TVGuide.com: Last season we had Ed getting shot and Delinda running out on her wedding... anything huge like that?
Lesure: Oh, yeah. There are some elements of that again. I guess that's how we like to end a season. [Chuckles]

TVGuide.com: Sure, keep me waiting.
Lesure: Ha! Hopefully it will be worth the wait.

TVGuide.com: It seems like such a fun cast to work with.
Lesure: Yeah. One of my favorite aspects of this whole production is working with this cast.

TVGuide.com: I know you don't shoot much in Vegas, but do you go there at all?
Lesure: I do! I went to college out here in L.A., and we used to make that Vegas run all the time. I've been going to Vegas for years. Especially since joining the show, I've been popping in and out of there. I've had my fill of Vegas for a little bit, if you know what I mean.

TVGuide.com: Are you treated like a big celebrity when you go there, since you are on a show that's set there?
Lesure: Nah. They don't pull out the fanfare for me. Jimmy Caan on the other hand, he gets the red-carpet treatment out there. Deservedly so.

TVGuide.com: Do you have any idea how all that fancy surveillance stuff actually works, or do you just go with the flow?
Lesure: I just go with the flow. [Laughs] They give me words and a mark, and that's what I consider my job to be.

TVGuide.com: Do you have a favorite story line from the past?
Lesure: There is a recent episode that was really fun to play. It was the front-of-house employees versus the back-of-house employees, the people who do all of the dirty work. There was an obstacle course and I was the leader of our squad. It was so much fun.

TVGuide.com: Similar to the paintball episode, I imagine.
Lesure: Yeah, that was fun, too! The same writer did both.

TVGuide.com: Do you think Mike would ever settle down with one of the Montecito gals?
Lesure: No! 'Cause Danny McCoy (played by Josh Duhamel) has dated all of them. Mike is not a "sloppy seconds" kind of guy. He cannot be that dude.

TVGuide.com: It's part of that whole "guy code" kind of thing?
Lesure: Yeah. [Any love interest] is going to have to come from somewhere else. The love interest [who was introduced last week], she's somebody from Mike's upbringing.

TVGuide.com: Will we get to see more about Mike and his past? Lesure: In that episode, we learn a little more about Mike. I wanted to do more of the character development, not just for my character but all the characters. Let people get to know them a bit more.

TVGuide.com: It's a very good-looking cast you work with. Do you all sit around going, "I'm the prettiest." "No, I'm the prettiest."
Lesure: Who told you?! Who leaked that?! We do that before almost every scene. I'll be, "I think I'm lookin' the best in this scene." [Laughs.] No... but I do agree. There is some attractiveness about the show. I know I've had crushes on each of the girls at some time — and on Jimmy and Josh, too. [Laughs]