Elliott (Hot)ness! Meet What About Brian's Own McSteamy

Much like Grey's Anatomy's McSteamy, Brennan Elliott is making strong, independent leading women weak in the knees. Having turned up on The 4400 this summer as Jacqueline McKenzie's new squeeze, he began a stint on Cold Case last night, and will also be playing the other man on ABC's What About Brian (Mondays at 10 pm/ET) starting sometime next month. TVGuide.com grabbed a few minutes with the small screen's busiest lover.

TVGuide.com: So, you'll be playing T.K. on What About Brian. Tell us about him.
Brennan Elliott: T.K. is a very, very wealthy, semi-retired 32-year-old guy who made a lot of money through his investments and enjoys investing in real estate, property, stocks... whatever he can to make his money make money. He's always been a workaholic and he's at a point in his life where he would walk into a house and go, "God, I love this house." And he'd see this woman, maybe the real-estate agent, and would want to ask her out and say, "Wow, you'd look good in this house." [Laughs] You know? He's not the kind of guy that's like, "Oh, you're beautiful, I'd really like to take you out and fall in love." It's always from a place of business. It's not that he's a bad guy; he just doesn't know how to shut the business off. He gets what he wants and he'll do whatever it takes.

TVGuide.com: He's going to be the love interest of Amanda Detmer's character, who is married. How was it playing the other man?
Elliott: I seem to be playing that a lot lately. Getting the [role of the] guy who plays the love interest of the lead girl is juicy and I'm enjoying it a lot. It's been a pretty effortless transition and I've been lucky to work with a lot of great ladies. They've been really open and cordial, bringing me into shows [where] they have a certain familial environment. You always hope that you get received well, and all the leading ladies I've had are very professional and want to make the work strong and that's the most important.

TVGuide.com: Will this T.K.-Deena affair last long? Will you stick around?
Elliott: I know it's four episodes right now. I don't know if she's going back to her husband or what the scenario is, but you know how these things are. I've done shows where it was supposed to be three, four, eight or 10 [episodes], and you end up staying longer because the reception with the audience is great. If the audience likes us together and thinks it's got some humor because it is quite funny and cute the writers might say, "Let's keep him around a little longer." That could happen with The 4400 or Cold Case. You never know what's going to happen, so I just do my job, get on set, create reality in the scenes, and take it from there.

TVGuide.com: You're also playing another love interest on Cold Case?
Elliott: I play Lilly Rush's (Kathryn Morris) love interest. It's that kind of love where you're in love but you can't live with the person. [Our characters] were in love in high school and then college, and then wanted to get married but were too young. She went off to have her career being a cop and detective, and I now run a bike shop and build Harleys. I'm this blowing-in-the-wind character who can't settle down, but whose heart has always been with her and now we could come back together. It just happened to be that the last few shows have all been love interests, but they're all very distinct.

TVGuide.com: Will you be back on The 4400 next season as Jacqueline McKenzie's beau?
Elliott: It's up in the air right now. They haven't come back to us and said, "We want you back," but the audience was so responsive and I had a great time on that show. I was telling my friend the other day that I've probably had the best year and a half of anybody I know, because not only am I working so much I have to turn down work, but more importantly I'm playing these great roles, and I'm working with such great people. I'm never on set going, "I don't like this role, or I don't like this job." [The 4400] was a fun time because you don't get a lot of chances to do sci-fi and their sci-fi is based in such a human existence. It's raw. If the audience is responsive, I'm sure they'll come back and say, "Hey, would you like to get back on the horse over here?" and I'd be totally up for that.

TVGuide.com: What else do you have going on this year? Any movies?
Elliott: There are a few things that are batting around but nothing I can really disclose at this point. I get a pretty narrow television personality. When I get a role, I'm in that role, I focus on it. You're only as good as your last job and you want to make sure that every job you do is believable. I heard something a long time ago that I really believe: The most important part of it is the audience. This business is fueled from the audience and if people are on the Internet and want to see Brennan Elliot do something, I want to make sure it's the most believable and honest it can be. There are a few [opportunities] films and TV but nothing too concrete. I'm just focusing on What About Brian right now.

Speaking of Grey's McSteamy, actor Eric Dane is the cover boy of TV Guide's "Fall Hot List" issue, on sale now. 

Send your comments on this Q&A to online_insider@tvguide.com.