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Lesure Time on Mr. Sunshine
James Lesure has created a niche for himself as a go-to cool guy, playing a charming casino worker for five seasons on Las Vegas and now a charismatic former basketball star who's friends with Matthew Perry's Ben on Mr. Sunshine. TV Guide Magazine: Were you hired for your hoop skills?Lesure: [Laughs] I like to play. I'm winning, to quote the great Charlie Sheen...
James Lesure has created a niche for himself as a go-to cool guy, playing a charming casino worker for five seasons on Las Vegas and now a charismatic former basketball star who's friends with Matthew Perry's Ben on Mr. Sunshine.
TV Guide Magazine: Were you hired for your hoop skills?
Lesure: [Laughs] I like to play. I'm winning, to quote the great Charlie Sheen.
TV Guide Magazine: What else do you have in common with your character, Alonzo?
Lesure: He's selfless and I admire people like that. It's different from me. I seem to be more self-absorbed, so I'm hoping to get a little more Alonzo in my life — to learn
from him.
TV Guide Magazine: You're often cast in überconfident roles. Is that because you're like that in real life?
Lesure: They are going against type there, but I'll take it. I know who I am in real life — I'm nerdy and klutzy, too.
TV Guide Magazine: Klutzy? Really?
Lesure: Ha! You think I'm BS-ing you? I always want to be James Bond, but if I'm going out to eat, I'm the dude who always gets a spot on his shirt. My sweetheart will have to clean me up. And this is constant — every meal!
TV Guide Magazine: So who is the coolest member of the Mr. Sunshine cast?
Lesure: I'm going to give Allison Janney the shout-out. This woman is so entertaining that she literally caused me to cry for seven minutes — I just laughed so hard. It was great!
Mr. Sunshine airs Wednesdays at 9:30/8:30c on ABC.