Diane Farr Dishes on Her Numbers Exit

Tonight marks Diane Farr's exit from Numbers after three years playing the spunky but (of late) troubled FBI agent Megan Reeves. We talked to the actress, who walked away from Rescue Me in 2005 to join the brainy CBS action show, about her latest decision, her upcoming twins (she already has a 14-month-old son!) and kissing Peter MacNicol. - Ileane Rudolph
TVGuide.com: Congratulations! What were your first words on hearing that you were having twins and would have three babies under two years old?
Diane Farr: You couldn't possibly print the words that came out of my mouth. We were at the doctor to do the eight-week ultrasound, and I could clearly see that there were two fetuses on the monitor. So the technician and I sat there in silence for two minutes while I was hoping it was something else.
TVGuide.com: So it wasn't fertility pills?
Farr: Any person who has a ten-month-old would tell you there's no way on earth they would take fertility drugs. Clearly, if I got pregnant on my wedding night, I didn't have any issues getting pregnant. There was no way I would take fertility pills with an infant. [ Laughs]
TVGuide.com: Why did you decide to leave Numbers? Creative differences? The aforementioned twins?
Farr:It was actually none of the above. I'm not leaving because I'm having babies. I'm leaving because I'm going to do a different job. I think after three years, most actors feel the need to see what else they can use their brain for. Numbers was such a perfect job. It was easy and it was fun and it was good people. I pitched an idea to a boss that I had before. He liked [it], and I decided to go with it.
TVGuide.com: You mean Peter Tolan, from The Job and Rescue Me. So what's the project?
Farr: It's an hour drama. There's no gun, no fire hoses. I want to wear a pretty dress for the next few years! But I've done five series where I'm the only girl, and it works perfectly for me. We'll probably keep that going.
TVGuide.com: Megan's leaving the FBI to go off and counsel troubled young women. Didn't Diane do something like that?
Farr:I used to teach acting in a maximum security men's prison. I worked with guys with the most dysfunctional behavior problems. I probably learned more there than from my prestigious theater degree.
TVGuide.com: Which boyfriend would Diane choose - Numbers' nerdy genius Larry Fleinhardt or Rescue Me's hunky firefighter Franco?
Farr: I tend more to the Fleinhardt. [ Laughs] My boyfriends in life were never as pretty as Franco.
TVGuide.com: What's your best Numbers moment?
Farr: When Megan was trying to seduce Larry, [it] was really fun because Peter (MacNicol) was very afraid of the love story. He didn't think people would buy it. He spent half of rehearsal trying to back away from me, and I spent half the time chasing him around this desk. When he was pinned behind the desk and I was kneeling on the chair in one of the takes, I finally said to him, "Can I bite your ear?" and then we were friends.
TVGuide.com: You're a producer and a writer as well as an actor. Writing anything?
Farr: I'm writing a book about mixed-race couples in America and what you have to overcome.
TVGuide.com: Your husband is Korean-American, isn't he?
Farr: Exactly. And I might produce a documentary series on the subject.
TVGuide.com: Final thoughts on Numbers?
Farr: It was a perfect job. It was easy and fun - and if anyone's not satisfied with the end of Megan and Larry's story, I hope they understand that after the strike there was very little time to write something fantastic. It's not because people didn't like Larry or Megan.
TVGuide.com: One last question: The David Cassidy Story?!?
Farr:What was I thinking? [ Laughs] It was the casting director Denise Chamian, who I adore. She gave me my first test deal, and she put me on The Job, which led to Rescue Me. So basically anything Denise asked me to come in and read for, I'd do it. Even if it means having to hide The David Cassidy Story on my resume for the next ten years.