Christopher Noth, most famously known for his role as Mr. Big in Sex In The City and Det. Mike Logan on Law & Order, just returned to the small screen with the premiere of season 4 of The Good Wife. But he's also helping out with the Beaulieu Vineyards Give & Give Back program. Below, he tells us about all of that, and also talks Jerry Orbach, Lena Dunham, and what it's like filming in NYC.
How do you like filming in New York — this is your 3rd show here? It’s getting to be a habit. It just feels like my career has always been in New York. I feel very lucky in that sense. I’ve done some movies in other places but the core of my career has been in this city in three very different kinds of shows. Of course, The Good Wife is supposed to be Chicago, so we’re working in the interior. When I was doing Sex and the City and Law & Order, I saw two distinctly different types of locations. That’s why I feel like I know the city intimately.
And what are your thoughts on filming a show set in Chicago in NYC? It works. I’m sure we’d be doing a lot more exteriors if we were in Chicago, but our studio is in Brooklyn. We manage to artfully give the image of Chicago. I’m grateful to shoot in New York City—nothing against Chicago, my father was born there, and I have ties there—but I’d rather be here.
New Yorkers have been known to complain about movie and television productions taking over the streets, have you had any run-ins to this effect? Nothing that I could complain about. When I see camera crews, I always ask 'what are you shooting? What’s going on?' I like to know. I’m grateful and think the city should be grateful. Filming here brings in so much work for actors. When I started with Law & Order, we were the only game in town besides soap operas. Now every studio is filled. It’s fantastic for the city; fantastic for the acting community. Sorry about the parking.
Could you see yourself doing another Law & Order movie, like Exiled? Or is Mike Logan retired? Movie, yes, but it would be tough because the genre of the police drama has been so overdone that frankly it’s become a bit of a bore. Also, the city doesn’t have the same grit, the same texture that it did when we did Exiled: Law & Order. It becomes difficult - the New York of Serpico and The French Connection is gone. It would need to be white collar crime - the texture of the city has changed. That genre is less interesting to me. The police genre has been so overdone I don’t know what they’re going to do next. It feels like it’s over but you never know—a good writer can always make something fresh and surprise you.
We are huge fans of Jerry Orbach here at Gothamist, how much do you miss him? Tremendously. It feels like yesterday. He was the face of Law & Order. If you could put a face on the show, it was Jerry. Something about Jerry and who he was… he was New York City. He was a true New Yorker. I miss him as a person and everything he brought to the role.
What can you tell us about Sex and the City 3? Is it happening? Nothing, I haven’t heard anything about it.
A photo of you on the set of Girls popped up a little while ago, what can you tell us about that? Did you make a cameo for the 2nd season? Were you playing yourself or Mr. Big? They were filming in my neighborhood—it was serendipity. I walked down to the creator and star, Lena Dunham, who was extremely lovely, gracious to me. I hear the show is hilarious.
Can you tell us about The Give & Give Back program and your partnership with it? Hunger relief is a cause I’m passionate about, which is why I partnered with BV. Just this morning, I participated in a food rescue with City Harvest, bringing leftover food from restaurants to the St. Bart’s soup kitchen. Hunger continues to be a critical issue in this country, and in this city, which I was unaware of until BV educated me on some of the stats. Did you know that one in six Americans does not have enough access to food and 17 million children are living in food-insecure households? That needs to change. No child should be going hungry in this country.
Over the last two years, BV has donated the equivalent to more than 2 million meals to hunger relief efforts across the country as part of their Give & Give Back program. So many organizations like BV and City Harvest are bringing the issue of hunger relief to the center of attention, and generating more interest in volunteering, but there is still room for more.
If you know someone who is dedicated to ending hunger in this country, or who volunteers, you can go to Facebook to nominate this hometown hero at: http://www.facebook.com/bvwines.
