PCM's Kristyn had the recent opportunity to join in on a chat with actor Michael Vartan, who is currently starring on the new TNT series HathoRNe airing Tuesday's at 9pm ET/PT. His character Dr. Tom Wakefield is an oncologist and Chief of Surgery for Richmond Trinity Hospital. He is a strong, competent doctor who avoids taking too many risks. He bristles when his judgment is called into question, especially when he's second-guessed by subordinates. He is close to Christina, given his role in treating her late husband's cancer, and the two have a professional but friendly rapport with one another. He also relies on her to serve as a buffer between himself and the staff.

Q: What made you want to be a part of HawthoRNe?

Michael Vartan: First and foremost Jada, let's be honest. Getting an opportunity to work with her was very exciting. And also I really liked the concept of the show. I know there are a lot of medical dramas out there but this one is different in the sense that it tells the story of what goes on the hospital from the nurse's point of view and that was just interesting and a different take on this world that I had never seen before.

Q: Have you noticed a difference between working on a cable show as opposed to the shows you've worked on with the broadcast networks?

M.V: That's a very good question and the answer is yes. Obviously in the day-to-day operations of the set it's the same thing. But I think with cable you're allowed to be a little more creative and a little more inventive. And there are a lot less suits as we like to call them, if you will, on set that sort of throw their 2 cents in the mix. It feels like a much more relaxed and laid back production team.

You know, we have the execs and the producers on set all of the time and they're just really cool down to earth people. And it just seems like it's a much more mellow experience and if something needs to be changed, we just go ahead and change it. We don't have to go through 15 different channels and the whole hierarchy of however the hell that works to begin with. So in that sense, yes, it's very different and it's nice, I like it that way.

Q: I was just curious, how is the onset chemistry on HawthoRNe? Do you have a favorite onset moment from the coming season?

M.V: You know I – not particularly an isolated event. I'm just surprised – I was surprised at how funny Jada is and what an insanely wacky and fun sense of humor she has. I'd never met her before so I didn't know what to expect and a lot of the roles that I've seen her in she plays very strong women but very sort of dramatic and you know tough so I didn't know what to expect. She really is a goofball. She loves to laugh. She's always you know cracking jokes about everything. We have a really, really good time which is a blessing because I've worked on sets where it wasn't the case. And you know we're not curing cancer. We're making a TV show so just have fun, be nice, and get on with it and she really lives by those words. It's a lot of fun. We laughed way more than we should.

Q: From reading some of your past interviews it seems like you have a strong natural sense of humor which is great, but many of your past characters have seemed really serious. So are you happier to play a character with a more playful side now?

M.V: Yes, absolutely. I did a – I shot a comedy last year in Detroit called Demoted that hopefully will come out one day. That was probably the most fun, just share fun I've ever have in the business because you just spend the whole time laughing and making each other laugh and making fun of one another and it's a really fun atmosphere.

My character in HawthoRNe obviously is a doctor; he's head of surgery so there is a serious side to him. But we're, I think, just wrapping up episode 6 right now. We've definitely developed the chemistry between those two characters and they joke around a lot more than they do in the pilot or even in the first couple of episodes so that's coming along and that definitely is more fun because everyone wants to have a good laugh once in a while.

Q: We all want to know is your character and Jada Pinkett-Smith's character going to get involved in a romance?

M.V: You know, it's television so I'd be – honestly I'd be surprised if they don't. But in the story her husband just passed away about 6 months to a year ago and I was a close friend of his. So I think there's going to – we're going to need a little healing time for the poor girl before Dr. Tom swoops in to try and take her out. But yes, I definitely think that's one element of the story that will be explore at some point. I don't know when but I can't imagine it not happening.

Q: So I'm wondering if you could just give us an idea of what kind of love interests you will have before possibly your character hooks up with Jada's character. What's in store romance wise?

M.V: You know we haven't really – I haven't heard a peep about that yet mainly, I guess, because our characters are slaves to the hospital and work so damn long. I think in one of the episodes Jada alludes to the fact that I have no life, this is my life, I live here don't you know. So I don't think there will be time for much romance other than possibly with Christina because they're basically the only people they hang out with. It's almost by default they're going to have to at some point get it on, I guess.

Q: What have you found challenging about your role?

M.V: The medical mumbo jumbo. Thrombilising someone inter-arterially and then administering a 28-milli-equivalence of potassium chloride. It takes a while to learn all of that junk. And it takes longer to understand what it really means. But luckily on those we haven't been bombarded with too much of that yet. I know I was friends with Noah Wyle, I worked with him years ago, and he was telling me that on ER it was nonstop and that was definitely one of the hardest things about his job. So I feel that I got lucky. I dodged that bullet.

Q: You know a lot of the series you've been on have been kind of ensemble series, is that something that appeals to you or would you like to try and be the kind of centerpiece of the series in the future?

M.V: You know that's interesting. I've never even thought of that. Well, if I'm going to be 100% honest I love the ensemble because I get days off. And we get the schedule for the new episode once a week and the first I look at – I look for the H's, the H's mean hold days when you're not working. So I'm very excited to see H's next to my name. But no, you know obviously if it was the right project, it would be great to be sort of the main character of a show. Yes, I mean I don't think of it either way. I'm more of just go where you're wanted kind of actor. People often ask me, so what are you going to do next? I say, what the hell do you think I want to work Scorsese and De Niro, but they're not knocking on my door so you kind of do what you need to do to pay the rent and get on with it. But yes, my own show, man that sounds like a lot of pressure too.

Q: Your character on HawthoRNe doesn't seem like the biggest risk taker, do you relate to that aspect of him?

M.V: Yes. I'm a pansy. I'm not embarrassed to say it. The thing that makes the show interesting to me is she is the ultimate risk taker. She's willing to break all of the rules to do what she needs to do to help her patients. Whereas my character really is by the book and he hates breaking rules. So that's why they fight all of the time and have this fun sort of love/hate relationship where they work.

But in personal life I wouldn't say I'm a big risk taker. No. I like things to be planned out. I'm not a huge fan of surprises. I like to know where I'm going, who's going to be there, what time we're going to get there. I do relate to good old Tom.

Q: I'm wondering if there's any guest stars coming up that you can tell us about. And if you could just tease anything a little more specific with the upcoming story lines?

M.V: Cloris Leachman. She played a zany, zany patient who gives one of our young nurses the hardest time she could ever handle. Malcolm-Jamal Warner was on. I got to work with him. He's awesome. He plays someone who gets sick and starts hallucinating and actually thinks that Jada's character is his wife in real life and there's this whole weird sort of story line between the two of them.

And in terms of story lines I promise I'm not trying to be mysterious. The show really is about the relationships between I guess the nurses and their patients and the doctors to a certain extent. So it's in that vein and it stays that way. Obviously, every week is going to be different, there's going to be a new set of problems. There's an episode we finished which was really interesting that touched on healthcare and the economic crunch and how it's effecting hospitals and people and the healthcare system in general.

Q: With a career that spans from TV to film is there a medium that you prefer one over the other?

M.V: ou know I like them both for different reasons. I love TV because you can have a life. You can schedule your weekends. You have a steady job. You had a steady paycheck. It's much more structured and formatted to just being able to plan things around work.

And I love movies because you get to travel most of the time. I love being on location. Being on location is a weird sense of lack of total responsibility. You don't have to check your mail. I mean it feels like you're on vacation somehow. It's very bizarre. And the good thing about movies if you hate the people you're working with it's over in 2 months. And if you love the people you're working with then it was a great 2 month experience. And I've been lucky the only other show I was – well Big Shots lasted half a minute, but on Alias we really became like a family. We were so close and that was an amazing experience because we got to work together every day for 5 years and I can only imagine if that had not been the case. Five years on a show with people you don't get along with would be very difficult I imagine.

Also television reaches so many more homes than – I mean I've done my share of movies that never saw the light of day. And if you're on a relatively successful TV show you get a much wider audience. And so there's pros and cons to both. But again I go where I'm wanted. If it's TV, great. If it's film, great.