Face to face with Mr. Big

HONG KONG–Physically speaking, there are three kinds of men.

First is the drop-dead gorgeous–as many women put it–those men who crane necks and drop jaws by virtue of their finely chiselled features and/or remarkable physique. Benjamin Bratt, Dylan McDermott, Tom Cruise, and Brad Pitt easily fit into this category.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is the second kind–those men who women will hardly notice at all.

And then there’s the third–and probably most interesting–kind. These men on first glance may not be classified as "drop dead gorgeous" but they carry their manliness in a way that makes women go, "Hmm... this guy has something else going for him," and instinctively want to find out what makes him tick. You can peg Harrison Ford, Hugh Jackman, Heath Ledger, and yes, Sex And The City’s Chris Noth into this category.

Chris Noth in the flesh is even manlier than he is on TV. Meeting four Asian journalists including this writer at Hong Kong’s Grand Hyatt Hotel, he exudes a subdued (as opposed to the bothersome in-your-face sort) kind of ruggedness and manliness that can in part explain why viewers have avidly followed his character’s ("Mr. Big") and Sarah Jessica Parker’s (as New York-based writer Carrie Bradshaw) long-running, on-and-off romance in Sex And The City. On the show’s fourth season, "Mr. Big" continues to be one of the show’s strong draws.

Chris had flown to Hong Kong to promote the award-winning original series Sex And The City, whose fourth season has been airing in Asia Tuesdays at 10 p.m. since last May 14 only on HBO.

Sex And The City revolves around the romantic adventures and misadventures of four women led by Carrie Bradshaw in Manhattan’s dating scene. It has earned critical and popular acclaim for its candid views on sex, love, and relationships.

HBO’s Sex And The City is the first cable TV show to top the Emmy’s Comedy Series category. It won for the third straight year last January the Golden Globe Awards for Best Television Series—Musical or Comedy and Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series for Sarah Jessica Parker. Chris Noth has also received a Golden Globe nomination for his performance.

Standing 6’2" tall, Chris is casually garbed in a jersey top that reveals his slim and trim figure. His stride appears purposeful yet nonchalantly manly at the same time. His chin and jaw are lined with hair that you surmise could grow into a full-blown beard if Chris wanted it to, although this afternoon they appear evenly, neatly trimmed. As Chris snugly sits on the sofa, a bell rings in your mind: That familiar "Hmm... this guy has something else going for him."

Then you find out that indeed, Chris does have something–make that many big things–else going for him. He has brought to Sex And The City a wealth of experience in theater, TV and films. Unknown to the general public is that he is an excellent cross-country skier who also writes poetry.

An alumnus of the Yale School of Drama, Chris has performed at prestigious theater productions and venues from New York to LA. After Sex And The City’s third season, he completed a successful Broadway run of Gore Vidal’s The Best Man, co-starring Charles Durning and Michael Learned.

Chris gained fame on TV playing Detective Mike Logan on Law & Order for five seasons. He has also appeared in made-for-TV movies, independent and mainstream films including the Academy Award nominated Robert Zemeckis film Cast Away starring Tom Hanks and Helen Hunt; the thriller The Glass House directed by Daniel Sackheim with Leelee Sobieski and Diane Lane; Tom DiCillo’s Double Whammy opposite Denis Leary and Elizabeth Hurley; and a new Julius Caesar miniseries.

His background sufficiently reveals how much Chris Noth is enthralled by acting. "As an actor you’re always using certain parts of yourself to play a character," he shares. "Acting is a very mysterious conscious and unconscious process."

"I think theater is the most challenging," he continues. "(During) the two hours you’re onstage, you have the audience solely (relying on) the craft of the actor. It’s kinda like going over the waterfall. I think it’s very grounding for an actor. Sometimes when you do a film, you don’t know what you’re going to get–it’s up to the director or editor. I had seen a lot of work cut because in point of fact it didn’t help the story. That’s just the way it goes."

But whether for stage, TV, or screen, Chris believes that any production must begin with good writing–a good reason, Chris believes, for Sex And The City’s appeal. "I think it’s a really honest show," Chris says, "with really good writers. It doesn’t pull any punches about sex between men and women, friendships and complications about living in a major city and what we have to deal with."

"Relationships are what make the world go round," Chris adds. "I just think people are drawn to the problems and victories of the human heart–I think that is universal. Whether it’s about sex between men and women and how funny it can be or all that has to do with the human heart–I think the (Sex And The City) writers really (capture that). We all are mortal, we all share a finite time on this earth. That’s the ultimate draw. So when someone works out or they love each other, we all feel it. When they get over it and can get past whatever obstacle, we feel that, too. If we’re laughing along the way, all the better."

Chris points out that though the show revolves around four women, it is "written by men and women. What’s ignored is this is also a series about the friendship of these women and how that binds them and helps get them over many of the relationship problems they have. But this is as much about friendship between men as it is about their (the womens’) shenanigans with men and relationships. It’s a big statement about friendship. It’s candid also about sex. You’re always going to find the women together, talking together and sharing their problems, dreams and hopes. I think that’s a very uplifting part of the show, too."

Asked why his character is called "Mr. Big", Chris breaks into a hearty laugh, a glint of naughtiness in his eyes. "I get asked that a lot and I’m actually the last person to know," he avers. "It’s something the writers created. I don’t really know what he (Mr. Big) does. I don’t think they want to define it (like), ‘Oh, he is a Wall Street trader.’ In a way it’s easy to define that, (but) it brings him down; it kind of lessens the mystique. It’s all fantasy so they don’t do it; they leave it open.

"What makes a man big before a woman’s eyes? You tell me–I’m not a woman. That’s a fictional character in a half-hour comedy. I’m not a woman and the women are the ones who define it. I guess that’s the reason they’ve given me that name–it’s gotten so much curiosity and speculation. But I think it is the least curious point in the show. That’s his name, everyone accepts it, it’s kind of a funny name. What does it mean? The biggest love in her (Carrie’s) life? I don’t know. They certainly haven’t defined it to me. Why try to figure it out?"

How alike or different is Chris from Mr. Big? "I certainly am not a fussy dresser like him though I like fancy clothes," Chris replies. "I think my life has been quite different than his. You know, if the writing is good, I try to articulate what the writers give me. Sometimes that means getting out of the way with your habits. Often, my idea is to find a place that hasn’t been actually written and articulate it. I think Mr. Big got richer as each year went on, got funnier, and wasn’t just portrayed as a rich elusive self-satisfied man because that’s not very interesting."

Chris has only the highest praises for co-star Sarah Jessica Parker. "Oh she’s the hardest-working girl in showbiz," he relates. "Very generous (with an) enormous energy and life force. She’s a fantastic comedian with impeccable timing. I don’t know the other girls (Cynthia Nixon, Kim Catrall and Kristin Davis) that well because for most of the show I’m with Sarah Jessica. But they’re all great making those characters. They’re all such distinct girls. Sarah is really extraordinary. I mean the hours she works, she’s really a work horse. It’s inspiring."

Explaining the viewers’ attraction to his onscreen relationship with Sarah Jessica, Chris says, "It’s like one of those relationships that never really end. They can’t seem to be without each other. It’s a feeling that even when they aren’t together, they’re together at some level. There are those places they aren’t able to reconcile and yet they constantly keep trying. I think they really like each other. It’s one of those relationships that may not be consummated in the way that he or she wants but it’s not going to go away even after many other relationships including his marriage. I think it’s that cliché about the elusive man... it’s much more than that. All of us want the thing that we can’t totally have.

"There are people that challenge you in life. You are always–because there are two personalities working on it–dealing with it. He thought maybe he could walk away from it; he got married, took the easy way out.

"When somebody gets under your skin I guess he’s going to stay there no matter how much (you try)."

Viewers can empathize with Carrie and Mr. Big, Chris reckons, because "They’re only human and they love each other and like all of us make mistakes and we’re just groping in the dark half the time with things, with life. No one’s perfect–they’re certainly not. Those things everyone relates to, they’re sort of universal that everybody can find true in their own lives. There’s no perfect formula for how a relationship can go. So you broke up. So what? At least in your heart you love someone. Sometimes it doesn’t listen to reason, let’s put it that way."

For all his work in the show, however, Chris insists he is no expert when it comes to the men-and-women things. "I don’t think we know what women ever really want," he says. "I don’t have the inside scoop on (men and women). I say my lines and make my mark. It’s a changing world and we’re all a part of it and this show reflects that."

These days, women often come up to Chris to tell him they enjoy watching him in Sex And The City. "It’s flattering... yeah it is," Chris admits. "It’s nice to know that I’ve made someone laugh or think about stuff or they’re entertained. I’m always pleased that someone watches and gets a hoot out of it."

After Chris rises and poses for the cameras, winking after his pictures are taken, you want to verbalize what his lady admirers might well want to tell him: "It’s not just a hoot, Chris. Make that a big, big hoot!"