Christopher Gorham

After playing unpopular in "Popular" and getting good notices in the wholesome indie The Other Side of Heaven as well as Showtime's "Odyssey 5," 29-year-old Christopher Gorham landed the titular role of UPN's big post-"Buffy" thriller "Jake 2.0," in which he plays an NSA tech-support nerd accidentally given awesome superhuman abilities.

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Q: Tell me about your first big audition.

A: It was for "Baywatch," for the role of The Swimmer--that was the character's name, The Swimmer--while I was an intern for the show. To show the producers how dedicated I was to getting inside The Swimmer's head, I went to my audition in a Speedo. I didn't get the part, and I got laughed at by the rest of the production office all summer.

Q: The process on "Jake 2.0" seems to have gone more to your liking.

A: I wasn't sure for a while that I'd gotten the part. But I'd just bought a house, and my wife [actress Anel Lopez Gorham] told me she was pregnant again, so after "Odyssey" got canceled, I was on my knees: "Please, God!" I'm really excited about "Jake." [Pause] To be more verbose, I guess I'm really, really excited about it.

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Daniel Davis