Ryan McPartlin on Infiltrating Chuck's Spy World and Betty Draper's Panties

Oh really?

I didn't. [Laughs] But we didn't really talk much between takes. I was playing this gentleman that she has an affair with so we didn't really talk much on set aside from figuring out, you know, "So I'm going to pull your panties down and then do you want me to grab your butt here or here? Should I put my hand here or here?" And then when we took a break, we'd run off set and put our nose in a book. It was just awkward and really weird. But fans of the show loved it. But we didn't really get to talking about Abercrombie.

How do you prepare for an uncomfortable scene like that?

I just said, "Hey, I want to be as respectful as possible to you so I am going to let you take the lead and please let me know if I do anything that makes you uncomfortable." But we laughed about it and found mutual respect but we just didn't talk that much beyond because I only worked on the show for a few days. And we got thrown into it right away.

I find that a lot of articles about models-turned-actors make it sound like models just fall into this acting world pretty effortlessly. You see the word "discovered" a lot. Do you think that is a true depiction of models-turned-actors?

I really shouldn't say this because it's not politically correct but models are pretty lazy. I don't like modeling. I never liked modeling. I never liked the modeling world. It's a really self-involved, narcissistic world that I was in for a minute after Abercrombie & Fitch. I didn't want to go through the starving myself, suck in my cheeks and walk runways thing. I just wanted to go do some comedy and have some fun. So I quit as soon as I could.

There was nothing I liked about modeling to be honest. Even the end result of seeing my picture up in the Abercrombie stores. I would rather be laughing or making other people laugh. I don't think there are many interesting of funny models out there.

Do you remember much from those Abercrombie photo shoots? They seem like they could have been a comical experience.

Well it was a week-long shoot and we were able to go to the beach everyday. Each shoot started with a bunch of models -- In the modeling game, I always felt like I was five years too late. Like the creepy old guy at the high school prom I just felt like that at Abercrombie shoot. Everyone there was like 18 and there was one other guy that was 23 or 24. They'd start with a bunch of models and then cut some every four hours. I made it through the whole week and there were a lot of pictures of me but only because I think I brought a lot of energy. I would make everybody laugh and try to get different scenes going and you know like beach games going. But the whole thing was so bad. You're on the beach and everyone has to pretend like they are laughing really loud and having the best time of their life for hours at end. It was the worst and I kept asking myself whether I'd stay another day but they were paying like $500 a day and I wasn't making that kind of money so I stayed. It was just so weird and so strange and I realized, "I don't want to be around these kind of people." But then I got an embarrassing soap opera part on Passions.

Were you just so relieved to get any kind of acting part or was it embarrassing enough that you hid it from your friends?

Well, the first time [the people at] Passions approached me -- I had been waiting tables for a year and had some credit card debt -- and I was so embarrassed by it that I actually turned them down.

I love that you were in debt and still refused to take a role on Passions!

[Laughs] But then a year and a half later, I was up to like $20,000 in debt, and they approached me again and I decided to do it. It actually turned out to be a great experience technically, acting-wise. I developed my personality in front of the camera. It was actually kind of fun. And then after a year, I said, "This is enough." And now, excuse the pun, I'm lucky enough to be working on a really awesome show.

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