Jesse Bradford on His New Show Outlaw, Jimmy Smits, and His Favorite Scene

Jesse Bradford has toplined projects ranging from Flags of Our Fathers to Swimfan to Bring It On, and now, in his first consistent TV role since The West Wing, he plays an Ivy League-educated upstart working in a law firm alongside former Supreme Court justice Jimmy Smits on NBC's upcoming drama Outlaw. Movieline recently caught up with Bradford to discuss his new role and grill him about his favorite film scene of all time.

To call Jimmy Smits a veteran of TV drama would be an understatement at this point. What's it like boarding a Jimmy Smits series?

Jimmy Smits is... the term I like to use is, he's the consummate smooth character. Some people use that term to describe a shifty character, but I don't mean that at all. I mean, literally, he's so mellow. His energy is so calm and relaxed but strong and present. He's super considerate to his other actors. Day one and two, before I even know the guy at all, he was stopping in front of us individually and going, "Are you good? Do you need anything?"

Your character on Outlaw, Eddie Franks, seems a bit self-serious. What's his arc on the show like?

Well, his main arc as you first meet him is that the rug's been pulled out from under him. He had this very clear-cut career path that he was on. He's played by the books, played by the rules all his life -- doing that has gotten him very far -- then suddenly his boss quits and he's left flapping in the breeze. He has no idea what's coming next, and it's not what he bargained for. So this first arc you're going to see from him is him trying to figure out if this is really where he wants to be -- because quite frankly, it's not. He's got to decide if he's going to pursue some other path at this point. You know, go work at a different firm, etc. That's the first thing you'll see from him.

Is he a character who will surprise us?

The thing that's coming up that's interesting that you'll see... the aura that he puts out into the world, what you kind of naturally assume, and what Carly (Pope)'s character Lucinda assumes about him, is that he's had this kind of silver spoon life. He graduated at the top of his class at Yale, so it's sort of a George Bush life where it's all kind of handed to you. But you come to find out that his past is actually a lot weirder than you think. He's been working his ass off since he was a child, essentially, to get where he's at and effectively support his family and achieve everything he's achieved. That's part of the why he plays everything so by the book. He's had this life of work. That'll be an interesting thing you learn about him too. [Executive producer] John Eisendrath's whole "thing" is about the secret lives we lead. I think he's going to flesh that out with all the characters.

Eddie seems to be a classic privileged Ivy League character in some ways. Does he call to mind any classic characters of TV or film for you?

That's a good question. I'm just going to say "no" on that because I'm searching my own life more than I am other shit. I don't think I've done anything quite like this, this conservative, this buttoned-up. I could liken him in certain ways to my character on The West Wing, but that's the silver spoon guy. This guy is not that although he comes off like that. You learn that he's not like that.

You mine your own life to relate to this guy? How so?

I'm not a conservative person by any stretch of the imagination. That being said, what I do have is a strong sense of what's right and wrong. I have a side of me that's very obsessive, compulsive, meticulous -- those are the things that I'm drawing from. There's a side of me that goes, "There's a right way to do this and a wrong way to do this." And I'm not going to just do it the right way, I'm going to do it 100% the right way. That's very Eddie. And that's one of the qualities in me I can pull up and go, "There you go. That's Eddie."

We do a segment at Movieline called "My Favorite Scene." Tell us your favorite film scene of all time and why.

One of them that first comes to mind -- I could do a couple, really -- one of them is Boogie Nights where they're at the pool party and they go into the pool after it's already been four minutes -- an amazing long take where they surprise you by going in the pool. Another one is the whole ending sequence of Dr. Strangelove where everything really hits the fan, and his arm's out and all that. Some of those tracking shots in Paths of Glory, just to stay on the Kubrick for a second. The entire film The Big Lebowski is one big amazing scene.

(While we'd love to post all of Bradford's favorite scenes here, we'll stick with the fabulous Boogie Nights sequence.)