It's Big Time: Chris Noth Dishes on His Famous TV Roles

The Star Chats About a New Season of 'Law & Order: CI,' His 'Big'-Screen Project and Lovin' New York

October 2 -- Call him Mr. Big if you will, but it's not like that's 'Sex and the City' star Chris Noth's only beloved, long-running TV character. The Golden Globe nominee is, of course, currently filming his role as Carrie Bradshaw's commitment-phobic sweetie in next year's 'SATC' movie, and simultaneously shooting the seventh season of the 'Law & Order' spin-off 'L&O: Criminal Intent.'

With the series on the move to USA Network, Noth talks to AOL TV's Kimberly Potts about the changes, the 'SATC' movie and the differences between Big and Mike Logan.

Will 'Criminal Intent's' move to cable change anything about the show?
No, we really don't feel anything's different, except [USA's] enthusiasm for having us. Otherwise, it's all systems go. I do think that the writers are gonna open it up a little more for us, and we're not going be this big, 100 percent strict procedural. We're always struggling toward character.

It does feel like we've gotten to know the characters a little more the last couple of seasons.
Yeah, I mean, my first season was not fun, but this season, the last two seasons since the change over, have been much more fulfilling. It's still very difficult, difficult work acting-wise. There's still a lot of minutiae, as such, in a procedural drama that you have to try to sort of personalize, and that sometimes takes a creative imagination.

The 'Renewal' episode from last season, where he fell for his neighbor, was so great, and so heartbreaking. Is there any potential for a romance for Mike Logan this season?
Yeah, ['L&O' creator] Dick Wolf, even if the ratings are sky high, he's allergic to that kind of thing. We all think it's a great idea. Not necessarily romance. You know, personal stories don't necessarily mean, 'Oh, who's he going out with this week?' That's not the tail that wags the dog on a personal story. That just happened to work beautifully in that episode. I think the last two episodes [of last season], Vincent's and mine, show that we can go there and have a story and have a crime and juggle both successfully.

After more than a decade of Mike Logan, on and off, is it still fun to be playing him?
You know, I want to play him until there's nothing left to discover. I don't know how much more there is to discover, and when there isn't any more, that's when I want to leave.

You've been involved on the writing side yourself, with the 'Law & Order: Exiled' movie that brought Logan back into the franchise. Is that something you're interested in doing more?
I am currently developing something actually -- right now we don't have a title -- but it's based on the book 'Requiem,' about the photojournalists who died in Vietnam. ['Rome' and 'Apocalypse Now' writer] John Milius and I are working with AMC to develop a mini-series or a limited series in the next year or two. It's very powerful, and the book is phenomenal, so we really wanna tell their stories.

Any other movie projects you're working on?
Oh, just this little independent movie, 'Sex and the City.' Just a little indie.

Haha, yes, I think I heard something about that.
But yeah, there's another movie I just finished, called 'Frame of Mind,' and it centers on a piece of evidence from the Kennedy assassination. Pretty damn good thriller. [I play] a professor, a sort of expert on anything to do with that assassination.

So you have played these two iconic characters -- Mr. Big and Mike Logan -- on TV for almost two decades now. Can you choose between the two of them, which one has been more fun to play?
Oh no. I can't choose, but I certainly have enjoyed the differences between them. I always like to say that when I leave the set of the 'Sex and the City' movie to go down to 'Law & Order,' I'm going from Gucci to Moe Ginsburg, which is a cheap clothing line. But you know, they're both delicious. I've sort of incorporated those parts of myself that relate to those guys. Since I'm playing them, I'm just using different parts of myself to do it. I'm very lucky that, in terms of Mr. Big, I've got one of the best romantic comedy writers writing for me in Michael Patrick King. He just has an impeccable ear. And, in terms of 'Law & Order,' there's just such a history to it now, that I almost feel like I've grown up with it. When people look at those early episodes from 1990, 1991, they think I was a teenager.

Do you think 'Law & Order,' like 'Sex and the City,' would translate well to the big screen? Or are there just too many different versions and seasons now to find a fresh angle?
I think because of what you just stated, I don't think so. I think we had so much of it on TV, people aren't going to pay for it in a movie. I just think that it's become, frankly, too much of a brand. You know, I'm not gonna eat McDonalds when I go to Paris. And I don't mean to compare it to fast food. It's just so available now on so many different levels with network and cable and DVD. You know, it's weird, because when I started in 'Law & Order,' we were a revolutionary show on TV. Just in terms of the people, the stories we told, and where we were. Except for the soaps and I think 'Cosby,' we were the only ones really filming in New York. And now, you can't turn the corner without there being a film crew around. So, no, I don't think that will happen. I've never heard of it, but then again, you never know.

Go to our Marc Cherry Interview >>