"It's out and out comedy," declares Canadian actor Nicholas Lea, who plays maverick ex-cop Victor Mansfield. "It's a lot of ingredients coming together to make something that's purely entertainment." But Lea is adament that a flashy, fun comedy is no excuse for shallow characters. The way he plays Victor is a case in point. "On paper, he is the strong, silent type, but he also pokes fun at himself. He has a good heart, and is an honest, hard worker. I'm trying to bring more to the character than is on the page."
And that he does. Victor does have his serious side, but he also seems comfortable (as in a recent episode) engaging in a bizarre chain-saw duel and driving a bus through a fence. So it's not surprising that Lea sees Victor as an opportunity to break out of the seriousness associated with Alex Krycek, the evil double agent he portrays on The X-Files.
Lea is teamed at The Agency with the exotic and alluring Li Ann Tsei (played by Genie-Award nominee Sandrine Holt), and street-smart Mac Ramsey (Ivan Sergei, whose credits include the film Dangerous Minds and the series Party of Five). Li Ann and Mac are the adopted children of a powerful Hong Kong mob family that taught them to be brilliant criminals before they turned to crime-fighting. The chemistry between the three operatives is good (the underlying sexual tension makes for some interesting moments) and the one-liners are even better.
"Expect everything - as you should," says Lea.
[There are also a couple of publicity shots from the show with Nick in them.]