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We recently talked with Enrico Colantoni, who will be starring in Flashpoint beginning in July on CBS and CTV. The man is charming, extremely knowledgeable about his craft, and funny as hell. Somehow we started off chatting about hockey which turned out to be a great ice-breaker (pun intended.)

I'm watching the play-offs right now.

Everyone around here is excited by the Red Wings.

What do you mean? Detroit's won too much. You've already achieved dynasty level. You don't need another Stanley Cup. I read that the playoffs got better Neilsen numbers than the Pistons' game.

You would rather root for the Maple Leafs.

I would, but the Penguins are my default team. They are exciting to watch.

Hockey is so violent though. I guess that's why men like it.

Yeah, we do. Hunt and gather, hunt and gather.

(laughs) Have you played hockey?

I did. I played as a grown-up but not very well. It's a prerequisite to being a Canadian. At the least you would have to have seen a game live.

So tell us about Flashpoint, your new show.

Flashpoint will be appearing here in Canada on the CTV and CBS in America. We are premiering July 11 at 10:00 p.m. It's very cool, very fast, slick cops and robbers, uniforms, and big guns. Exactly what men like, and a lot of women. It's exciting and has a lot of emotion. Essentially it's about heroes and the price that they pay.

I understand that the show was inspired by Toronto's Emergency Task Force.

Yes, the SRU (Strategic Response Unit) is based on the ETF, Canada's version of SWAT.

Are you the head cop?

Yes, I am the sergeant at arms. They all have to listen to me.

(laughs) Do you get to play hockey?

No, that's in season 2, right after we form our boy band. (laughs)

(laughs) You've had previous cop show roles, right?

I played a private investigator on Veronica Mars, but this is the first time I'm actually playing a "straight cop" who busts people.

Are you anything like your character, Gregory Parker?

My brother was a policeman for 30 years, so he rubbed off on me a little bit. And then the fact that this particular police officer is more of a leader, not so much of a tough, grunt guy. He's got emotional intelligence and is an efficient negotiator so he knows how to talk to people. He's a little more sensitive than your stereotypical cop who is just about kicking butt. I think I have more of a sensitive side than I am a brute.

There are so many cop shows already. It would be really nice to have one that actually makes sense.

I think you just mentioned what will make this show so unique because it's got a lot of brawn, but there is a lot of psychology and emotion. My character is a guy who is always talking the bad guy down. We are usually dealing with good people who find themselves in really bad situations. We're not dealing with psychotics or profiling serial killers. Shows that have been done already are about people who lose their place in line for a heart donor, or have to find a place to put their loved ones in homes and can't afford it.

How many episodes have you shot so far?

We are on the fifth one right now and there will be 13 total.

That's great. You must be very excited.

I guess so. I am more excited to be back home in Toronto and actually get to film in its streets. The show takes place there and that makes it all the more special, because Toronto is usually doubled for any other city in the world. This is one of the first times that we are showing it for what it is. It's romantic and a sexy city with a great history. It's a beautiful town.

Since your show is so dramatic, do you have a lot of kidding on the set?

Yeah, we have the best time. Ultimately, we are the same kids as we were playing cops and robbers when we were running around the old neighborhood. Nothing has really changed since we were six years old. And in the presence of all these people, they are making room for you and saying, "You are pretending good!" I say, "Shucks, I used to do this when I was six. Stop! Police!"

(laughs) And you get paid for it.

(laughs) Who'd a thunk? Not me. The work is fun when you get it.

Did you get to hang with the ETF?

We sure did. They were very helpful and generous. We watched them do what they do. But of course, they understand that what we are doing is entertainment. If we made a show about them, it wouldn't move that fast. They move so slowly and efficiently it's really haunting to watch them. It's so precise. There's no margin of error in what they do. But for television, we are running in, breaking doors down, going through windows...

Do you get a love interest?

They talked about it, but things change. You have ideas in the beginning and then you start filming and realize, "This works better." All that stuff is evolving. I'm sure what they are concentrating on now is the unit. They don't yet want to deal with their lives outside of work, at least for the first season.

It takes time to develop a character.

It sure does, what with all the flash, bangs, and repelling, you'd think they would squeeze in a little love interest, too.

You get to repel? Do you do all your own stunts?

If you see somebody falling off a building, I'm very good at that. But for the actual repelling, they have a professional.

I repelled up a house once.

Was it scary?

No, it was more like, "Now that I am up here what do I do?" Going down was scary.

That sounds awesome. The ETF guy says we're going to do some repelling and I am like "I've got people that do that for me." (laughs)

(laughs) Try it on a house.

Yeah, I will start with a house and work up to a building.

So you were Veronica Mars' father?

I was her dad for three years. He was a private investigator. He was the sheriff of their town and if you see the show you know he was ostracized. Essentially, they were living on the other side of the tracks.

You were also on Just Shoot Me. I dug your character (Elliot,) although I am not a big David Spade fan.

You either love him or hate him.

Maybe knowing him is the difference.

He is a beauty. He's nothing like you would expect him to be. He's not smarmy, he's not "that guy," although he has elements of it. He is much more generous.

I mainly watched the show for George Segal.

He's darling. He is the king of darling. George set the precedent for everything on that show because he brought so much joy to work every day. He was our leader.

Tell me about Galaxy Quest.

Have you seen it?

No, sorry. It's sci-fi?

(laughs) You gotta see that, do yourself a favor. It's comedy, a parody. This will make you laugh. That's all I am going to say.

Do you prefer comedy?

I think so, because there are less rules. It's either funny or it's not. You always have a sense. You read something and you think it's funny and can make it work or not. That makes any actor's job easier, if the writing is already funny.

A lot of actors tell me drama is easier.

I guess if you are writing comedy, that's hard. But I never understood why it would be harder to play if something is already funny. I'm not a funny guy.

You're pretty funny.

I am if I have something to work with. But it would be incredibly difficult to do what stand-ups do. That would be creating something from nothing and making it funny. That's the hardest thing in the world.

You've been cracking me up.

I must have it in me somewhere. That's because I am sophisticated. (laughs) That's why you think I am funny. We are both sophisticated.

(laughs) You were also in the film AI.

I was. Did you see that?

(laughs) I did see that.

I was right in the beginning. If you blinked you missed me. I was the guy who set the whole story in motion for the Jude Law character. I like to catapult characters into motion. I was the guy who actually murdered the woman, then blamed it on him and forced him to run. Just as you meet him, he discovers the woman, dead in bed, and I am right there in the room and go over and kiss her goodbye. That leaves him holding the bag.

Shame on you.

It was a crime of passion. A bad man doing a bad thing.

You were also in Brother and Sisters for an episode.

Apparently a lot of people see that show. It was the show when the Ron Rifkin character (Saul) goes to visit a friend and discovers that he is not there, and finds a new man in his living room. The new man invites him in and there is possible sexual tension between the two. That was me. I was the other man.

You played a gay man.

Well, yeah. But his character (Saul) is in the closet.

Not anymore.

When did that happen?

A couple of episodes ago.

And I didn't have anything to do with it?

You probably did. Maybe they will ask you to come back.

I don't think so now.

What else do you have coming up?

The writers' strike slowed things down which is why getting a job in Canada worked out rather well. We will be doing this (Flashpoint) until the end of August and then I will be coming home. While I am up here, I am developing a screenplay that I am going to direct here probably in the fall or early spring.

You write, too!

I write, but I am not a writer. (laughs) It's like I sing, but I am not a singer. I sort of vomit the first two drafts, and I have somebody else come in and make it perfect!

(laughs) Tell me about it.

It a semi-autobiographical labor of love. But It's more of a coming out of grief story of a young man, finding love.

Did you go through grief as a young man?

I think we all go through grief as young people in one form or another. Through all that he finds that love is closer than he thought it was. It's a sweet movie with a lot of funny stuff. But it's definitely not a romantic comedy. It's closer to a coming of age story.

Does it have a title?

I'm working with the title "Love, I Think" because I love the title "Love, Actually." My character has this active imagination that gets him into trouble. So I am thinking that's a good working title for now because he is actually thinking, "Is it love? Well, I don't know."

What's on your playlist?

I have some Citizen Cope. I have some Shins in there. There is always a little REM and Tragically Hip.

What was your favorite role?

Galaxy Quest.  I got to play an alien (Mathesar.) It's all about sci-fi fans and conventions and what happens when real aliens come. You'll love it. I haven't met anybody who hasn't loved it. Don't even wait. Just put it on the head of your Netflix queue.

(laughs) You must do Netfix, too.

(laughs) Everybody does!

This has been great, Enrico.  Don't lose your humbleness or sophistication when you become a big star.

Thank you, my darling. I won't.