On Sept. 25, John Larroquette joins David E. Kelley's Emmy-nominated Boston Legal as partner Carl Sack. The former Night Court star has appeared on over two dozen TV series (including The John Larroquette Show, which ended in 1996). So what tips has this pro, 59, picked up over his years in the biz?
1. Embrace your strengths.
''I was from New Orleans, so I had to play clarinet,'' he says. ''At about
18, I realized that I could talk better than I can blow. So I took the
clarinet out and started acting.'' One of his earliest gigs was as the
narrator of 1974's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
2. Getting typecast isn't all bad.
Larroquette estimates he's played between 15 and 20 lawyers over the
course of his career (including stints on Dallas and The West Wing). ''You get to wear better clothes than the other people,'' he says. And at
6'5'', Larroquette says he wears a suit ''fairly well.''
3. Ensemble dramas leave you with time on your hands.
Though Boston Legal costar James Spader has told him to try to
appreciate those precious days off, Larroquette can't stand to sit still
for very long. ''I've never been very good at not working. My wife has
always told me, 'Please, go get a job.'''
4. Never put your name in a show's title.
''I begged Don Reo, who created [NBC's] The John Larroquette Show, not to name it that because I didn't want to see No. 56 in the ratings with my
name next to it the day that the show didn't do well.''
5. Trust David E. Kelley.
''The last time he wrote a character for me, I won an Emmy,'' Larroquette
says, referring to a 1998 guest turn on The Practice (the actor has a
total of five statuettes). ''I figure that's not a bad batting average.''
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