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Of all the roles in Jerry O’Connell’s nearly 25-year career, none were as predestined as his television series The Defenders. The script fell into the actor’s lap just as he was wrapping up his first year of law school; the location, Las Vegas, was the scene of some wild nights in his bachelor past and the city that changed his future. He met his now-wife, Rebecca Romijn, at a Maxim “Hot 100” party at the Hard Rock Hotel in 2005.
“My wife was on that list, and I went there with a whole group of guys from college,” O’Connell recalls. “My friends and I were all playing blackjack, in the pool and getting drunk, and I saw her in the VIP section. I knew she was newly single and I sort of placed myself right in her eye line.”
Romijn called him over, the two hit it off, and the future mister and missus started dating during the filming of her documentary, Wet Dreams, for which she and a friend choreographed a Bellagio fountain show to Ennio Morricone’s “Ecstasy of Gold.” “I said, ‘I did a lot of sound at NYU [film school], let me know if you need a sound guy,’” O’Connell says of his modus operandi. “My plan worked perfectly.”
While his role as “Defender” Pete Kaczmarek wasn’t so planned, it may have been just as fateful. While Romijn was filming Eastwick, O’Connell was at home with the couple’s newborn twins, Dolly and Charlie, now almost two, and attending LA’s Southwestern Law School at night. “I thought for sure I’ll make three squares for them, I’ll take them to the park, I’ll throw them in the kiddie pool out back, I’ll change a few diapers, we’ll watch the Yankees game, and that’ll be that. But it’s exhausting,” says the actor, 36. “I was feeling a little antsy and I thought, Let me go to school part-time. It was just something I wanted to do, and I’m really glad I did it.”
But he quickly discovered law school professors to be the harshest critics, particularly in moot court. After one session, “The judge told me, ‘Listen, Jerry… you were overacting. You cannot ad-lib in a courtroom. You can only state factual information,’” says O’Connell. “The fact that I didn’t win this case because I was overacting, it really annoyed me. Literally right after that, I read The Defenders pilot.” Television kismet, as it were.
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The Defenders proved to be the perfect marrying ground as O’Connell and his costar, Jim Belushi, often resort to very anti-Sam Waterston Law & Order behavior to win a case. “It touched me in such a personal place,” O’Connell says, describing the rough-and-tumble downtown Vegas criminal defense attorneys he and Belushi portray on the CBS drama. “These guys are sort of antiheroes. They’re not going in to do what’s just and fair. They’re more about, How is this going to help me? How is this going to help my client? I think it’s a way more realistic take on the legal system. Just knowing the other students, lawyers are really crazy, selfish people. Try borrowing notes from one of your fellow students who you’re competing with; it’s never going to happen.” Working on a project that had CSI executive producer Carol Mendelsohn attached only sweetened the deal.
O’Connell spent several days this past summer following around his character’s real-life inspiration; however, the most challenging aspect of the role proved to be working in a city known for its many, ahem, distractions. “Working in Vegas is like a whole other animal because you get here and all you want is a cocktail and a blackjack table and maybe a trip to the spa,” he says. “The downtime for the casinos is 1 am to 1 pm, so I had to go to work at 1 in the morning. Every two hours I had to go to the gift shop and buy one of those pep-up herbal stimulants.”
Back in his bachelor days, O’Connell had a very different take on the city—particularly during one Hangover-esque trip when the best man lost the party’s room-and-board money on the roller coaster at Whiskey Pete’s. “I maxed out my ATM card; I had to use an old ATM card that my mom gave me in high school for emergencies. And my mom is a public school, special ed teacher in Jersey City—by no means do I come from money,” he says. “And, by the way, a lot of that money, I was gambling with it and using some of it in live entertainment establishments.”
O’Connell still enjoys all the excitement Vegas has to offer, only now with Romijn by his side. “The reason my wife loves Vegas so much, and this is a little frightening for me—Christian Louboutin,” says the actor. “We hit up Planet Hollywood, and there’s an H&M and an Urban Outfitters, and I’m hoping that’s all she’s going to do because I can handle all that on my credit card. Then we went to [The Shoppes at The Palazzo] and my card maxed out. Do you know how embarrassing that is? Defenders better go, because if we keep shooting in Vegas I’m going to be poor.”
O’Connell and Romijn also took in the local entertainment. “Saw Peepshow, really fun show—I saw it with Rebecca, so don’t get any dirty ideas. I play by the rules, but Holly Madison, very beautiful,” O’Connell jokes about seeing the show’s leading lady at Koi. “Of course, sitting there with my wife, I was like, She’s all right, but in my head I’m like, Damn, that girl looks good, because it’s not often you see people like Holly Madison and they look better in person.”
The city plays as much a role in The Defenders as the two leads, and some of Vegas’ famous denizens will be making cameos in the series. The pilot featured Frank Sinatra Jr.; O’Connell is voting for an appearance by Carrot Top. “Shooting on the Strip is so much fun,” he says. “It’s a thousand degrees, you get to wear sunglasses in every scene. I’m channeling [former CSI lead Gil] Grissom, I’m so excited. You also feel like the Rat Pack. It’s just amazing. And you can’t help but think, you’re working with the same woman [CSI’s Mendelsohn]. Oh my gosh, please, Lord, let there be a Defenders exhibit one day. Maybe they’ll open it up next to the Star Trek ride.”
