By Jae-Ha Kim
Chicago Sun-Times
June 9, 1996
The question for “Murder One” fans wasn’t “Who killed Jessica Costello?” but rather, “Will the critically acclaimed drama be renewed for a second season?”
The answer turned out to be yes. After a spotty first season when the only people who seemed to be tuning in were critics, ABC renewed the series, and the two-night season finale in April scored the highest ratings for “Murder One” since its Top 10 debut last fall.
When the show moves to Thursday night this fall, it’ll be without Daniel Benzali (who portrayed poker-faced defense attorney Ted Hoffman), Stanley Tucci (devious, deviant millionaire Richard Cross) and Jason Gedrick (whose Hollywood heartthrob Neil Avedon was accused of killing 15-year-old Costello).
“Murder One” has been an excellent showcase for all the actors. Gedrick parlayed his work on the show into a starring role in the new CBS crime-drama series “EZ Streets,” which will be partially filmed in his hometown of Chicago. And J.C. MacKenzie, whose straight arrow attorney Arnold Spivak was one of Avedon’s defenders, has taken his underdog role and carved a niche as one of the ensemble cast’s more memorable members.
Showcase recently sat down with Gedrick in his hometown and MacKenzie during a break from filming in Los Angeles to get the “Murder One” experience first hand.
The brouhaha is directly related to Gedrick’s plum role on the critically acclaimed ABC series “Murder One.” Gedrick had a pivotal part as spoiled movie star Neil Avedon, who was accused of killing his 15-year-old girlfriend. On the season finale that aired in April, he was proven innocent.
The show was renewed for another season, but Gedrick’s commitment to the series was for one year, and his character will be written out. But the Chicago native will be starring in a new crime drama. He just finished shooting the pilot for CBS’ “EZ Streets” here, and that series will air this fall from 9 to 10 p.m. Wednesdays on WBBM-Channel 2. Gedrick plays Danny Rooney, a man trying to avoid being pulled into a neighborhood gang, who ends up serving time for a crime committed by a charismatic gang member.
“I’m very grateful for the `Murder One’ experience,” Gedrick said, sipping a glass of white wine at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel downtown. “(Producer) Steven Bochco’s the best. The casting directors have been so sweet calling as a result of the show, and it’s been just wonderful.”
Ironically, the producers of “EZ Streets” almost didn’t call Gedrick because of “Murder One.”
” `Murder One’ was on the air when we were casting, and we hadn’t considered (Jason) because we thought he was locked into (that show),” said “EZ Streets” producer-writer Bobby Moresco. “But he had gotten a copy of the script and he approached us, and we were thrilled. To be honest, there wasn’t another actor that we really wanted for the role than Jason. It’s a difficult part that requires strength and sensitivity. Besides being beautiful, Jason is straightforward, honest and down-to-earth, and in our business, that’s hard to find. I like him as much as I like anybody.”
So do his fans. On this evening, Gedrick was dressed inconspicuously enough in a Bulls cap, faded jeans, V-neck T-shirt and a black leather jacket, but heads swiveled in recognition as he obliviously walked through the Ritz lobby.
Looks aside, Gedrick is easy to like. Admittedly “a big goofball,” he challenged a reporter to a game of PIG (the Nerf version of basketball’s HORSE) in his son’s room adjoining his suite, but chivalrously “forgot” the score when it became obvious that he was winning. His local pal, party planner B.J. Murray, said Gedrick’s just as lethal on a full-size basketball court.
Gedrick’s attention strayed only once during this interview, and that was when he heard a small child cry out, “Daddy!”
“I know that’s not him, but just give me a second,” he said, looking around the hotel lobby for his 5-year-old son Jian. “It sounds so much like his register.”
A divorced father of two who splits his time between Los Angeles and New York, Gedrick said the one thing he regrets about his job is that his work often takes him away from Jian and Garrett, 2. So he was especially grateful that “EZ Streets” brought him back to his hometown, where his mother and elder brother and sister could spend some time with the children while he worked.
“I used to sing to Jian when he was in the womb,” Gedrick said of his firstborn. “I wouldn’t sing too loudly, though, because I have a horrible voice. When Jian was born, he didn’t breathe or cry right away, so the doctor and nurse were very nervous. They rubbed his back so hard that the top layer of his skin came off, and they spanked him, but he wouldn’t breathe no matter what. Then I started singing the same song I sang to him when he was in his mother’s womb – `Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star’ – and the kid bawled his eyes out on cue. It was like he was saying, `Dad, stop singing!’ We all started laughing and crying. It was an amazing experience.”
The 4 o’clock feedings caused no hardship for Gedrick, who swore he only needs a few hours rest each night.
“My family doesn’t sleep,” said Gedrick, 31. “We’re all like walking zombies. If I sleep three hours, I’ve slept a thousand days.”
Born in Cook County Hospital, Gedrick spent his early years in northwest suburban Mount Prospect, before moving to the Uptown neighborhood. As a student at Gordon Technical High School (class of 1982), Gedrick was regarded by others as a nice guy who was good in sports.
“When you’re in high school, most people fall into a category – the jocks, burnouts, partiers and brains,” said former classmate John Litz, who owns the Elbo Room nightclub and founded the Green Arrow Entertainment booking agency. “Then there’s the group of people who are cool, but didn’t fall into those particular categories, and that’s where he fit in. Jason was athletic without being a total jock. He was a cool, regular guy.”
The photogenic actor is less effusive about his teen years.
“I was just back at my mom’s house, and my son was looking at some pictures of me when I was younger, and he was laughing because I was such a funny-looking kid,” Gedrick said. “I went through my stages of being awkward. I was into sports, which was the one thing I could use to sort of make my stake among my peers. But I looked really young. I was 16 and looked like I was 12. All my friends in high school were going out with girls in college, and I was lucky if a seventh-grade girl looked at me.”
That’s not how his high school drama coach remembers it.
“Don’t believe him,” said Graziano Marcheschi, who taught Gedrick his freshman year and directed him as a junior in “Arsenic and Old Lace.” “The girls were all crazy for him even back then. When we did `Arsenic and Old Lace,’ we had girls from two neighboring high schools in the play, and I couldn’t keep up with all the romantic intrigue going on backstage. The girls were falling all over him.”
Gedrick’s youthful good looks certainly didn’t hurt him getting extra work while he was a student. After winning bit parts in “Bad Boys” (he got to spit on Sean Penn), “Risky Business” and “Dr. Detroit” (all in 1983), Gedrick graduated to leading man roles while still a teenager. At 21, he was the star of the box-office smash “Iron Eagle” (1986) and was touted as the hot-actor-of-the-moment, a title he didn’t particularly covet. Instead he wanted to concentrate on art films such as the little seen but superb “Promised Land” (1988), which he made with Meg Ryan, Kiefer Sutherland and Tracy Pollan.
“There are actors out there who commit themselves to making themselves stars, and that to me is separate from acting,” Gedrick said. “I respect the people who do it, but that’s not where my emphasis is. Acting is not about a certain look, to me.”
Marcheschi never doubted that Gedrick would become a star, even when the student’s own mother had her doubts.
“(Jason) was kind of a screw-off kid in high school, and I always stuck up for him in the faculty room when the other teachers complained about `that Gedrick kid,’ ” Marcheschi said. “But he was talented, and he took the stuff he did with me seriously. I always saw stardom in his future. When he was getting ready to graduate, his mother called me up and said, `Mr. Marcheschi, I’m really concerned. I’m his mother, and to me he just seems like every other kid. Do you really think he has ability as an actor?’ And I said, `Take my word for it. He could really succeed. He’s really special.’ It was obvious to me. He just had this incredible energy, and he took drama really seriously.”
Nonetheless, Gedrick – who suffered from dyslexia – enrolled as a business major at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, to appease his parents. After his freshman year, he quit to concentrate on acting full time and moved to Hollywood.
These days, he’s fielding scripts from television and film producers, but he has one wish right now: to star in his son Jian’s favorite TV shows.
“If they wanted to write parts for me, I would love to act in (Fox’s) `Goosebumps’ or (Nickelodeon’s) `Are You Afraid of the Dark?’ ” said Gedrick, laughing. “I guess the trendy, in thing with 5-year-olds is these spooky, macabre shows. I’d love to do both of those shows. My son would think I was a hero, and that would be the ultimate for me: to have him proud of me.”
