You can call Christian Kane's character on TNT's new series "Leverage" the heavy or the bruiser.
Just don't call him "the muscle."
"I hate that term," Kane said in a phone interview earlier this week from Oklahoma. "I can't stand it. I am on a 14-story billboard in Times Square right now and next door is an 11-story-high poster of Jenna Jameson. It's like a porno name. 'The best of Jenna Jameson and the Muscle.' "
Kane's character, Eliot Spencer, is the strong arm in a group of criminals who have taken on the task of conning con men and the corrupt to benefit those who can't fight for themselves.
The band of grifters is led by Academy Award-winning actor Timothy Hutton as Nate Ford. Ford, a former insurance investigator, quits his job after his sick son is denied help from Ford's own company and dies as a result.
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John Rogers, one of the screenwriters behind "Transformers," and Dean Devlin, a co-producer of films such as "Independence Day," "Godzilla" and "The Patriot," serve as executive producers for "Leverage."
Kane, 34, has appeared in a number of television shows and in movies such as "Secondhand Lions" and "Friday Night Lights." He might be best known for his role as Lindsey McDonald, one of the shifty lawyers on the Joss Whedon vampire series, "Angel."
Kane said filming for the 13-episode season has already wrapped.
Are you a fan of the con genre?
"I love it. I love 'The Sting,' 'Ocean's 11 and 12.' It is so much fun. The best thing about a good con is when you don't see it coming, when you think you have it figured out and things go in a complete different direction. That is what we've got with the writers on this show.
"It is like a Tasmanian Devil is moving through the writers room. They literally sit there and hammer this stuff out. It is tough to come out with two to three cons an episode, yet it is very smartly written."
You are the heavy in this series. Did you have to train for the role?
"I grew up in Oklahoma. I wrestled. To me, that is the core of any fighting role. A lot of fighters these days are using karate or kung fu. I'm a wrestler. I'm going to take the leg. If you want to hand it to me, that is your choice.
"That said, what they have us doing on camera is a choreographed dance. I am more of a dancer than I am a fighter."
How is Dean Devlin to work with?
"You think of a Hollywood producer and you automatically think of a (jerk). But he is not like that. He is the best guy in the world. He is the first guy to give you a hug. He is the first guy to listen to what you want to do. He encourages ad-libbing. He has taken us under his wing and I can't say enough about him. He is also famous for blowing stuff up. If you are going to be the action guy, you couldn't have a better person signing your check.
How is the cast to work with?
"Tim is a dream to work with. He won an Academy Award. If you aren't doing the right things, he'll take that little gold man out of his back pocket and hit you with it.
"It is crazy how close we've gotten. We've got a softball team we play on on the weekends. We play another television show. Tim is the first baseman. (Actor) Aldis (Hodge) is the second baseman. I'm the shortstop. We have been very fortunate to be such a close-knit group."
