David Krumholtz Does the Math in New Crime Drama By April P. Bernard Time Out New York Magazine
Jan. 27, 2oo5 Robert Deniro packed on 60 pounds to play boxer Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull. Daniel Day Lewis spent five months carrying a flint rifle to ready himself for The Last of the Mohicans. David Krumholtz, however, took a less rigorous approach to prepping for his role as a crime-fighting mathematician as the new CBS series Numb3rs. He wandered around Cal Tech for a couple of days, spying on real life mathematicians and scooping up course materials. The easygoing 26-year old may not have pushed himself, but he proved a good sport when an interview turned into a pop quiz. ------------------ What is the Pythagorean theorem? “I believe it is a2 + b2 = c2? That’s the answer, right?” Right! What is this formula used to calculate? “Oh, dammit. Man, you’re really pushing it now. All right, here we go. Doesn’t that apply to the circumference, the radius of a circle?” Neither. It measures a circle’s area. “You have to give me that one,” Krumholtz protests, “because we haven’t touched that one yet. We’ve only done four episodes.” So the actor’s a little shaky on the fundamentals. Luckily, everything does add up on Numb3rs, a new drama in which crime solving relies more on pi than on CSI. Rob Morrow plays impassioned, upright FBI agent Don Eppes, who finds that his math genius younger brother, Charlie (Krumholtz) has a beautiful mind when it comes to cracking cases. (Judd Hirsch costars as the Eppes patriarch.) Of course, network television needs another procedural crime drama like it needs more Who’s Your Daddy?, but Numb3rs – along with NBC’s psychic drama Medium, a surprise hit – may represent a fresh take. “I hope it’s the next step,” Krumholtz says. “A lot of other procedurals don’t really get into who the people solving the crimes are. We try to come at these stories from an emotional arc.” Arc, schmarc. In Numb3rs, character development is accompanied by graphic shots of corpses (made ones, naturally). And just as the CSI’s crime from none-too-subtle Jerry Bruckheimer, the executive producers on Numb3rs happens to be big kahuna filmmaking brothers Ridley Scott (Gladiator) and Tony Scott (Top Gun). So it makes sense that Charlie is a 90-pound geek. Even though Krumholtz’s “action” scenes consist of scrawling on a blackboard (the formulas are real, but the hand wielding the chalk isn’t always his), Krumholtz likens the brainiac to a superhero. “He certainly is the guy that saves the day, who’s coping with the idea of the responsibility that he has.” So what would Charlie’s superhero moniker be? “Binomial!” Krumholtz answers with a laugh. But, he adds, “it only works if you say it real bossy and cool, like Barry White.” Actually, female viewers just might swear they hear the Love Unlimited Orchestra playing when they get a look at Krumholtz these days. The not-so-hardbody who sang a number from Guys & Dolls while sporting tighty-whities in 1996’s Slums of Beverly Hills is leaner, his hair shaggy cool – and aren’t those designer jeans Charlie has on? Don’t condemn the native New Yorker for going L.A. “I believe mathematicians burn calories pretty quick. That kind of thought takes a lot of energy” Krumholtz says “and so I wanted to be skinny. I’ve been doing my push-ups like a madman and eating broccoli. My knees are an old man’s knees now, from hiking.” As for the rest, the credit goes to hair, makeup and wardrobe. “Half the reason I look maybe a little … good?” he asks, rather than declares, “is because of them.” Let’s hope the fans still recognize him. Although he’s a familiar screen presence thanks to The Santa Clause movies, a memorable Freaks and Geeks episode, and recent roles in Ray and Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle, Krumholtz is still not widely known by name. But he is affable enough to answer strangers who ask the dreaded question “What have you been in?” “Sometimes, I’ll start reciting my resume,” he says, “and get 15 minutes in before they know what I’m talking about – or I get to the end and they’re thinking of someone else the whole time.” This current role may present a problem too. Is anyone going to recognize him as “the guy from Numb3rs” when they can’t pronounce Numb3rs? “I know, it’s crazy,” he says before adding in mock terror: “We’re shooting ourselves in the foot!” The whole show’s going down!” Is there a solution? “I’m proposing the sigma.” Hmmmm, Numb3rs. We like it. // go back // |