Will a mathematician be TV’s new mythic figure? by Michael Elkin jewishexponent.com
Jan. 27, 2oo5 Sure, he plays a mathematical genius on TV, but doing it by the numbers has never added up for actor David Krumholtz, who may just get to play problem-solver for the new TV season’s geometric jigsaw of programs. The acclaimed Krumholtz, co-star of CBS’s new “Numb3rs,” is too intelligent an actor to play it by rote, opting for the quirks and quarks in his character, which explains why he’s such a major part of the equation that makes “Numb3rs” a multiple winner for the network. Square roots are for squares — but not in this show. As Charlie, one of only a handful of mathematical whiz-kids in the country whose nonlinear line on life helps him figure-skate his way through icy patches and problems, Krumholtz creates one of the more intriguing characters this season’s side of an isosceles triangle. Helping his FBI brother (Rob Morrow) crack cases by trusting trigonometry to trigger results, Charlie is at once naive and calculating. Stands to reason that the actor who plays him must know a thing or two about why E=mc2. ----------------------- “I was terrible at math,” says Krumholtz. “I was the kid in class who said, ‘Why do we need to learn algebra? We’ll never need it outside of high school.’ ” Red pencil that reasoning; now it helps him every week, beginning with the show’s official debut in its regular Friday slot, Jan. 28. Improbable series choice? Krumholtz has become an expert on probability. After all, what are the odds that the actor who played his father, when Krumholtz was just Bar Mitzvah age, in the youngster’s Broadway debut would some 14 years later answer to the name of stage dad again? Judd Hirsch, David Krumholtz ... consider the possibilities. “Let’s see,” says Hirsch’s young son from the very Jewish issue-oriented “Conversations With My Father,” taking out his mental abacus, “he’s Jewish, I’m Jewish. I played his son, he played my father. He’s dark, I’m dark. There you go! We’ve just eliminated every blond kid in Hollywood.” Is this the little boy at play on “Numb3rs”? There is a special bond between Krumholtz and Judd Hirsch, papa to the pair of disparate brothers who form a charismatic chain gang, two links of gold and platinum worn by their kvelling father. David Krumholtz, Rob Morrow, Judd Hirsch — is this a Jewish genetically enriched family or what? “Well, I don’t know if they’re Jewish,” says Krumholtz. “Their name is Eppes, clearly not Epstein. And for right now, the only religion that matters to them is the religion of math.” Davening with digits? Nielsen may be the higher authority in TV land, but by nary a second thought, they sound and seem Jewish. It wouldn’t be the first time that has happened with Krumholtz, who can cross “Jewish characters” off his list with a “has been there done that” magic marker in such films as “Slums of Beverly Hills” and “Liberty Heights,” and, on TV, in “The Trouble With Normal” and, most recently, as crafty Jeff Fineman in “The Lyon’s Den.” Insider scoop from the actor whose latest role in “Ray” placed him on society’s edge once more: “I always feel the outsider.” No one can be more outside the rectangular box than Charlie, whose idea of a great date is the year when calculus was made required reading/reasoning for braniacs. And if Krumholtz’s Charlie is more interested in the “random nature of the universe” than its randiness, so be it. Not that math can’t be sexy with its inherent X factor. “Charlie has taught me that there’s a blueprint to this natural world that we live in,” says the actor. “He is going for the greater understanding of God.” Krumholtz himself understands now what his math teachers were hoching him about so many years ago. “If I knew in high school what I know now about the importance of math ... That class was not just a way to kill time during fifth period.” Multiply that by how much he appreciates the numerical nimbleness needed to assay his role. The actor’s certainly no unknown factor when it comes to calculating the success of this show. His hard work — even wrapping his mouth around those polysyllabic tough terms — pays off. “This is the hardest job I’ve ever had as an actor,” he says. And it was no easy job playing the sadsack schizoid who killed off Lucy Knight (Kellie Martin) and stabbed Dr. Carter (Noah Wylie) in episode 128 of “ER.” Krumholtz has made a major moral recovery in character since. The transformation? Bottom line: It works. It especially helps that Krumholtz has the mental agility and intelligence to pull the “Numb3rs” off; his character is smart without being a smart ass: “So many shows out there dumb-down the country. It’s so admirable to be part of a show that wants people to think.” Think so? Tell an audience that a show stars a mathematician as hero, and won’t they equate it with nerd nirvana? “Numb3rs” one aim: “If we can get people to look at the world as a piece of art, then it should work out,” says Krumholtz. “We’re assuming people are willing to learn.” But “Numb3rs” isn’t audience as class project; it’s entertaining and enigmatic TV. And it might even appeal to the type of kid Krumholtz once was. “I was the crazy one of my friends, a living cartoon character,” he recalls. The only difference these days? He’s gone from wild child Wile E. Coyote to a thinking man’s Road Runner. // go back // |