John Corbett: Putting the Sizzle in Cicely, Alaska

From TV Guide 12/21/91 (Vol 39 No. 51 Issue #2021)

By Amy Paulsen Nalle

John Corbett works in a town only slightly more populated than Northern Exposure's Cicely. He might as well be on Mars.

Sure, he knows he's the dishiest DJ north of the 49th parallel, but he has yet to experience the full assault of Sex Symbol Syndrome. "Im getting the same vibes I always get," he says.

Maybe so, but that's just on the streets of Roslyn, Wash. (pop. 869). Corbett should try heading from the hinterland to the heartland for an education in the hassles of hunkdom.

"It's really strange," says Corbett. "I've been doing the exact same thing for the last three seasons, playing Chris the exact same way and only in this last season has this sex symbol thing come up, you know?"

He sounds puzzled. "Why is that?" he demands.

Well, remember that episode (to be re-aired Dec. 30) where Chris, Cicely's resident DJ, emits pheromones - the human musk that makes him irresistible to women - and finds himself surrounded by fawning females? Maybe Corbett's own magnetism is chemical.

 

Cover: Northern Exposure's John Corbett and Moose (Rudolph was busy).

John Corbett says parts of dishy DJ Chris are just like him.

"Pheremones," Corbett echoes politely. "Right."

So it's a dumb theory. Still, there is this perception of him as an Alaskan Adonis.

"I'm whatever anybody wants me to be," says the affable actor. A lot of people would like him to be Chris, Exposure's spiritual leader and chief advice-giver.

"That part of Chris is just like me," says Corbett. "I find myself dishing out advice on an hourly basis to people, even if they don't request it."

What Corbett does not share with Chris is the DJ's encyclopedic knowledge of the great philosophers - and his ability to quote them at will. "If I quote from anything," he says. "I quote from the movies. I live my life pretty much through the movies - I'm more like Ed [the show's movie buff, who runs on instict rather than intellect]."

And, like most Cicelyans, Corbett is unabashedly single. "I'm a total bachelor," he says, "and I've been a bachelor now for ... for... forever." He does allow that being a bachelor during the holiday season has it's downside. For one thing, there's no Ms. Right to buy him the present he's been fantasizing about: "a pair of black cowboy boots with red leather flames coming up from the point. Where the heels are I'd like a ballpeen joint, so when I go dancing I can really show 'em some moves."

Swivel heels? Does Corbett cut a rug on a regular basis? "I would if I had boots like that."

And for all the women out there who would like the actor's alter ego to park his cowboy boots by their hearth on Christmas Day. Corbett offers: "There's enough love in Chris for everybody. For all the women in the world. Chris likes sharing the wealth, too. He enjoys passing it around." Corbett lets loose a merry hoot. "Sharing. Isn't that what it's all about?"


Created 4/20/02
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