411mania Interviews: Mark Christopher Lawrence
Posted by Jeffrey Harris on 05.13.2010
Big Mike of TV's Chuck speaks with 411mania.com for an exclusive interview.
The NBC series Chuck has been letting it fly in it's third season and continuing to be absolutely awesome. And Big Mike, the general manager of the show's Buy More store where the title character and hero works, was in attendance at this year's Anaheim Comic Con at the Anaheim Convention Center. Big Mike's Mark Christopher Lawrence has been a recurring presence in film and TV for the better part of over 25 years having appeared in Terminator 2, K-PAX, The Pursuit of Happyness, and Halloween II (2009). Big Mike has remains oblivious to Chuck's secret spy life this season, but the hilarity he brings to the show is as strong as ever. During the convention, Lawrence we caught up with Lawrence for an exclusive interview:
Jeffrey Harris: How are you doing today?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: I'm doing great, how are you?
Jeffrey Harris: Still breathing, thank you for asking. Do you like to go to these conventions a lot to meet and greet with the fans?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: This is actually my first one where I'm actually in a booth on the floor. It's fun. It's nice to see people and talk to them about your work. It's good.
Jeffrey Harris: How excited were you to come back to play Big Mike for Chuck's third season? Was there any question at all because some characters were written out?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: There was no question. I knew I was coming back.
Jeffrey Harris: It's been a lot of fun seeing you interact more with Casey (Adam Baldwin). How did you like that storyline?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: It was nice because he's so intense that he made it really funny.
Jeffrey Harris: For the remainder of this season what can we expect for Big Mike?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: You know, more of the same inside the Buy More, doing his thing, having fun, and eating sandwiches. Subway, eat fresh.
Jeffrey Harris: Do you have a favorite sandwich now having worked on the show?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: My personal favorite is just – I'm a simple guy with simple needs, tuna, mayo, mustard, pickles.
Jeffrey Harris: Does working on the show give you like a free Subway sandwich card anytime you got a craving for a Subway sandwich?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: No, but it should *Laughs* . . . That'd be good. There's one about 3 blocks from my house.
Jeffrey Harris: Over the series, the Big Mike and Morgan relationship has gotten to where Big Mike sort of sees Morgan as a son and Morgan at times looks to Big Mike as a father figure for advice. How do you like the way the relationship between Mike and Morgan has grown over the course of the series?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: I really like it. He's one of the actors that I really enjoy working. I think that character dynamic is very interesting and very rewarding. As an actor you want to work with someone that's giving and Josh [Gomez, who plays Morgan Grimes] is that way. It makes our stuff really funny together.
Jeffrey Harris: Lately a lot more supporting characters have found out about Chuck's secret life as a spy. Do you think Big Mike might be aware of it already?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: Big Mike doesn't know. Generally in situations like that, I mean the formula of Hollywood, if the black guy finds something out that shouldn't be known, he's dead. So I'm hoping Big Mike doesn't find out *laughs*.
Jeffrey Harris: Any word on a 4th season? Do you think a 4th season will happen?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: There's no word on it. I think there's definitely an opportunity. We all enjoy doing the show. The show's fans enjoy the show. The numbers indicate that it's a matter of what the network wants to do, and I can't really second-guess the network.
Jeffrey Harris: If the show does come back and your character is still alive, do you want to come back?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: Oh absolutely.
Jeffrey Harris: Do you have a favorite scene you've played yet?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: I think my favorite scene was from season 1, the last episode of season 1 where the Buy More is totally looted, the fish is missing, and I think Big Mike's line, "Here's my fish!" was one of my favorites.
Jeffrey Harris: How did you get into acting?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: I studied theatre at USC in college and I did one play in high school and one play in summer stock after high school and sort of got bitten by the bug and decided to go for it.
Jeffrey Harris: Is there anything else you're working on right now you can tell us about?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: Right now I'm writing with some writing partners, we're writing a feature film, and we're right in the middle of that process . . . So we're just working on a project right now. We have a couple that are completed scripts that are ready to go. So we're just trying to position ourselves to when we get one done, we get the door open to get those other scripts through, and just start doing stuff that we want to do.
Jeffrey Harris: How do you like writing?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: I love writing. As a stand-up comic, I write everyday.
Jeffrey Harris: What advice do you have for aspiring performers?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: Be prepared. Be prepared as you can be. That's the thing that helps you.
Jeffrey Harris: Who is your favorite babe on Chuck?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: Hmm, of the series regulars, I'd have to say Yvonne [Strahovski as Sarah] and Sarah [Lancaster as Ellie]. And of all the guest stars so far, Katrina Law.
Jeffrey Harris: Anything you'd like to say to the fans and loyal viewers of Chuck out there?
Mark Christopher Lawrence: I just want to say to the fans and loyal viewers, thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for really helping push us over the top to get us back this season and I look forward to entertaining you for the years to come.
Jeffrey Harris: Thank you so much for your time.
Mark Christopher Lawrence: Thank you sir.
The final episodes of this season of Chuck are broadcast on NBC on Monday. Thank you to Mark Christopher Lawrence for speaking with us at the comic convention.
Also for Comic Convention fans in the Southern California, Pasadena, or Los Angeles area, I recommend you check out the Rock 'N Comic Con on Memorial Day weekend. The event will be opened by a special ribbon cutting ceremony by the legendary Stan Lee plus a lot of other great exhibits for whatever particular fandom you enjoy be it comics, animation, movies, horror, science fiction, and fantasy. The convention goes down at the Pasadena Convention Center from March 28 to March 30.
