Mr. Big Chris Noth’s Filipino–and shark–connection
Chris Noth RUBEN V. NEPALES
LOS ANGELES—Did you know that Mr. Big’s wife is part-Filipino? Chris Noth told me this when he learned I was from the Philippines. The actor said that the father of Tara Lynn Wilson, a Canadian actress whom he married in 2012, is Filipino.
Chris and Tara Lynn have a son, Orion, born in 2008, who enjoyed accompanying the actor when he shot parts of Discovery Channel’s “Shark Week” in the Bahamas. Mr. Big narrated the special, aptly titled “Sharks and the City: New York,” which tackles how great white sharks are making a comeback in NY.
Discovery Channel also tapped Chris as an FBI task force supervisor in the limited TV series, “Manhunt: Unabomber.” Paul Bettany plays the Unabomber, Ted Kaczynski, who was captured after a huge manhunt in 1996. Sam Worthington portrays the FBI profiler tracking Kaczynski.
Chris Noth
Excerpts from our chat:
When you travel, do people still come up to you and call you Mr. Big? I will always find that I’ll be asked for pictures for Mr. Big. Mostly with the ladies (laughs) but I must say that when I was down in Atlanta filming “Manhunt: Unabomber,” I was surprised because the working class all came up to me for “Law & Order.” I haven’t been in “Law & Order” since 1995. I know they still show it. I was in the original, obviously.
But I got so many people in Atlanta. Now that I’m down in Pittsburgh shooting this other thing (“Gone,” a new show), there are all these “Law & Order” fans. It was refreshing. They were like, “Law and Order, Law and Order!” It’s still on television—TV Land or something like that (laughs).
What do the Mr. Big fans usually ask for? Pictures, usually. Maybe a kiss on the cheek.
Do you remember the Ted Kaczynski case? I was doing “Law and Order” when this was happening. One of the interesting things that I remember is that it wasn’t politicized in the way that tragedies today are and what our President (Trump) does with terrorism. It was a scary event that was puzzling to everybody. It made you look at the mail in a completely new way.
But it wasn’t like the way people think today. Terrorism in America is home-grown terrorism, which is what this (Kaczynski case) was. And it still is, I believe. So, it didn’t have that political wash to it—it was just mysterious and strange. No one could figure it out.
Noth’s wife Tara Lyn Wilson
What was it like to swim with the sharks as the narrator of “Shark Week”? I have dove for over 20 years. Sharks offer a wonderful lesson in how to be among them, which is to be very still, you trust yourself and you trust that they aren’t actually concerned with you. And don’t do anything stupid.
You can observe their wonderful movements and be a part of the fray, so to speak. I got brave enough at one point where I was like directing traffic, because there were so many sharks. I was like, OK, stop, go (laughs). They are magnificent creatures.
Of course, I care mightily about the environment. Sharks do keep the equilibrium of our oceans. Millions of sharks are killed each year. I know that it’s horrific when you hear about a person being attacked by a shark. But that is maybe seven a year. You have 50 million sharks being killed a year. That is distressing. They really are beautiful to watch—powerful beasts. As long as you respect the shark, you’ll be OK.
What does your son think of sharks? He likes “Shark Week,” of course (laughs). So he is very happy to have come (with me to the Bahamas to observe sharks). He wants to get certified (as a diver) when he is 10 or 11 and do what I did. But we will see about that.
What are your other interests? I’d like to keep doing sports as soon as I fix my right knee. And now that I live up in the mountains in the Berkshires in Massachusetts, I have gotten into planting trees. Don’t ask me why. I just like doing it. Flowers and trees are the best. A tree never hurt anybody, unless it fell on them.
With the political situation now, the personalities in the news are caricatured. Who would you like to play? Maybe Paul Manafort (Donald Trump’s campaign manager in 2016) (laughs). I might be able to get away with that. I have to listen to his voice. I haven’t heard how his voice sounds. But he seems to be smiling a lot, saying, “Putin’s a wonderful guy” (laughs).
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