Anthony Edwards is back in his comfort zone, returning to television on ABC’s Zero Hour, after breaking onto the scene with ER.
“I understand how a day on a set is supposed to go and it makes perfect sense,” Edwards said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It’s my playground. A question from my 12-year-old? That’s when it gets tough. Raising kids is hard.”
Even if Edwards thinks parenting is difficult, he might be one of the coolest dads out there. After spending eight years on ER, he bought a plane and took his family on a 310-day trip around the world, including to exotic locations like Africa, India, and Southeast Asia. “I’ve always been able to pay for what I needed and always done what I’ve wanted,” the 50-year-old said. “It got crazy when it was, yeah, we can buy a plane and go around the world, but that wasn’t the goal. That was no more excessive than when I was 20 and I could buy a $150 pair of boots because I wanted them. It feels extravagant in the same way.”
After his early success, Edwards left ER, but noted, “I didn’t really have a plan other than I knew I wasn’t going to jump into a series again and I knew that I was really tired and burnt out.” Since then, he’s worked as a producer with his company, Grand Central Entertainment, on projects like HBO’s Temple Grandin. Now that he’s joining the cast of Zero Hour, Edwards is glad he’s back in the acting game.
“My career has never been based on the fact that I was an action hero or a specific kind of comedian,” he said. “What’s fun about it is it appears a little bit boring, but for me the subtleties of what is going on is what makes it fun.”
Zero Hour premieres on ABC on Thursday, February 14 at 8 p.m.
