The Human Target TV show isn’t exactly like the DC comic (Human Target Comic Book) but it’s still the only place on TV to see a guy parachute out of a train or flip a plane upside down. Mark Valley plays Christopher Chance, the hired bodyguard who makes himself the Human Target. The show airs on Fox and we went undercover for an exclusive interview with Mark Valley. 

Crave Online: What’s your take on the nonchalant action hero? 

Mark Valley: I think what’s interesting is he’s nonchalant about certain things. I think what’s going to be interesting with this guy as we go on is deciding on what things that he is nonchalant about and what things that he really does care about. For some reason, he really thinks that no one deserves to die, which is one thing that is pretty specific with him. We’re going to find out. He’s not really concerned about his own safety and his own life. I don't know if it’s because he’s taken so many chances in the past or there’s some sort of guilt. 

Crave Online: Is it self-referential because he knows he’s the hero? 

Mark Valley: It’s funny you mention that because I was trying not to kind of go into that too much wink wink at the camera. We’ll see where the show goes and how it works out but I was thinking that. I was watching a lot of action shows. Why is it that this person just sort of has this kind of smarmy grin about things? Why is because they know that they’re not going to die. The actor is having fun with it because he knows he’s the star of the show and he’s read the whole script and he’s not going to die. It sort of frees the actor to have fun but kind of grounding that in reality with the person becomes a little more complicated. Then again, I was in the army. I know some guys who were doing much more dangerous things than I was doing and they just have this kind of macabre sense of humor that not only is sort of endemic to those groups but is sort of necessary. 

Crave Online: Sort of like the Hurt Locker guys. 

Mark Valley: Yeah, I’ve heard the movie’s fantastic but it’s true. It’s more of a survival mechanism than it is some defiance of life or safety or anything. 

Crave Online: Personally, I want somebody that confident in charge of danger. 

Mark Valley: You do, wouldn’t you? Maybe that’s why people keep hiring him. 

Crave Online: So how do you capture that without playing the wink wink? 

Mark Valley: Yeah, it’s a fine line. I’ve got to kind of remember the scene before and the scene after, what to take seriously and what not. 

Crave Online: Have you guys already established a group dynamic in only a few episodes? 

Mark Valley: We really are. A lot of us just sort of came into the show with a genuine love for the script and the idea. We all sort of bonded on that. We don’t make drama. We like to make good TV. So let’s just get together and work. That’s what happened. There is. There’s a bond. 

Crave Online: Are there some missions where Guerrero is more directly involved with you and Chi McBride? 

Mark Valley: Yeah, yeah. I’ve actually spent most of the time with Chi than Guerrero. I think Guerrero is involved more in Chance’s past. They worked on cases together because that’s another running joke that they talk about. “Remember that time in New Orleans? No, the job you did in Cleveland?” “Which one, the one on the roof?” “No, the one with the dog sleds.” So we’ll find out a little bit more about that but right now it’s sort of Chi and I running the company. Guerrero’s kind of like a contractor. 

Crave Online: After Fringe, did they want to keep you in the Fox family? 

Mark Valley: I think there was. I definitely think there was. I really like Kevin Reilly’s taste and I trust him. It’s always a pleasure working for him. So yeah, yeah. There wasn’t any specific agreement but Fox is a good fit for me. 

Crave Online: Do you shoot near them in Canada? 

Mark Valley: It shoots in Vancouver. Yeah, they shoot in Vancouver.  

Crave Online: What cool stunts will you get to do? 

Mark Valley: The only thing I know is the producer asked me once if I knew how to ride a horse. 

Crave Online: Do you? 

Mark Valley: Yes, yes. Not particularly fast. 

Crave Online: That’s the old actor’s lie. 

Mark Valley: It really is but I did do a job, I lied about it once before and made that mistake and had to learn how the hard way. 

Crave Online: How much of the parachute out the tunnel stunt was you? 

Mark Valley: It’s me except for the dragging on the gravel. I wasn’t being dragged across anything. I sort of got up from it. It was me jumping off and everything and flying through the air. When I’m getting dragged, it was somebody else and even so, I think he was on top of the girl too. It looked like she got the worst of it but they were all padded up anyways.

Crave Online: Was the parachute on a green screen?

Mark Valley: Yes, yes, we got pulled into a green screen.