Double Duty

Canadian TV Guide, January 24-30, 1998.

by Andrew Ryan

If he's not in Toronto shooting John Woo's Once a Thief - which returned to Baton-CTV last week after a short break - Nicholas Lea> is in Vancouver playing double-agent Alex Krycek on The X-FIles. "Two shows at once is crazy, but I love it," says the Vancouver-born actor. "That's why I got into the business in the first place. And I've been lucky in that I haven't had another job besides acting in the last five years."

After stints in the Canadian navy and fronting a rock band in Vancouver, Lea, 35, got his first big acting job a regulart on The Commish. "That was where I learned my craft - where to stand, how to do lines, the whole deal," he says. His biggest break came four years back when he tested for X-Files creator Chris Carter. "They auditioned 30 guys in LA, but when they came to Vancouver, I was the only one. I walked out of that audition and cried for joy all the way to my car," he says.

Since then, Lea has learned just how seriously fans take the show. He was mobbed during a U.K. promotional trip last year. And his duplicitous character has a high profile on the dozens of X-Files web sites."I've never seen anything like it," says Lea, laughing. "There's one site where you can buy pictures of me for five bucks a pop. Can you believe it?"



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