Our favorite paranoid but lovable agent Bobby Hobbes has worked for numerous agencies, constantly being booted out of one and shifted over to another. Through all of his agency-hopping though, one thing has remained constant… extreme pride in his work! What a perfect match then that he is portrayed by the incredibly talented Paul Ben-Victor, who deservedly shares that attribute with his alter-ego.

Recently, Paul graciously took time out of his very busy schedule to answer several interview questions for "Disappearing Ink" for which I'd like to express a great big heartfelt thank you!

I tried not to repeat the questions asked in the chats we've had the pleasure to take part in with Paul, so a few of these are a bit off the wall, but Paul happily answered even the odd ones :)

So, without further adieux, let's get to know more about Paul Ben-Victor!

Disappearing Ink: "This is your first gig as a television series star. Has the job differed from the original expectations you had when you accepted the role?"

Paul Ben-Victor: When I first accepted the role I had no expectations, it was just the next job and you just sort of go with the flow. If you like the job and the people and the role, you go with it. So I went to Mexico to shoot the Pilot and had a great time with no expectations that the show would be picked up since I'd done a bunch of pilots before that hadn't been. After that I went to shoot an Indie called 'Very Mean Men', that's due out one of these days.

DI: Any idea when?

PBV: God knows

DI: Who's in that one?

PBV: Matthew Modine, Martin Landau, Charles Durning and Ben Gazara.

DI: So, then what happened?

PBV: You want the blow by blow?

DI: Hell yeah!

PBV: It's a long story

DI: Take your time

PBV: Okay, so I'm shooting 'Very Mean Men' when I get this script for 'The Three Stooges.' I wasn't able to make any of the audition appointments because I'm shooting this movie, ABC kept calling my manager asking when I would be able to come in. Finally I met with the producers and director, as soon as I walk in they asked me if I could go to Australia. I was like 'Yeah! Let's go!' They asked me who my favorite Stooge was and I said, 'I dunno, Curly I guess. Everyone loves Curly'. They then asked me what I thought of reading for the part of Moe, they had this [Stooge] tape they wanted me to watch. I told them to let me take the tape home and I'd come back tomorrow. So I go home and pull out this theatrical wig that I had bought once for $3,000.

DI: Oh my God! That much?

PBV: That's what they cost! Anyway, I never wore the damn thing 'cause it had too much hair, it looked like an Elvis wig. So I put this thing on and combed it forward so that the hair is down to my chin and I just snipped it right across my brow. As I'm snipping it, I look up into the mirror and say (Paul's uncanny Moe voice) "What's the matta wit you?" At that moment I felt something tell me I was gonna get this. I worked on the scenes all night long. So I go in the next day and do the audition and it seemed to go very well. Later that night I get a call and the guy at the other end says (Paul's Curly voice) "Hey Moe!" I was like "Who is this?" and the guy says "It's Curly, and you're Moe!" "Who is this?" I said, and the guy answers "It's Curly. My mother and your mother were both mothers!!!" 'Who the **** is this?" I said, and the guy says "It's Chicki' How ya doin'?" Now, this is Michael Chickliss, a dear friend of mine. I ask him if he's Curly and he says "Yeah, I just spoke with the director and he told me they were making you an offer tomorrow for Moe." Chickliss asked the director if he could call me and tell me the news and the director said by all means. So the next day the wheels were set in motion to head "down under". The next day Sci Fi called to say they were picking up 13 episodes of The Invisible Man and that shooting started in January, but now I'd be in Australia. Big Conflict! After lots of somewhat tense phone calls, I-Man found a way to delay filming until I got back. So basically, you go with what comes next. You go to auditions, you get jobs and you don't get others and you try to make it all work out

DI: You actually received great reviews for your portrayal of Moe Howard, congratulations.

PBV: Thank you.

DI: We know you're famous for ad-libbing. Do you ever start a scene with a non-scripted line in mind or is it all completely spontaneous? Also, do you change your delivery much from take to take?

PBV: I do often have things planned sometimes that I'll insert into a scene, and often times it is spontaneous. When I'm working on the lines, sometimes I'll go off on an improvisation that I feel might work well in the scene. I'll bring that to work the next day and see if there's room for it. I also do one as written so that they have a choice. Half the time I'll do stuff because Vinny dares me to.

DI: If you could change one thing about Hobbes, what would it be?

PBV: When I even get to see the episodes there are little quirks and things that I see that I become hypercritical about. They're usually something that I don't find very flattering about myself so I'll get self-critical. I try not to do that too much because then I make myself crazy"

DI: Darien has the tag line 'Aw Crap'. If you got to choose one, what would Hobbes' tag line be?

PBV: Aw heck .. just kidding, although I've been told that 'Nice!' has been repeated from time to time"

DI: Do you have an acting technique that you stick with from job to job or do you need to adjust according to the actor(s) you're playing off of?

PBV: I do have a process that I go through when I approach a character. I begin with repetition of the lines. I will often run lines for hours and hours for days until the words become so much a part of who I am. I begin to assimilate the character, not through my head but through my body and the character slowly evolves that way. My feelings become his feelings, my actions become his actions. A physical quality begins to emerge, a walk, a speech pattern, a style of dress. He begins to live inside me and he starts taking over, and the more you allow yourself to get lost in the character, the richer the experience becomes. The deeper you allow yourself to go, the further the audience is taken in. When you're watching a performance and it's really captivating it's because the actor is drawing you in to the depths that he has gone. You end up walking away saying "Wow. What a great performance." I think that's what all actors are working towards, what they're trying to accomplish. For me, it's not about finding out information in my head, it's more about allowing myself to enter the world of the guy emotionally. Sometimes you can't go as deep as you'd like to because it takes time and you don't always have that luxury. That can leave you feeling cheated, like you missed something when the camera was rolling. I'll sometimes play scenes in my head days, weeks, even years later. Actually, just the other day I got lost in the opening scene of a play called "Robbers" I did in New York about five years ago. I was still discovering stuff and it was exciting even though I'll probably never get a chance to do it again. So really, whenever you think you're done, there's always more work to do. It's sort of a divine insanity. You're never quite finished. In TV I think you let go much quicker. You have your character, you do the scene and you move on. You just gotta rock and roll.

DI: What was one of the most difficult characters that you had to create?

PBV: I remember I was auditioning for a role as a mentally challenged guy and I had literally turned off my phone and had not seen anyone for two days and nights. The night before the audition for some reason I hiked up my pants really high and it changed my whole walk, but because my pants were too high I had to find the right socks, my whole posture had changed, this odd speech pattern was coming about. These things evolved instinctually, it's just the way I like to work. A lot of actors like to ask a lot of questions and figure out what the character's about in their head. That never works for me, in fact it drives me crazy! So, for me, it's about instincts and allowing the character to come out of me."

DI: Some Hobbes Honeys really like the look of Hobbes in cowboy boots and even hospital slippers. What is your favorite footwear off the set? Also, what are your favorite clothes to hang out in? PBV: Cowboy boots are always a favorite with me. As far as clothes, Levi's 501 jeans and T-shirts or cotton sweaters.

DI: Did you see the full potential in the character Bobby Hobbes right away or has your view of his potential grown throughout the first season? PBV: I really had no idea what it was like to play a character over a long period of time, so I wasn't thinking about potential. I was just doing my thing. So now, after playing Bobby for almost a year, it has been a pleasant surprise that the writers have done such a wonderful job infusing Bobby with such rich character. As I'm sure I've said before, it's been a very rewarding experience thus far.

DI: When you read through a script the first time, do you immediately think of ways you'd like to play each scene or do you just get a feel for the story first and let your portrayal evolve later?

PBV: Definitely the former. I usually start working on the character as soon as I start reading it. I just dive right into my part often before I read the whole script. I can't help it. I'll find out how it fits into the story. After, usually.

DI: What were your favorite television shows as a youngster?

PBV: I've never really watched a lot of television, but the stuff I usually like are reruns of the oldies; The Honeymooners, All in the Family, I Love Lucy, The Little Rascals, Batman and of course, Seinfeld. I've always been a bigger fan of movies and theater. I was fortunate to have been to many Broadway shows as a youngster. Even though my parents didn't have a lot of dough, they made sure we saw certain plays, so I was influenced by theater as a kid. I was so taken by these massive beautiful sets, it just stayed with me. That's why I originally got into set design, which is what I studied in college. That was one of the great things about being brought up in New York City, you had access to wonderful theater

DI: What types of music do you listen to? PBV: I love music, it's part of my life. I studied it for many years as a kid. I love everything from country to classic rock to hip-hop. I love big band, stuff from the 30's and 40's. Don't really care too much for music from the 50's, and the 70's were awesome.

DI: What kind of music do you think Hobbes listens to?

PBV: I don't know, I'll have to ask him next time I see him.

DI: Did you have fun hosting E!'s "Talk Soup" with Vince?

PBV: We were having a great time, we just weren't sure if we were any good. You see, the directors and producers running the show were so lax and nonchalant about the whole thing because they've been doing it for so long. We didn't know if we were doing a good job and the feedback we were getting was like "Yeah. Yeah. You're doing fine, don't worry about it'. So, we thought we were terrible. When the show was done and we left the building, I turned to Vince and said "I need a drink", he turned to me and said "Me too." So we're trying to convince each other that it wasn't that bad. Then later, we called each other during the first commercial break and I was like "Whaddaya think?" and Vince was like "I don't know. I thought we were kinda pretty good. Sorta." I was like "Yeah. I think so. We did okay." Both of us were very surprised that it wasn't bad because we genuinely thought it was gonna suck.

DI: What do you mean? You guys were great!

PBV: You have to understand we're both very critical of ourselves. I said "Call you during the next commercial." So when I called him back I was like "I'm not sure, but I think maybe we did some funny stuff" and Vince agreed. So all-in-all, after all was said and done, we were pleased and pleasantly surprised.

DI: You've appeared alongside some of the most distinguished actors in Hollywood today in over 40 films. Can you share with us one of your more memorable experiences?

PBV: Let's see ... oh okay, here's one, I was doing "The Rookie" with Clint Eastwood and he's like 6'5", 6'6". Tall guy. And I'm not. So we did this scene where he has to strangle me and I had to stand on a box so we could both be in the frame together in a two-shot. So Clint says to me (Paul doing his best Eastwood voice) "Now Paul, do you really want me to strangle you or do you just want me to grab you by the collar?"
I wanted to make sure that the scene would be very real, so I said to him "Go for it." Now, if you watch the film, he's really strangling me and I'm really trying to pry his huge hand off my throat. I was hoarse for a week, but I think the scene turned out pretty good.

DI: Paul, thank you so much for taking time to answer our questions. One last thing, some fans have wondered where you hang out after a hard day's work.

PBV: You mean after a hard day at the Agency? DI: Yeah. How do you unwind after being chewed out by The Official? PBV: There used to be this great place, Norms, which was this funky hole in the wall bar that had karaoke on Friday nights. So the cast and crew would head over there when we wrapped on Friday nights. They closed down. Some of my other favorite hangouts are Japango's .. um .. Long Boards in P.B., that's Pacific Beach if you're a cool local. Which I am now. Let's see, what else do I like ... Moondoggies and a couple of great Sushi bars that I'm addicted to. So there's all kind of great places down here"

Again I'd like to thank Paul immensely for graciously taking his valuable time to answer these questions for us. We very much appreciate the opportunity to get to know the man behind Bobby Hobbes and can't wait to see what he has in store for us in future episodes!