Although there's an obvious risk to his handsome features, actor Ron Eldard isn't ready to give up his boxing career yet.
"If it wasn't for this show, I'd probably be fighting this year," said Eldard, who co-stars in ABC's "Arresting Behavior." (See accompanying story.)And he attributes his interest in the sport to the time he spent growing up in Utah.
"I lived in Utah as a kid, so, you know, sports and church - that's what you do in Utah," Eldard said with a laugh.
Eldard's childhood was rather unsettled.
"I used to live a year in Utah - in Roy and Ogden - and a year in New York up until I was about 13 years old," he said, because of a "family situation. I was living with relatives."
"It was very strange, going back and forth every year that way. I'm glad now, in a way. There are values I got in Utah that I wouldn't have gotten in New York.
"I still have family (in Utah). Most of my family is there - two brothers and aunts and uncles and cousins," he said.
(As a matter of fact, one of his brothers, Ray, was an intern at the Deseret News a few summers ago.)
Eldard spent his teen years in New York City, attending the High School of the Performing Arts, in addition to boxing. He was the light-heavyweight runner-up at the New York State Golden Gloves competition in 1988.
And, having split his time between Utah and New York, he's cognizant of the cultural differences between the two.
"The first film I did ("True Love") won the big award at Sundance," he recalls. Eldard didn't make it here for the Film Festival, "But I remember calling my aunts and my brothers and saying, `Look, there's premarital sex in there. There's bad language in there.' "
Along the way, Eldard has starred both on and off-Broadway, had a featured role in the forgettable movie "Drop Dead Fred" and spent nine months on the soap opera "One Life to Live" as Blade, a tough-guy who reformed.
"I did that because I needed the money," he said. "It was just supposed to be four episodes and they kept me for nine months. They would have kept me longer but I never signed a contract with them."
And he's also turned his attentions to activities like skydiving, bungee jumping, karate, juggling and unicycle riding. "I just like to try everything" he said.
At the moment, Eldard is having a great time on "Arresting Behavior."
"It's very fun. They allow a lot of freedom, a lot of improvisation," he said. "That's why I like it."
And although his character, Officer Donny Walsh, is extremely attractive to women, he's not just a dumb blond.
"He could have been just another Woody Harrelson. But he's not just a dumb guy," Eldard said. "He's not really dumb at all. He's just sort of naive sometimes."