The Fight’s On for Umeh
With a recurring role on FX’s boxing series LIGHTS OUT and a guest shot this Friday, April 1, on CBS’ hit police drama BLUE BLOODS, ALL MY CHILDREN’s Gavin-Keith Umeh has had a rough-and-tumble transition to prime time.
“Rocco owns a car-customization shop, so he’s putting spoiler kits and black window tint on cars,” says Umeh, who had a recurring role on AMC as an EMT from 2007-’09, in describing his BLUE BLOODS character. “When Danny (Donnie Wahlberg) questions him, Rocco is trying to keep the confidentiality of his clients, so it turns into a rather heated exchange.”
To say the least!
“He throws Rocco up against these pillars inside the garage, and after the sixth or seventh take, [Wahlberg] goes, ‘Are you okay? Is your back bothering you?’ I was like, ‘No, my back’s good.’ He was like, ‘Your back’s got to be bothering you; my back’s bothering me, and I’m the one throwing you up against the wall,'” Umeh relates. The former boxer (and Golden Gloves finalist) is very accustomed to onscreen fights, having played Lights’s cruel boxing rival, Javier, on LIGHTS OUT. “Between LIGHTS OUT and then the Katherine Heigl movie I did last summer (playing Benito in the upcoming film One for the Money), I’ve done enough of these kinds of scenes where I have a sense of the ways that you can take it easy on your body. You can still sell it for the camera, but be conscious of the fact that you’re going to have to do a dozen or more takes.”
The actor is glad BLUE BLOODS’s production team kept him conscious, noting, “They really take every measure to make sure that not only you are safe, but that you also feel safe — so that you do your best work. Because if you’re worried about getting hurt, obviously you can’t deliver your best performance. And I’ve still got to be able to go home at night!”
BLUE BLOODS airs Fridays at 10 p.m. on CBS, and LIGHTS OUT airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
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