Michael Chiklis is back on television screens with “No Ordinary Family,” starring as a father of two who, along with his wife and kids, develops superpowers after a freak accident. And after years on the gritty drama “The Shield,” Chiklis is happy to be on a show his kids can watch. “One of the big reasons for taking this job is my poor 11-year-old really doubted that I was even an actor,” he laughs.
But pleasing a wider audience has presented unexpected challenges. “Doing a show that is for a broad audience is the hardest thing I’ve ever attempted, because we live in a time where everything is broken into niche entertainment,” he explains. “With ‘The Shield,’ we were like, ‘If you watch, fine.’ But with this show, here’s the challenge: You go too dark, you lose the family. You go too light, you lose the young men. So then if you don’t go too far in any directions, you just become mediocre.”
Chiklis has particularly enjoyed how much creative license he gets playing a character in a world where superpowers exist. “When you’re playing a superhero, you can be that same 12-year-old kid I was when I used to buy the old Marvel comic books and fantasize.”
One factor that’s taken some getting used to, though, are the types of fans his new show attracts. “God love the fans. They’re the people that keep you in business,” he says. “But when a guy comes up to you wearing a Thing costume and he’s in his 40s, you’ve got to look at that guy and go, ‘Really?’”
