Bernsen has it all but he’s unhappy

Marcia Dunn

Monday, Oct. 28, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Like his TV characters -- divorce lawyer Arnie Becker and chief astronaut Bull Eckert -- Corbin Bernsen is discontented.

Say what?

Handsome actor is married to beautiful actress with three adorable children and has leading role in new syndicated TV series about NASA called "The Cape" ... and he's unhappy?

Listen to Bernsen describe Becker and Eckert and you'll hear shades of himself.

Air Force Col. Henry "Bull" Eckert, NASA's director of astronaut training on "The Cape," has everything the sleazy, womanizing Becker wanted but never attained in "L.A. Law" -- hero status, a respected place in community, a family.

But Eckert isn't happy either. His wife has left him because of his obsession with astronaut work, and he constantly has to justify the space program to cynical reporters and politicians.

"It's funny," says Bernsen. "They're kind of flip sides of one another. They're negative and positive, and I mean that more like a photographic negative and positive of one another."

"They both have fame in what they do. They both have a kind of a fortune. And neither one of them is really content. And I think it's something that I get to put into those characters that may be my thing about life."

Even though the insidious Becker made him famous, Bernsen enjoys portraying a more noble character.

"I've been offered 1,000 things to play the same continuation of the Arnie Becker character," he says. Bull Eckert is "a good progression in my life."

To immerse himself in the role, Bernsen has run into as many astronauts as he can ("The Cape" is filmed at the Kennedy Space Center and surrounding communities) and asked them as many questions as he can.

"I think I look like the storybook kind of version of one and, you know, I actually feel like I look like one," says the 42-year-old Bernsen, whose rugged good looks and daredevil attitude fit the astronaut bill.

This particular afternoon, he's looking more Hollywood than Cape Canaveral in a sleek, pale green suit and matching shirt with no tie. Even though he's been sitting for hours under an open, outdoor tent at the space center doing satellite TV interviews, he is not the least bit wilted.

"I feel very comfortable in the astronaut's environment, in the persona," he explains. "I think that comes more, though, from a personal understanding that I have myself created about the space program and space exploration and the need for it."

While Bernsen always has been interested in the space program -- he vividly recalls the 1967 Apollo spacecraft fire, the 1969 moon landing, the 1986 Challenger accident -- he never wanted to be an astronaut.

The son of show-biz parents, Bernsen never intended to be an actor, either. But he switched from pre-law to drama in college and went on to appear in off-Broadway productions, the soap opera "Ryan's Hope" and, in 1986, "L.A. Law." The award-winning drama series ended in 1994. More TV roles followed, then came "The Cape," which premiered in September.

Bernsen's not sure what he wants anymore. He's been married eight years to actress Amanda Pays; they have three sons, a 7-year-old and 4-year-old twins.

"I've done a successful TV series for eight years. I have a beautiful family, a beautiful wife whom I'm in love with, whom I'm faithful to. I have a good job now. I have certain things that are upsetting, they're not with me here while I'm shooting this. But am I content? No."

Why?

"It's the same mystery that makes this show fascinating. Because beyond all of this, beyond the rockets, beyond the thrust, the power in the boosters, the law room, the family, beyond that is something bigger and there's something more," he says. "It's in here, it's out there, it's all around us and I think it's a continual exploration for that."

"You can be the astronaut. You can be the hero. You can have fame, fortune, looks, all those things, but there's a bigger question. There's a bigger answer out there, and that's what I think drives the space program."

What's out there for Bernsen the malcontent?

"I'd like to play a religious guy who thinks he's got the answer," he says, laughing. "He thinks he's got the answer and realizes he doesn't have the answer."

Corbin Bernsen