Simon Baker at the CBS, CW & Showtime All-Star Party held at Boulevard 3 in Hollywood, Calif. on July 18, 2008.

The 39-year-old Aussie father of three recently spoke to MediaBlvd Magazine about this new CBS television drama.

MediaBlvd Magazine> What attracted you to this character?

Simon Baker> The deliciously attractive part about this role was the humor and the irreverence of the character. Having to swing between being reactive and active constantly is a challenge.

MediaBlvd> This character can smile a little more and be a little lighter than the character that you played on The Guardian for three seasons. Is that something you were looking for?

Simon> I was in my serious actor period on The Guardian, which I consider my mid-to-late adolescence. I was into the indulgent, dramatic period. I was focused on trying to connect with people to make a character that was relatable, so that people could relate to the pain. Obviously, I want all characters to be somewhat relatable and have a vulnerability, but what I love about playing this character is that I’m able to invest more of a childlike quality to him and have a bit more fun with it because it is the world of magic, and smoke and mirrors. The mentalism is playful. Psychologically, this will be better for me, over an extended period of time, given the amount of hours that we do have to do. It’s fun to have fun when you’re shooting. I love being on a set. I love working. And, I love it when it can be fun.

MediaBlvd> Viewers get hints of Patrick’s past, but just how damaged is your character?

Simon> I think it’s a personal tragedy, and it will be reflected in the show. It’s something that’s personal to him that we can  share with the audience, but I think it starts to defeat itself if he brings too much of that into his everyday life. He’s a heroic character because he refuses to let his tragedy control him.

MediaBlvd> What impressed you most about the methods real mentalists use?

Simon> With the guys that are good at it, it’s incredibly seamless. I’m narcissistic enough to avoid being interested in psychics. If I go to a flea market and I see someone doing Tarot reading, I’ll be indulgent and go over and give 10 bucks, and say, “Tell me about me.” It’s just pure narcissism, on my part. But, once I started looking at mentalism, I realized that these guys that are very good at it have a seamless nature with what they do. When a psychic is being a psychic, they have the latitude to be broad and over-the-top. Darren Brown is fantastic. He’s an English guy that’s just remarkable, and he’s also a skeptic, at the same time. He debunks most of the things that he does within his segments. He does it so easily. He doesn’t do it in a way where you feel like you are being put upon.

MediaBlvd> Could you do a cold reading?

Simon> I think anyone has the capability to be able to do it, if they study hard enough.

MediaBlvd> Is doing the role enough studying for you?

Simon> I’ve got a great scriptwriter. In the second episode after the pilot, there’s a section where I hypnotize a girl that was very well-written. The script arrived and a think book on hypnotism arrived with it, so I looked at a lot of that. But, what I love about it is that a lot of it is good, old-fashioned guesswork. There’s a lot of stuff that doesn’t work, where it’s an attempt to create a façade, disorient people, reframe things, or point them in the wrong direction. Sometimes it works, sometimes it barely works and sometimes it just doesn’t work at all.

MediaBlvd> There are a few people in Vegas doing this right now, including one guy who calls himself “The Mentalist.” Would you ever want to go see any of them?

Simon> This is an ancient performing art. Guys have been doing it, forever and ever. I’m intrigued by it, but I don’t know that I’ll be spending my downtime going to Vegas to watch mentalism when I’m playing a mentalist all day, every day, for potentially the next seven years.

MediaBlvd> Have you ever been to a psychic that was spot-on?

Simon> If they’re any good, they always feel like they are spot-on. It’s what people refer to in the game as the “Barnum statement,” which is based on P.T. Barnum. It’s a statement that’s very general, but when it’s directed at an individual, it feels incredibly personal, to the point where it can actually move you. If you want to believe something, you will believe it. That’s the nature of it. What’s interesting about the creative freedom that we have with this show and with the character is that, if you can suggest something to someone, they will accept it.

MediaBlvd> What is it about you and roguish characters? Is that something you’re drawn to?

Simon> I just want to do stuff that’s entertaining and fun to do. I was a fan of procedural shows when I was a kid because they were more about people. These days, they’re more about science, so they’re a bit too clinical for me. What I liked about this particular character and show is that it almost sets itself up as a procedural show, in a very subtle way, but it’s an anti-procedural character that has to exist in a crime-fighting, procedural world. There’s a good conflict there and a lot of room for interaction between the other characters, particularly Robin Tunney’s character.

MediaBlvd> Is there much action in the show?

Simon> There is a little running and jumping.

MediaBlvd> Is that something you train for?

Simon> I like to keep in shape, just so I feel good.

MediaBlvd> What does your work-out consist of?

Simon> I do a little exercising. I do a little bit of everything.

MediaBlvd> What it is to play this character five years ago, in flashbacks, when he was a fake psychic?

Simon> That’s a lot of fun because you’re playing an actor and you get to actually comment on the shallowness of acting. You’re commenting on yourself, so it’s self-deprecating, in a sense.  I love that the character is a fraud, and is aware of his fraudulent nature.

MediaBlvd> Did you study TV psychics at all?

 Simon> There’s a lot of stuff that you can look at on YouTube. There are psychics all over the place. I had my whole family around me, going, “Oh, my God, how did he do that?” There are also people on YouTube, posting other clips where they explain how these tricks are working

through NLP, which is neurolinguistic programming. I didn’t ask anything. We had a consultant from the Magic Castle, who was more of a sleight-of-hand guy, but he had a few different hypnotizing tricks. And, I had a bunch of literature that became holiday reading. It was very heady stuff. I do consider myself reasonably observant. It’s indulgent of me to say that, but I will.  What these guys get into, the skills that they have, and their capacity to remember things and move forward is too much for me. I’m totally, 100% pretending to be a mentalist.

MediaBlvd> If viewers pay close enough attention, will they have enough information to jump ahead of your character and figure out the ending?

Simon> With a lot of crime shows that are on television these days, the truth is found under a microscope with some scientific fact. On this show, we’re trying to focus on finding the truth in the fabric of human nature. So, the potential for entertainment is greater, in the sense that, if you know who already committed the crime, then you get to watch how the guy puts it together. That’s the upside-down detective genre story.

MediaBlvd> Did you grow up a surfer dude in Australia, idealizing what California would be like? How was it different than your image of what you thought it would be?

Simon> I had two television stations where I grew up. One was a commercial station, and one was the ABC. It’s a little different there now, but I grew up watching Quincy and Columbo. I saw the TV version of California, with the mountains, the ocean and Venice. Where I’m from, the beach and the surfing is very different. It’s prettier and cleaner. But, it has been a fantastic experience, being here.  I get to work at something I love to do.

MediaBlvd> Were you actively looking for a part where you could play an American? 

Simon> No, I don’t actively look for parts where I have to play an American, because it’s more work. But, I wanted to come and work here, and that’s par for the course. I moved back to Australia for a year, and I missed a lot of my friends that I had here. So, now I’m back, and I’m completely comfortable being here.