Two years after Six Feet Under expired, Peter Krause—an Emmy regular as undertaker Nate Fisher—is back on TV in ABC’s Dirty Sexy Money, playing another son reluctantly following in the footsteps of his just-deceased father. Krause (pronounced krau-zuh) says the new show is about “our pursuit of wealth and how it gets in the way of relationships.” We say it’s the next Dynasty.
Was it tough to come back to full-time TV?
You do a movie for three months—it’s like having an affair. But a TV series is like a marriage. You’re committing to a long, arduous project.
You were often naked on Six Feet. Is it a relief to be safely back on network television?
Not necessarily. ABC is the network that showed Dennis Franz’s ass on a regular basis.
Good point. Michael C. Hall played your brother on Six Feet—the gay, timid David Fisher. Now he’s a murderous vigilante on Showtime’s Dexter.
He told me, “It’s a lot more fun to be kicking ass than taking it in the ass.” Though I don’t know if he’d want me to share that.
Sports Night, Six Feet Under, now Dirty Sexy Money—you’re always wearing suits.
It’s a funny thing: I became an actor so I wouldn’t have to wear a suit. On Six Feet, Nate was an undertaker. Those weren’t fancy suits. I have no idea where they came from. I prefer Hugo Boss for this role.
Sports Night died before its time. Could you feel the ax coming?
Michael Eisner was running Disney, and his hands were in everything. Disney was chasing a dollar back then—to the point of fault—when they put Who Wants to Be a Millionaire on five nights a week. Aaron Sorkin knew it was coming.
Any advice for the cast of The Sopranos on moving on?
Keep working. Don’t hang back looking for the next Sopranos.
