Spies can be a tough bunch to crack – unless you happen to be friends with them. While his Burn Notice character Jesse Porter is good at handling secrets, actor Coby Bell is also one of my dearest buddies. I say that not to brag, but because it means that I have the privelege of knowing one of the most versatile and hardest-working actors in television.
Former counter-intelligence agent Jesse is only half his story. He also stars as ex-football player Jason Pitts on the hit BET series The Game, even though it sometimes means working on both shows simultaneously – while Burn Notice shoots in Miami and The Game in Atlanta. Plus he’s flying home to California each week to be with his family. With that schedule, you couldn’t blame a guy for cracking, but I’ve never once heard Coby complain. In fact, he was gracious enough to make time to share some inside information with me about both his shows.
Season five of Burn Notice (which resumes tonight at 10 PM ET/PT) is Coby’s second as Jesse, who joined Michael Westen’s team after Michael unwittingly burned him. After making peace with Michael, Jesse has gone into private security work, while still helping out those in need wherever he can. Coby’s benefited from the year of experience. “I had a lot more fun this year,” he told me. “I was a lot more comfortable with the character, therefore it was a lot easier.”
As Jesse has found his place amongst Michael’s group, Coby’s had the chance to become a more significant contributor to the show than he was in season four, even taking the lead a time or two. “There were a few episodes where I was handling Jeffrey [Donovan]‘s workload, and I never expected that or asked for it,” he said. “They just started doing it, and I think the episodes came out really well. We all kind of got in sync, me and my development of the character, and the writers with their development of the character. They gave me some real responsibility.”
And why not? He can handle it. He’s been a leading man on television for more than a decade, starting with his role as Officer Tyrone “Ty” Davis Jr. on NBC’s Third Watch for six seasons from 1999-2005. The year after Third Watch concluded, he landed the part of Jason on The Game, which ran from 2006-2009 on The CW before BET brought it back in January 2011 to a record 7.7 million eyeballs. The Game‘s fifth season is currently in production, so I asked Coby what’s in Jason’s future.
“This year is a trip. It’s really, really cool what they’re doing,” he enthused. “It’s like they’re going into Jason’s racial issues. He used to be married to a white woman, and this season my love interest is [singer-actress] Brandy [Norwood]. Jason hooks up with, her character’s name is Chardonnay. How they meet is, he gets her fired. But the audience learns why he’s always preferred white women. It’s kind of like some deep stuff from his childhood.”
He had plenty of kind words to say about his new co-star. “She’s awesome. She’s hilarious. I’m totally impressed with how she can just come in, because I know what it’s like coming on to an established show. She just jumped right in.”
Brandy’s arrival probably won’t sound like good news to fans who were hoping that Jason would reconcile with ex-wife Kelly, played by Brittany Daniel. Is Jason and Kelly’s relationship dead? Coby doesn’t believe so. “I don’t think we need to put the nail in the coffin,” he said. “[Brittany] wasn’t able to do this season for personal reasons. I miss her a lot.”
He himself is missed by the people behind FX’s Archer. He voiced double agent Conway Stern in the raunchy animated comedy’s second episode, “Diversity Hire,” and creator Adam Reed has said he’d like to have Conway return in the upcoming third season. I asked if Coby would be into a comeback. “I’d love to,” he enthused. “Until then, I’ll just enjoy watching that show, because it’s hilarious.”
Between Burn Notice, The Game and possibly Archer, he’s certainly keeping busy, but Coby doesn’t let that success go to his head. When I asked him if it ever hits him just how in-demand he is, he laughed at the notion.
“It’s all just timing and luck,” he said. “I’ve been really lucky. My very first series regular job was a show called L.A. Doctors and through one of the other actors on that show, I met my wife, so I’m very proud of that. Third Watch – it was great to get on a show that good early in my career and learn from the other actors and the writers, and I have lifelong friends. And then The Game is still happening. It’s unreal how cool of an experience The Game is. Mara and Salim [Akil], they do such a good job of setting the tone. It’s a good vibe coming from the top. And with Burn Notice, too. Matt [Nix] is such a cool boss. The thing about Burn Notice is it gives me a chance to do all different types of acting. There’s action, drama, comedy.”
All right. Maybe I couldn’t inflate his ego, but certainly I could get him to admit his workload is a bit Herculean? Nope. No such luck.
“It’s only felt like a lot when there was that one week where I did both Burn Notice and The Game at the same time,” he told me. “And it was a really heavy episode of Burn Notice, written by Ben Watkins. I was in L.A. on the weekend and then Monday through Wednesday working on Burn Notice, and then Wednesday I flew to Atlanta. And then I went from there to the airport to go back to Miami and work all day in Miami.“
Trying to picture that itinerary made my jaw drop. I couldn’t imagine attempting it, but Coby does, he does it well, and most importantly, he does it with his head screwed on straight. As talented an actor as he is, as impressive as his accomplishments are, he’s an even better person off-screen. He’s always been there for me, even though we’re usually thousands of miles apart. He’d rather ask how my recovery is going and chat about our shared love of music (we both agree that Adam Levine‘s “got an amazing voice”) than start talking about his resume – even though he has every right to brag.
At the end of the day, he’s a simple guy. When I asked what he’d do with his upcoming week off, he told me that he’ll “just hang with my wife and kids. That’s all I really want to do.” Then he added with a laugh, “I finally caught up on the naps.”
Maybe he can use his innumerable frequent flier miles to take a well-deserved vacation, too.
Clacked by Brittany Frederick 
on Nov 03, 2011 @ 11:00 EST5EDT
