EXCLUSIVE: Lucas Till Ditches the Mullet to Make 'MacGyver' All His Own
After playing a supporting mutant, Havok, in the latest trilogy
of X-Men movies, Lucas Till is
stepping into the lead with MacGyver,
CBS’s new dramatic remake of the 1985 action series, making him one of ET's fall TV breakout stars.
It’s been 24 years since the original went off the air, and
Till tells ET he thinks now is the right time for the action hero to make his
return to living rooms. “People are ready,” he says, adding that the time elapsed
between the two series has created enough distance that there isn’t pressure to
be just like the original. Well, outside of his dad, who is a longtime fan --
as long as he sees “some MacGyver stuff,” Till says, his father will be
happy.
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The new series see Angus “Mac” MacGyver (Till) create a
clandestine organization within the U.S. government to save lives -- and yes,
he still has an extraordinary talent for unconventional problem solving and a
vast scientific knowledge. But unlike the Saturday
Night Live spoof MacGruber, starring Will Forte, the CBS remake is no joke.
Audiences will get plenty of the action and adventure of the original with a
dash of modern espionage when it premieres on Friday, Sept. 23 at 9 p.m. ET/PT.
But Richard Dean Anderson’s mullet from the original was the
first thing to go. “It doesn’t look as stupid, honestly,” Till says of his
updated coif.
Instead, Till’s MacGyver is one tough and brawny character,
keeping the actor in great shape thanks to all the running around he has to do.
“That is pretty much my workout,” he says of all the stunts and action on the
show. While he admittedly doesn’t like spending too much time at the gym, he
does occasionally get inspired on set: “Every now and then I do get a chance …
They were building a set that had steel beams and I was just doing pull-ups on
those,” he says.
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