Eric Balfour has the look of a needle. A needle – if it were human, curiously handsome and a promising young actor courting stardom.
At 28, he is rail-thin and rangy, with a lean face and sharp chin.
On NBC’s new courthouse drama “Conviction,” Balfour plays Brian Peluso, one of a team of Manhattan assistant district attorneys. He’s the brash sort of guy who reports to work hungover and disheveled, having left not only his latest conquest in her bed, but his DA badge there too.
But he fights for his clients, his passion fueled by righteousness and six-packs of Red Bull.
As Peluso, Balfour is part of a robust ensemble whose Gotham world of Dick Wolf legal dramas “Conviction” will now cohabit. It premieres Friday at 9 p.m. on KUSA-Channel 9.
“I kinda feel like I’m starting out, really,” says Balfour, an actor obviously psyched by his new project. “I’ve been at this for a while – kind of. But I’ve accomplished so little, thus far.” No false humility – just cheerful restlessness from an actor whose heroes are Gary Oldman, Sean Penn and Johnny Depp.
But the truth is Balfour has appeared in a number of movies, including “Can’t Hardly Wait” (1998), “What Women Want” (2000) and a remake of “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” (2003), as well as recent indie films “Lie With Me” and “Rx,” the latter co-produced by him.
As an actor he displays impressive chops and a gift for adapting to a wide range of characters and even ethnicities. This Los Angeles native calls himself “a mutt,” a mix of French, Russian and American Indian.
His cross-cultural bent is also reflected in his band, Fredalba, a blend of Latin, rap, rock and soul. Music was his first love. While practicing with a band in 1991 when he was 14, he got invited to audition in the studio next door, where tryouts were underway for Disney Channel’s singing-and-dancing “Kids Incorporated.” It became his first acting job.
Balfour has played a counterterror techie on “24,” while, in another recurring role as the rebellious Gabe on the funeral-home drama “Six Feet Under.”
Unfortunately, Balfour fared less well with shows he was part of from the get-go. In 2003, he starred in ABC’s action-mystery series “Veritas: The Quest,” which was canceled after four airings. “Fearless,” a WB drama, never aired.
“It’s heartbreaking when the show doesn’t turn out to be what I imagined when I signed on,” he says.
“Conviction” was designed to be a younger, hipper cousin, not another sibling, of the “Law & Order” trio.
“It’s got the things that you love about ‘Law & Order’ – the great procedural stuff,” Balfour says. “And we’re also going to show you how the cases affect the characters’ personal lives.”
