Tim Matheson

* The actor plays the vice president on the NBC series “West Wing” and directed “In the Company of Spies,” which premieres Sunday on Showtime.

Meeting Spot: I live in Santa Barbara, but when I’m shooting a show in L.A., the gang--my wife and son, 5, and girls, 11 and 13--will come down Friday night. They go to Universal CityWalk, where there’s an enormous amount to do and I’ll meet them for dinner. We’ll go to Wolfgang Puck’s or Tony Roma’s. My son can scout the Pokemon cards. My oldest daughter’s favorite activity is shopping, and CityWalk has many overpriced T-shirts and sweatshirts. It’s really a great ground zero for us. They don’t know what time I’m going to get off the set, and they can watch one of the 25 movies there.

Run, Tim, Run: I like to run, so I get down to the beach and do a run Saturday morning while everyone is playing on the Santa Monica Pier. We used to live in Marina Peninsula, down by Venice, and that’s a great place to run. It’s a huge beach and it’s private, only because no one can park there. Everybody plays volleyball. We also used to watch people play “futivol”--volleyball without their hands. They play with their chests, heads, legs and feet. It’s the most amazing display of athletic prowess I’ve ever seen.

Relax, Tim, Relax: Saturday afternoon my wife and I get away while the kids visit friends. We’ll go have a relaxing afternoon at Burke Williams or Beverly Hot Springs and chill. Then we might join friends and dine in or go out. Usually I’ll go places--I grew up in L.A.--that I have fond memories of. Or Citrus I like a lot, or Chianti Cucina.

Doing Downtown: Sunday, it’s always fun to try to get downtown. We can hit Chinatown and get dim sum or hit Olvera Street. Then we go to the Children’s Museum, where they have this room where it freezes your shadow when this strobe light goes off. And there’s a Velcro room where you can stick on the wall. It’s really fun for us and the kids. You learn new things about yourself or about your kids.