His ‘Scrubs’ Role Is Just What the Doctor Ordered

The vistas of the Santa Monica Mountains and Pacific Ocean pour into the wall-length windows of John C. McGinley’s Malibu home. Taking in the beauty of this perfect July afternoon, one wonders why he spends time holed up in a dark, sparsely decorated basement.

Yet it is there, in his “rehearsal room,” where the actor pores over scripts to give life to the mercurial Dr. Perry Cox, the character he plays in NBC’s medical comedy “Scrubs,” which has finished its first season and takes up residence after “Friends” in the fall.

“I go downstairs and don’t come up from there until I get that stuff hammered in my skull, until I can do it water skiing or jumping out of a plane,” McGinley says, munching tortilla chips in his dining room. “It’s all about the text, flushing it out, to excavate, to really get in there and see what falls through your fingers.”

Critics have singled out McGinley’s performance in the show, with TV Guide’s Matt Roush calling him a “scene stealer,” a common description that has become his nickname on the set. He was also nominated for outstanding individual achievement in comedy by the Television Critics Assn., putting him alongside series leads Denis Leary (“The Job”), Bernie Mac (“The Bernie Mac Show”) and Ray Romano (“Everybody Loves Raymond”).

“This is a part that really lets him shine,” says “Scrubs” creator-executive producer Bill Lawrence. “This is a guy who plotted his career well in films as being the character guy and the fringe guy, somebody that you remember. I just think it’s John’s turn to be recognized for what is a pretty outstanding career.”

In “Scrubs,” McGinley’s first prime-time series, the actor has taken a different approach by infusing a little heart into Cox’s cynical veins. His blend of swagger and sweetness has pushed him to the forefront of the ensemble cast and drawn comparisons to such comic actors as Alan Alda, Ed Asner and David Hyde Pierce.

It has also prompted speculation about whether he can join their Emmy-nominated ranks as a candidate for best supporting actor--one of the toughest fields in prime time, with past winners including “Frasier’s” Pierce and “Will & Grace’s” Sean Hayes--when nominees are announced Thursday.

“McGinley has the best chance among the freshman contenders,” said Thomas O’Neil, author of “The Emmys.”

McGinley spent much of the 1980s and ‘90s on the sidelines of Hollywood, becoming Oliver Stone’s go-to guy with roles in six of the director’s films, including “Platoon,” “Wall Street” and “Any Given Sunday.” His characters have often been brutish wackos, combining wild physical energy and riveting emotional depth.

Paying his dues as a character actor, McGinley made his feature film debut in Alda’s “Sweet Liberty” and has appeared in more than 50 films.

Actor-director Eriq La Salle, who cast McGinley in his film short “Psalms From the Underground,” in an HBO feature called “Rebound” and in an upcoming independent feature called “Crazy as Hell,” due in September, agrees that McGinley was bound to capture the spotlight once he found a project that showcased his talents.

“As with George Clooney, who had done eight television series before ‘ER,’ it’s the right one at the right time,” says La Salle, McGinley’s New York University Graduate School classmate. “John has been doing good work for a long time. This one just really suits him.”

McGinley regards Cox as “the best role I’ve ever had,” in part because of what he calls “collaboration” with his son Max, who was born four years ago with Down syndrome. (He shares custody with former wife Lauren Lambert.)

“I can do all of this Oliver Stone intensity stuff,” says McGinley, “then Max comes along and wraps love around it, and all of a sudden you have Dr. Cox, who is an amalgamation of those things. It never occurred to me to do that [with a character] before. And I don’t know if I even did it consciously.”

“Max introduced John to the total John,” says La Salle, noting that McGinley’s softer side has existed for years but that the actor may not have given himself permission to express it. “Now Max has come along, and it’s not an option anymore,” La Salle says.

Although “Scrubs” performed reasonably well on Tuesday nights after “Frasier,” going up against the CBS juggernaut “Survivor” in its new slot Thursdays at 8:30 p.m. is a source of concern.

“Everyone knows the difficulties of that time period,” says Stephen McPherson, president of Touchstone Television, which produces the series. “I’m encouraged to go into it as a second-season show that’s got some traction, that’s got an audience. I think we’ll find new viewers there, but we’ll also bring new viewers to that night.”

The next season of “Scrubs” will find Dr. Cox “a continued reluctant mentor to the younger coeds of the ensemble,” says Lawrence, “but we’ll really amp up his self-destructive romantic life to a new, horrifying extent. There will be major, major issues with his ex-wife,” played by Lawrence’s wife, actress Christa Miller.

Whatever the Emmys have in store, McGinley says he’s prepared. “It all seems like a wonderful fuss right now, and that’s terrific, but it doesn’t amount to anything. Not yet.”