“Homefront Role Easy for Chandler to Play”
by John Kiesewetter, Cincinnati Enquirer, Mar. 29, 1993
Acting in the post-World War II drama Homefront comes easy for Kyle Chandler.
Chandler, who plays injured Cleveland Indians outfielder Jeff Metcalf, spent his childhood acting out John Wayne’s war films on his family’s 21-acre Georgia farm.
“Where we lived, we didn’t get cable or anything. We got three channels, and (Ted Turner’s) station on UHF. He played movies over and over,” Chandler recalls.
“I pretty much grew up out in my pasture and in the woods, living out those characters. If it was a war, I’d be running through the creek. The Sands of Iwo Jima. Everything that John Wayne ever did.”
Another child molded by TV.
“There were no kids who lived nearby, so I think that had a great deal of influence.”
Like those old John Wayne movies, Homefront finds itself in a life-or-death battle. Renewal for the series, endorsed by the Viewers for Quality Television, depends on spring ratings at 10 p.m. Tuesdays opposite a CBS movie and Dateline NBC.
Last week Homefront scored a major victory, finishing second ahead of NBC’s troubled news magazine. Homefront earned an 11 rating and 19% audience share – compared to a 13% share at 9 p.m. Thursdays last fall and a 16% share for its first two Tuesday broadcasts.
Homefront has developed a core of viewers who appreciate its strong cast, surprising plot twists (a newspaper writer’s murder is the latest), humor and history.
Creators Lynn Marie Latham and Bernard Lechowick, former Knots Landing producers, this spring are exploring the birth of suburbia and advent of television in suburban Cleveland in 1948. (If ABC renews Homefront, the series will include Cleveland’s 1948 World Series victory in the fall.)
Next month Al Kahn (John Slattery) is accused of being a Communist sympathizer, and Italian war widow Gina Sloan (Giuliana Santini) has flashbacks about her Auschwitz concentration camp stay.
Chandler, his baseball career in doubt due to a knee injury, continues his verbal sparring with former girlfriend Ginger (Tammy Lauren). The season ends with their wedding - not bad for a romance that wasn’t projected to last more than three episodes last spring.
“Lynn and Bernie write by the seat of their pants pretty much. When they see things that are working pretty well on the screen, that’s the avenue they go,” Chandler says.
Chandler, 27, arrived on the Homefront set with previous war experience. He was drafted by TV’s two Vietnam War shows, as a recurring character on CBS’ Tour of Duty and a guest shot on ABC’s China Beach.
He also had extensive college theater experience and a love for the game of baseball.
The Buffalo native grew up an Atlanta Braves fan, suffering through a pennant drought in the 1970s and ’80s not unlike that of Cleveland fans. Two consecutive National League championships have eased the pain, however.
“The Braves are my team. I’ve stuck around for a long time, and now that they’re on top, they’ve got to be my team, don’t they?”
Atlanta has appeared in two consecutive World Series. Chandler hopes he’s playing in a Homefront World Series in October, too.