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So, once again he's left looking for love – looking, as it turns out, in all the wrong places…
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"You sometimes hear what I'm thinking," explains Michael who – like Gil – is enjoying the more sedate pace of life in the UK while filming Love Soup, compared to his hometown of LA.
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"Like my character will say to himself, 'Why'd you come to this dinner tonight? You never should have come'.
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"And I'm talking and you come back to see not me, but Alice at a real crap dinner, and then you cut to me and I'm at my crap dinner.
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"Or she'll be musing, 'I wonder if there's anybody in the world who would think like me,' and then you see me reacting the same way. So hopefully people will think, 'Wouldn't they be great together?'
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"David links us very well; it's very clever the way he puts it all together. David actually writes situations that are so bizarre or awkward or whatever, that if you just let yourself be involved in the situation they are truly funny. They are slices of life that we all identify with."
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Michael professes himself to be a big fan of this dry, 'British' humour. "I loved The Office," he says of Ricky Gervais's hit comedy, while admitting that he doesn't always get what we're on about… "Little Britain I don't really understand!" he laughs.
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But Britain itself meets with great approval from 33-year-old Michael, who came over last year to star in the West End musical When Harry Met Sally after a chance meeting in LA.
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"I did a pilot that David Schwimmer directed and the play's director came and watched the show. When my pilot didn't get picked up I got a call on the Saturday – 'Do you want to get on a plane on Tuesday and go and do When Harry Met Sally in the West End?'"
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Michael – a huge fan of theatre – didn't have to think twice. "The Holy Grail I think for many actors is to do a play either on Broadway or in the West End – so as much as I was scared and excited all at once, I came and had the best time of my life," he smiles.
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While in England, he was asked to appear in a Miss Marple TV special and then got a call from the Â鶹ԼÅÄ.
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"On my last day here I met David Renwick on my way to the airport!" he laughs. Luckily he had a return ticket and also another big draw to tempt him to return...
"The confectionery! I love all the biscuits and the food," he grins, proving his point by tucking into yet another piece of shortbread.
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Not that it's had any noticeable effect on his waistline – he looks trim and fit as he leans back in his chair, a twinkle reminiscent of George Clooney in his soft brown eyes as he eyes up the biscuits.
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"I like London for a lot of reasons. It's like a cleaner, quieter New York. I like the history behind it, I like the fact that we're in Europe, I like the people – they are mostly very civilised.
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"I left my sunglasses in a coffee shop and when we went back they were still there. My wife said, 'It's England, of course they're going to be there!'
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"I don't love the weather though – I don't like that in February you have to turn your lights on at 3.30pm…"
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Not that cold weather is anything new to Michael, hailing as he originally does from the Bronx, New York – though these days he's based in the more temperate climes of Los Angeles where he's been working solidly since his late teens.
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His credits include the TV shows The Wonder Years, Thirtysomething, The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air and Special Unit 2; and films Final Destination 2, Hart's War and the forthcoming Venetian Heat with Derek Jacobi and Paul Nicholls.
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Like his character, Gil, he's a talented and successful part of the entertainment industry. But while Gil's still unhappily single, Michael has been much more successful.
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"I've found my true love," he smiles. "We met on an independent movie in Boston [he's married to actor Wendy Benson]. It's not a very creative way to meet but I think people in regular jobs meet at work as well.
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"And now we have a little baby! She's 18 months old and she's been in England for ten months of her life already. My wife has family and friends here because her dad is a British citizen and she went to drama school here. We've been staying in central London so it's great to be able to go to the parks with the baby."
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Happily married Michael should be in a perfect position to offer some advice to Gil...
"I can definitely identify with his rollercoaster ride of romances or potential dates," he says fervently.
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"We've all gone through this kind of journey, where the girl's perfect except that she's got a weird past or whatever it is this time. So you might not have it right away… Maybe we try too hard or we look for things that don't exist…?
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"But if I was Gil I wouldn't try too hard; you have to be open. I don't know what the secret is but I think when it comes together it really does and it just happens. When I met my wife I just knew; I had been in a bunch of relationships and she had been in a bunch of relationships and everything just came together so effortlessly – that was the thing.
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"It didn't require thought or worry, everything kind of clicked… I know it might sound corny!
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"But any other time I was ever in a relationship I felt it was always, yeah but why am I worried about that or why am I arguing about this? And this time it just felt so easy and perfect.
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"And then I thought, 'Well, if marriage is for a lifetime you might have challenges later in life but what a great starting point'. All the other relationships I was in I didn't want to be in so the answer was right there waiting for me."
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As it would definitely be, you feel, for Gil and Alice – if only they could meet…
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