Chris Noth Talks WGN America’s ‘Gone’ & the ‘Sex and the City’ Finale 15 Years Later
Law & Order alum Chris Noth brandishes a badge once again. On WGN’s missing-persons drama Gone, the veteran actor plays Frank Novak, an FBI agent who runs a rapid-response task force dedicated to rescuing abductees.
His team members include onetime victim turned self-defense instructor Kick Lannigan (Leven Rambin, True Detective) and former Army Intelligence officer John Bishop (Danny Pino, Law & Order: SVU). “They travel all over the country in an incredible plane to solve cases,” Noth reveals. He takes us inside the high-stakes action.
What is Agent Novak up to when the show opens?
Chris Noth: Frank found the Bureau much too slow for the most difficult abduction cases, which is why he formed the task force — it’s based on an actual FBI unit. Because of the nature of abduction, you have a finite amount of time, usually less than 72 hours, to find the person alive. The conceit is that Frank’s the one who found Kick when she was a child. We bring her on because she’s lived in the wolf’s den and knows how a wolf functions.
Is Gone primarily a case-of-the-week procedural?
It’s going to combine weekly abduction cases with serialized storylines. Kick’s abductor, Mel Foster, played by the great Lee Tergesen, is still out there, which we’ll explore.
Law & Order was more about the crimes. Will Gone delve more into the characters’ pasts?
Yes. The group we have, which also features tech wizard James Finley [Andy Mientus] and FBI agent Maya Kennedy [Tracie Thoms], are all in some way damaged, including the divorced Frank. None are unaffected by the physical and psychological [trauma] that abduction brings to the victims.
For six years, you were playboy Mr. Big on Sex and the City, which had its finale 15 years ago. Thoughts?
It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had on a TV show. And I still have all of Mr. Big’s suits! [Laughs] It was a period where I loved what New York City was, before it became Disneyland.
Gone, Series Premiere, Wednesday, February 27, 9/8c, WGN America