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Fox’s ‘Human Target’ returns with plenty of fun, action and two new faces

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Ask ‘Human Target’ star Mark Valley what it’s like two have two new female cast members on his Fox action drama, and he doesn’t miss a beat.

‘It’s like when you have a party and three guys show up,’ Valley told The Times during a phone interview last week. ‘It’s all right if you’re good friends, but then two women show up, it’s like, hey, it’s a party now! That’s what it feels like.’

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Valley was talking about Indira Varma (‘Rome’) and Janet Montgomery (‘Entourage’), who join the cast beginning with Wednesday’s season premiere. We won’t spoil how their characters are introduced or how they permanently become part of the ‘Human Target’ world, but we will tell you that Varma’s Pucci is a sexy, troubled, wealthy widow and Montgomery’s Ames is a sexy, always-in-trouble young woman.

If you were a fan of the show in the first season, what you probably most liked about it -- the chemistry among Valley, Chi McBride and Jackie Earle Haley as they play, respectively, Christopher Chance, Winston and Guerrero -- is intact. But everything becomes bigger and more centered in the second season. There also are flashier toys -- sophisticated computer systems, weapons and even helicopters -- as well as international assignments. Not to mention the estrogen on set.

‘With the addition of the new cast, it’s like throwing gasoline on a fire,’ Valley said. ‘The first season, I really enjoyed because we got to see an awful lot about the back story, who these new characters were and how there’s a pretty solid relationship between Winston and Guerrero and Chance. And now with the addition of the two new characters, we don’t have to rely quite as much on guest stars or writers coming up with some interesting outside story, which I think is cool because, ultimately, we’re dealing now with somewhat of a family environment. I mean, as reluctant as many of the characters are to admit that, that’s kind of what we’re dealing with.’

The show’s new executive producer and show runner, Matt Miller, also seems to be intent on writing stories that connect personally with the characters. The result is, there’s more substance, even though there are still plenty of light flourishes. ‘With more characters,’ Valley said, ‘there are more windows into each other as well.’

Valley, who served in the Gulf War before he became a successful actor, says the show’s action sequences are still his favorite.

‘I really love the fight sequences, to be honest with you,’ he said. ‘I really love learning something new. We had a fight scene a couple of nights ago where Chance fights five guys in tuxedos. It’s in the lobby of an opera, and a fight break outs. And Chance takes on, like, five or six guys. That was pretty fun. But, so far, this year’s milestone was shooting a chandelier over someone, and as the chandelier went down, I grabbed a rope and went up. That was my stunt milestone of the season.’

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Has he ever been injured?

‘No, just a wounded ego from having so many talented women working on the set,’ he said. ‘That’s my biggest injury this year.’

‘Human Target’ premieres at 8 p.m.

-- Maria Elena Fernandez
twitter.com/writerchica

Video: ‘Human Target’ Season 2 preview. Credit: Fox

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