David Arquette's 'Time Bomb'

David Arquette admits the hardest part of starring in CBS's Sunday (3/19) movie, "Time Bomb," was "the fact that my character's family gets held hostage.

David Arquette "Time Bomb'

That was a pretty difficult place to go, emotionally," says the actor, as his and wife Courteney Cox Arquette's 21-month-old daughter, Coco, laughs in the background.
 
Luckily, though, he found he could shake off the stress of the on-camera action "just by coming back home and being able to see her and be with my wife. That was grounding enough for me."
 
His character is a Department of Homeland Security agent in a race against time to thwart an al Queda bombing at a major sports event, and he's also a husband and father. The latter was actually one of the things that attracted David to the project, which also stars Angela Bassett, in the first place.

"I thought he was a new kind of take on that typical guy -- more family-oriented and sensitive in a way. We didn't want the character to be too tough to feel," he says.
 
"There really was no humor to it. It's very realistic," David adds. "It's kind of difficult when you don't have the comedy to fall back on. I'm not sure how crazy I'd be about doing something this dramatic for a long period of time. I like a little more humor. I like to laugh a lot."
 
He's laughing now, as he's soon to make Jon Favreau's ABC/Touchstone half-hour comedy pilot, "In Case of Emergency," with Greg Germann, Jonathan Silverman and Kelly Hu. David's playing "an Enron-type type investor who got into a bit of trouble, is facing jail time and is rather suicidal -- but then he gets a new lease on life."
 
MEANWHILE:

David just finished directing a big-screen horror thriller "The Tripper," which he also wrote, while Courteney's starring in "Dirt," the comedy series they're producing for FX, in which, she's playing a tabloid editor. That's also shooting this month.
 
"It's such a great part for her," David enthuses. "We've had that in development for two years, and then everything kind of hit at the same time. It's been pretty difficult as far as all that juggling, but we're doing it."
 
TV HAT TRICK:

Jeffrey Dean Morgan's been doing triple series duty this season. He appears in flashbacks as Mary Louise Parker's deceased hubby on Showtime's "Weeds." He's the phantom-fighting father on "Supernatural." And he's recurring, including Sunday night's (3/19) episode, on "Grey's Anatomy," playing Denny Duquette, the heart patient infatuated with Katherine Heigl. Morgan can certainly attest to the truth in the concept of good things coming out of bad. The actor was briefly in Los Angeles when told that "Grey's" creator/exec. producer Shonda Rhimes wanted to see him. "I didn't believe that. I thought it was just my agent talking," he says.
 
Nevertheless, he hurried in for a meeting before boarding a plane for Canada to shoot "Supernatural" on a day when "I was sick as a dog. I had the flu. I said, 'I'm so sorry, but I feel lousy.' They said, 'It's working for you. Can you do that all the time?"" And that's how he wound up playing the character he describes as "the man I want to be, other than the little heart thing."
 
When he winds all the work, "I don't know what I'll do. I'll probably sleep for a month," he says. "As an actor, you spend so much time waiting for a moment like this, when it comes, you make the most of it."
 
CELEB SEEN:

We spotted Hilary Duff -- silver high heels and all -- walking into the Coffee Bean in Studio City this weekend with rocker boyfriend Joel Madden. The two looked cozy as they warmed themselves up with hot beverages while gawkers stared on. However, we've yet to figure out if people were staring at the famous mix-matched couple or Duff's shiny shoes. Our best guess is -- the shoes!
 
TENSION TIME:

Howie Mandel is used to keeping things light, but hosting the NBC show "Deal or No Deal," is high-stress time for the comic. "The drama in this game is like no other game has ever had," claims Mandel about how contestants on the show choose one briefcase out of 26 and must either stay with their original choice or make a "deal" to accept a cash offer in exchange for whatever dollar amount is in the case. "Being the host, the one that kind of strings you along, I'm standing within a foot of the contestants. When their adrenaline was rushing, mine was too. When they were distraught, I felt sorry for them. You realize that this could be somebody who's never owned a home in their life, and they have three kids. Just standing there and calculating your risk can be heart-wrenching. Who knows what you will walk away with?"