TORONTO — Larry Hagman says slipping back into the character of J.R. Ewing for the upcoming Dallas TV reboot was “just like an old shoe.”
“It’s comfortable and it’s nice to be working at 80,” the actor said in a telephone interview from Santa Monica, Calif.
Hagman is reprising his role as the evil Texas oil baron alongside Patrick Duffy as his brother Bobby, and Linda Gray — who played his long-suffering wife Sue Ellen on the hit night-time soap, which ran from 1978 to 1991.
“It’s part of your personality,” he said of settling back into the iconic role. “It’s hard to lose that after 13 years.”
The TNT series is scheduled to air next year and focuses on a new generation of Ewings.
Hagman, who will appear at Fan Expo Canada in Toronto later this month, thinks J.R. Ewing struck a chord with TV viewers because he’s a familiar type.
“Somebody always has a character like that — either a father, a brother and uncle or something — in their family,” he said. “So everybody can identify with it.”
Hagman wouldn’t say much about the storyline of the new show, but revealed that J.R. has fallen on hard times and that Sue Ellen is now running the family company.
The preview clip on TNT’s website features the familiar Texas scenes and dramatic theme song that opened each episode.
Hagman said returning to the set of Southfork ranch to shoot the pilot was like “coming home.”
“It was wonderful,” said the actor. “It hadn’t changed a bit.”
With the simmering rivalry between the altruistic Bobby and his nefarious brother, Dallas became must-see viewing on Friday nights.
The show offered up one of the most delectable cliffhangers in TV history in 1980 when J.R. was shot in his office.
Viewers spent the summer in a tizzy trying to figure out who fired at the tycoon and Hagman says even the Queen Mother tried to pry the culprit out of him.
“She said, ‘I don’t suppose you could tell me who shot you, J.R.?’ said Hagman, slipping into a British accent. ”And I said: ’No ma’am, not even for you.’”
The new Dallas stars Josh Henderson of Desperate Housewives as Sue Ellen and J.R.’s son, John Ross, and Jesse Metcalfe of Desperate Housewives as Bobby and Pam Ewing’s son Christopher.
Hagman, who also starred in TV’s I Dream of Jeannie, said the TNT show is keeping him busy as he copes with his wife’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The actor says he recently moved her into an assisted living facility and visits her each day.
He’ll appear at Fan Expo alongside Jeannie castmate Barbara Eden.
Lee Majors, best known as TV’s Six Million Dollar Man, is also scheduled to be at the event, as is Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Dollhouse star Eliza Dushku and Battlestar Galactica alumna Katee Sackhoff.
Others attendees will include “Star Trek” icon William Shatner; Tom Felton, known for his role as Draco Malfoy in the “Harry Potter” films; Anthony Daniels, who played C3P0 in the “Star Wars” films; Kevin Sorbo (“Hercules” and “Andromeda”) and Marina Sirtis, who played Deanna Troi on “Star Trek: The Next Generation.”
Fan Expo Canada runs Aug. 25 to 28 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.