"I'm pining to get back to New York," Robert Leeshock says. "My walk changes when I'm in New York. It's just good for me." It certainly has been. New York is where the actor got his first TV breaks, most notably as a murderous thug in an Emmy-winning storyline on the ABC soap All My Children. Not that the West Coast treated him shabbily: He nailed a recurring role on Beverly Hills, 90210 with his first L.A. audition. Fortune continues to smile on him: Read on and find out how he landed his current starring role.

How did you get Earth: Final Conflict?
It was phenomenal. I didn't know what I wanted to do. I was writing this one-man show - a semi-autobiographical piece - when this came along. That was my focus. I wasn't really concerned with TV. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but when I moved from L.A. back to New York I remember thinking, "I want a job as a leading man on a TV series." I don't think I had ever consciously wanted it before. You have to figure out what the heck it is you really want, and then go out and try and get it. The hardest thing is to figure out what it is you want. It's an interesting question. If you ask it of yourself often enough, eventually you'll figure it out. And that's half the battle.

Why did you want that?
I wanted the responsibility. I knew that the steady work would eventually afford me the financial freedom, down the road, to write. The creative space for me is not necessarily one where you're downtrodden and trying to make ends meet. I've lost that romanticized view of the starving artist. I wanted to be in a situation to reap a lot of the benefits that this business can give you. Then once you have that freedom, what do you do with it? It'll be interesting to see what I do now that I've got this best-case scenario.

So you're back to asking yourself what you want?
(Laughs) It doesn't stop. I have to keep asking myself: What do I want to do now? It's the never-ending question! I've drunk enough coffee and read enough newspapers to last me a lifetime. I'm done with that phase. When you're really engaged in life, you realize that getting what you want can be quite doable.

Kevin Kilner was a popular lead in E:FC's first season. Were you nervous taking over that spot?
Not at all. And it's because of the people up here. I met with [co-executive producers] David Kirshner and Majel Roddenberry, and they're both really just kind, gentle people. And there must be a trickle-down effect, because the whole set is just really friendly.

I think it could also have something to do with the Canadian sensibility [the show is taped in Toronto]. There's not a lot of self-promotion and gloating going on. This show is a team effort, where everybody's input is equally weighed.

Were you prepared for all the action and stunt work you're doing on this show?
(Laughs) No, I was not. I didn't study acting in college, so I never had stage combat or anything like that. The first episode where I was shooting a laser gun and fighting these aliens, I was laughing my butt off: "Look at me, man! I'm an action hero!" It was killing me.

But there are days when I'm getting thrown around the set and I think, "Hey! This hurts! This is a hard job." Three or four 14-hour days getting thrown around... it starts to wear on you. I start thinking really fondly about my one-man show: sitting on my fat ass, just writing away.

I'm not writing much right now. This show is really foremost in my mind. It's hard to split your focus between two creative things. The theater piece will always be there. Maybe I'll break it out over Christmas.

What's the hardest part about this job?
I want to avoid the trap of playing an alien. Kincaid is - well, to put it simply, two-thirds human and one-third alien. And I feel something similar there. I've got so many different cultures in my own background: Polish, Czech, English, Irish, Italian. And my mom recently told me I've got some Russian on my father's side, and some German on her side. I'm still discovering this about myself! So maybe the character's playing me.

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