Entertainment

You Should Take Josh Duhamel More Seriously

by Rachel Simon

Let's be honest: when you think of Josh Duhamel, the first thing that comes to mind is not his acting. Despite having over a dozen movies and a handful of TV shows under his belt, Duhamel is much better known for his superstar wife and how he looks while shirtless than his career. Yet that's all about to change, thanks to the announcement that Duhamel will star in Battle Creek , a highly anticipated CBS drama that's bound to make Josh Duhamel, the actor, finally come before Josh Duhamel, Fergie's husband.

Battle Creek, a detective drama from the power team of Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan and House's David Shore, will star Duhamel as an FBI agent tasked with cleaning up the streets of Battle Creek, Michigan. Duhamel’s character is described as "sincere, humble, even naive," an agent who moves from Detroit to Battle Creek to set up a satellite FBI office. Dean Winters, Kal Penn, and Janet McTeer are all set to co-star.

With a cast and crew that good, expectations for Battle Creek are already sky-high. So it's understandable that some people might be skeptical about Duhamel's casting, considering that his recent resume hasn't exactly screamed "primetime TV star." Yet here are three examples of why Duhamel might just be great:

1. Las Vegas

Despite low ratings, NBC's casino-set dramedy lasted five seasons, thanks in large part to the critical acclaim received by its stars, including Duhamel and James Caan. Reviewers praised the duo's "easy, light-comic rapport," which, even as the series itself went downhill as the years went on, was "often the highlight of many scenes." Sure, Las Vegas was never must-see TV, but for five years, Duhamel and co. provided consistent entertainment and quality work.

2. Transformers

By which we mean the first movie only, because every one that came after is too horrible to even acknowledge. In the original Transformers, though, Duhamel was a key player in the ensemble cast, helping to lead the action film to 700+ million success. As William Lennox, a U.S. Army Special Forces Captain, Duhamel battled autobots and led his subordinates to survival, and he looked pretty good while doing it.

3. Win a Date With Tad Hamilton

Although the film itself was not too memorable, Duhamel made a considerable impression as Tad Hamilton, a hard-partying actor tasked with cleaning up his image in order to get cast in a coveted film role. "Mr. Duhamel... resembles a taller, younger, more handsome Tom Cruise with a dash of Charlie Sheen's roguishness," said the New York Times, and back in 2004, that was about as good a compliment as an actor could get.

Image: NBC; DreamWorks