Friday, 04/22/05

It's not all laughs for Anthony Anderson

Who is Anthony Anderson?

Is he the buffoon who co-starred opposite a drug-sniffing mutt in See Spot Run, a money-swiping marsupial in Kangaroo Jack and Frankie Muniz in Agent Cody Banks 2?

Is he the fast-talking fat guy we've seen in urban comedies such as Big Momma's House, Malibu's Most Wanted and his current laugher, King's Ransom, which opens today?

Or is he the star of last season's quickly canceled WB sitcom All About the Andersons, based on his own life as a struggling actor?

While he's not making apologies for any of those projects, Anderson is ready to get serious about his career. ''Things are changing,'' says Anderson, 34.

''I've been training since I was 9 years old to stretch my wings as an actor dramatically, but have never really been afforded the opportunity to show that.''

Until now. Anderson is a series regular on FX's The Shield (at 9 p.m. Tuesdays); he has a role as an aspiring music producer in the John Singleton-produced drama Hustle and Flow (opening July 15); and soon begins work with Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio and Matt Damon, playing a ''good cop'' in Martin Scorsese's The Departed.

''Leo couldn't deliver Mr. Martin Scorsese his Oscar with The Aviator, but I will go on record to say I will do so in The Departed,'' Anderson jokes in his trailer on the set of The Shield. In his first dramatic TV role, Anderson plays a militant community leader/drug dealer, who recently shot to death a 14-year-old girl.

Making the move to serious dramas requires acting chops, which The Shield's Glenn Close believes he has. ''He's a really good actor,'' she says. ''My daughter knows him from all the funny movies, like Me, Myself & Irene. And I think comedy is harder than drama. So if he can do comedy, he should do well in drama.''

Anderson just wrapped a scene in which his character is led by Michael Chiklis into a police station for interrogation. The scenario mirrors an embarrassing scandal Anderson overcame last summer, when he was accused of sexually assaulting a woman in his trailer on the Memphis set of Hustle and Flow. The judge threw the case out of court. ''More oftentimes than not, you're automatically (assumed to be) guilty before innocent,'' Anderson says.

He says he was treated fairly by the police and was supported throughout by his wife of 10 years, Alvina, and their children, Kyra, 9 and Nathan, 5. ''Everyone realized I was the innocent victim of a shakedown,'' Anderson says.

''My wife and I have always trusted each other, and I have to thank her strength.''