Hoover grad and actor Eddie McClintock applied for LAPD, would love 'Warehouse 13' reboot

North Canton native Eddie McClintock's acting career bottomed out about four years ago.

After never stepping on stage during his days at Hoover High School, the former wrestler and football player found success in a popular Syfy channel series "Warehouse 13" from 2009-14, as well as landing a role in the USA Network conspiracy thriller "Shooter" (2016-18). McClintock also had appeared in a slew of television shows, including "Stark Raving Mad," "Bones," "Sex and the City," "Felicity," "MacGyver" and two episodes of "Friends" in 2002.

At 53, the Los Angeles resident was getting auditions but landing few, if any, roles.

"Even when I was doing 'Warehouse 13,' you still worry about the numbers, you worry about if you're going to get canceled, if you're going to get picked up," he said. "So for years, I had those successes and setbacks, and then about four years ago, just everything changed."

Concerned about his acting prospects and making a living, McClintock even applied to be an officer with the Los Angeles Police Department.

"I went down and took the physical fitness qualifier and took the personality test and was in the process of moving through the police academy," McClintock said. "I'm also 22 years clean and sober, and when it came to some of the questions ... they asked if I had ever done drugs, and if so, what did I do and when ... I just said basically from 1981 to 1999, and they may have not been too thrilled with that answer, so that didn't work out, but yeah, I was searching for something to do. I have to support my family."

More:Actor Eddie McClintock dedicates 'Miracle at Manchester' and Canton screening to late dad

A conversation with friend and fellow actor Dean Cain helped resurrect his acting career.

"I called him one day and said, 'Hey, man, I'm hurting, do you know anything, can you introduce me to somebody?'" McClintock recalled.

Known for his lead role on the popular '90s TV show "Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman," Cain told McClintock about faith-based movies he had starred in with producer Jason Campbell of JCFilms. That led to McClintock co-starring with Cain in the film, "Chosen" and then "Miracle at Manchester," which receives its Northeast Ohio premier 7:30 p.m. Saturday at the Canton Palace Theatre.

McClintock also makes his directing debut in "Miracle at Manchester."

McClintock and Campbell both will participate in a question-and-answer session following Saturday's screening.

A second showing of "Miracle at Manchester" will be 2 p.m. Sunday. Tickets, $10 each, can be purchased online at https://cantonpalacetheatre.org/ or at the door.

The Palace Theatre is at 605 Market Ave. N in downtown Canton.

During a recent telephone interview, McClintock chatted at length from his home. The husband and father was revealing about his struggles in acting and the blessing of working on faith and family films.

Urging Canton area residents to come out and watch "Miracle at Manchester," the 55-year-old McClintock also was affable, humorous and sometimes freewheeling.

Campbell, who heads JCFilms, also encouraged Stark County residents to attend Saturday's premier.

"It's Eddie's first film that he directed, and I think people should come out and support him," he said. "Here's a guy that grew up (in North Canton) and made it big, and he made a film and he wants to share it, and I think it would be great to have people come and welcome him."

As for the possibility of a "Warehouse 13" reboot, McClintock said: "I would love a reboot. We're trying to make it happen."

McClintock had made news amongst fans of the show when he announced at Dragon Con 2022 in September that a "Warehouse 13" reboot was being pursued.

"Mark Stern, who was head of programming at Syfy and was responsible for 'Warehouse 13' at the executive level, he and our executive producer (Jack Kenny) were talking, and where Syfy had been doing 'Warehouse 13' marathons, and they thought, let's strike well the iron is hot.

"And the plan was to bring back everyone who wanted to come back," McClintock said of the original cast. "It wasn't going to be a new cast; it was going to be a continuation."

However, McClintock said earlier this week that the network in control of "Warehouse 13" has not reciprocated interest in the idea − at least not yet.

Stern reached out to a contact with NBCUniversal, which owns the Syfy cable channel, McClintock said. But "nobody had gotten back to him."

"Here's what my boss (once) said," McClintock recalled. "They need you when they need you, so they may not return the call today because they don't need you today, but it doesn't mean (a 'Warehouse 13' reboot is) completely dead."

"I guess until then, we'll be endlessly wondering," he said, a playful reference to the TV series.

"I mean, I would get to see an old friend that I hadn't gotten to spend time with in a few years," McClintock said of returning to the role of Secret Service agent Pete Lattimer on "Warehouse 13." "But since he's so close to who I am, he's never been too far away."

Faith and family films

"I was like, what am I going to do? Who is going to hire me to do what? I'm not qualified to do anything. I have a college degree (from Wright State University), but I've always been an actor, so this gave me an opportunity to at least work out as an actor and keep that part of my brain active and to work and do films that have a good message, like a nice moral play where you know at the end you might cry or whatever, but at least you're thinking...

"The budgets are low, it's guerrilla filmmaking at its best. But the people who are there are mostly volunteers, a lot of volunteers, and they're good Midwestern folks, like the kind of people I grew up with in Ohio, and I said, 'I'm in, I'm digging this.'"

"... Doing these films, it's like being of service, it's like giving people hope, and especially in today's world, a lot of people feel hopeless, and ('Miracle at Manchester') gives people hope; it gave me hope, it kept me connected to my dad, and it kept me on Earth and keeps me humble."

McClintock said "Miracle at Manchester" has a universal message accessible to both Christians and non-believers.

"This doesn't thump you over the head with the Bible," he said. "I'm not a fan of that anyhow, so I don't think I'd be a part of that."

McClintock has made seven movies with JCFilms, and he's slated for six more projects this year, including a film being made in Cleveland about homelessness, Campbell said.

"He's just become a big part of who we are and what we're doing as a film company," Campbell said. "He's just so extremely talented.

"And the other thing is he's just so wonderful with people. What I love is he gets on set and he talks to each and every person and people who look up to him. He gives lots of advice to young people who are just starting off in acting."

Cain said he's also impressed with McClintock's acting.

"Eddie's a lot of fun because he's a very natural actor in that he can be saying lines that are part of his character, or he can just be saying them by himself, and he kind of sometimes doesn't even know the difference," Cain said. "That's the sort of natural actor he is. I like to do the same thing."

Life after 'Warehouse 13'

"After five successful seasons being the star of the show, (I thought) it would lead to my own next show," McClintock said. "I mean, that's kind of how it works in this business."

But "then I started auditioning again. I would have casting directors say, 'Eddie McClintock, where have you been?' I was like, well, 'I was starring in my own show for five years'; just the casting directors ... they focus on the networks, so that was a bitter pill to swallow, and I guess the day I walked into be an LAPD office and said this was what I'm going to try to do now, that was the day I was able to choke down that bitter pill."

"... If Warehouse 13 has to be what they put on my tombstone, at the end of the day, I'm OK with that because I'm real proud of the work we did on that show ... and, literally, I had a guy who came up to me and said ... that he was suicidal and he just loved (McClintock's character) ... and I can't explain what that is or how that is, but he said he didn't kill himself (because of the show)."

McClintock reminisces about appearing on 'Friends'

"That's how I got my future wife up to my apartment in the Hollywood Hills," said McClintock, whose wife, Lynn, could be heard in the background at their home disputing the account. McClintock laughed, noting she's heard him recount his version of events many times before.

"I was like, 'Hey, I'm going to be on 'Friends' tonight,' and 'Friends' was her favorite show, and she was like, bam! We were kind of hanging out, and I was like, 'Hey, I'm going to be on two episodes of 'Friends,' so come on up and we had a little party."

"I know it didn't hurt that my girl's favorite show just happened to be 'Friends,' and I was going to be on it...

"They had just signed their million dollar contracts, so they were making a million dollars an episode," he said of the show's stars. "And I was making enough money to fill up my gas tank, so it was a little intimidating, but it was a great amount of fun, and I still get residual checks, so the really good part of it is every time it runs, I still get paid, so that doesn't hurt.

"And it's cool; it's a nice thing to be able to go somewhere, and I'm standing around with my baseball cap and my glasses on, and someone will go, 'Sorry, did you play Cliff on 'Friends?' ... (and) it's nice because we strike up a conversation and stand up and talk and take a picture together, and then they get to walk away and say I met the guy who played Cliff on 'Friends' and he was a nice guy and not a Hollywood (jerk)."

Premiering his new movie in Canton

"I'm proud of my home state. It's where my father (Ted) grew up, it's where his dad grew up, it's where my best friends in the world are. My wrestling brothers from Wright State University are in Ohio, and it's one of those things, it's part of who my dad was, and we always talked about Hoover (High School) sports teams..."

But "I got to tell you, I was not voted most likely to be president of the United States when I was in high school,' McClintock said with laughter. "I remember one of my football coaches kind of discouraged me. He said, 'You know, Eddie, college isn't for everybody,' so I was not valedictorian of my class by any means.

"So I guess there's a little part of me that wants to come back and just let everybody know that I turned out okay and I didn't end up in jail.

"And I'm 22 years clean and sober, so I was able to make some big, drastic changes in my life, and to be able to help people along the way. I've been able to help other young men and women who have struggled with drugs and alcohol. I've been able to help them to maybe find a different way."

What's next for Eddie and acting?

"In Hollywood, I've got nothing. However, through these films that I've been doing, I've made some really good friends that are interested in me taking part in some of the projects that they're doing. I'm just husting. I'm just trying to stay positive."

McClintock said he's currently working on a new JCFilms movie with Cain.

Reach Ed at 330-580-8315 and ebalint@gannett.com

On Twitter @ebalintREP

This article originally appeared on The Repository: Eddie McClintock on 'Warehouse 13' reboot: 'Trying to make it happen'