Taye Diggs Talks To AOL On "Private Practice"

[JamesG]

Taye Diggs gives new meaning to the word multi-tasker.

The song and dance man and Private Practice star is juggling a gaggle of ladies and jumping back into surgeries on TV, while at home, he and wife Idina Menzel have their hands full with three-month-old son Walker Nathaniel Diggs.

To top it all off, he can also be seen hanging with his real-life BFF Jay Harrington on the second season premiere of Better Off Ted.



AOL TV caught up with the talented Mr. Diggs to get the scoop on the big Private Practice two-hour event (Thurs., Dec. 3, 9PM ET on ABC), what kind of trouble his TV daughter has been getting into and the women who love Dr. Sam Bennett.

He also weighed in on the whole Sam-Addison kiss (he wants more!) and if there's a future for Sam and Naomi (he hopes there isn't).

Read it all right here ...



What's happening with this big 2-hour episode? In the preview, we see Dell's house explode with his daughter and wife inside ...

It's been a crazy, crazy season. Houses blowing up, people are getting their faces all burned. Crazy!


And what's going on with Sam in this episode?

We have some family drama. It seems as if our daughter could possibly be sexually active. We get to see how Naomi and I deal with each other, how we deal with [Maya] and how we deal with the situation.


We saw glimpses of that drama last season when one of Maya's friends got pregnant.

Right, right ... now it's a little bit more personal.


Well we haven't seen her that much this season ...

[Laughs] Yes, exactly. I guess we have some really good help.


Or not, considering what she's been up to!

Exactly! That's more to the point. Laughs




What would you like to see happen for Sam in the rest of the season?

I love the path that they've started to take us on. I think that it would be interesting to kind of ride this out as long as possible, and then maybe give a little bit more tension to the Addison-Naomi relationship.

Whether or not anything more happens, I don't know, but it would be great if people started to assume and make presumptions, just to kind of get that ball rolling. I think that could be fun -- good drama for TV.


Well you make a sexy couple with whoever they pair you with, but Sam and Addison really got people talking!

It's a little different, yeah. We don't get to see that too often on TV.




Do you think Sam and Naomi could ever get back together and live happily ever after?

For me personally, as an actor, I feel like we've really run the gamut -- I'm fed up with it! [Laughs] I think that, for a while at least, the characters should kind of get to know themselves individually, and have a little bit more fun dating. That's what I'd like, but who knows what the writers have planned.

The two characters will always love each other -- I mean, they have a family together -- but they've been through so much, I really think it'd be a little bit more fun to delve into new relationships.




So you don't think the kiss between Sam and Addison is the end of their curiosity?

Not the complete end. You know, when something like that happens, a seed is planted.

So I think the writers did a great job of planting that seed, and if they ever want to go down that path again, you know, it's there.




Do you think you'd be friends with Sam in real life?

I would be friends with Sam! It sounds silly, but I like nice people. [Laughs] He has a solid moral standing and he does nice things for people who he feels strongly about. I think he's a pretty cool guy.




Shonda Rhimes loves her crossover episodes -- the past two crossovers, you've had quite an interesting flirtation with Dr. Bailey. Think that could ever go anywhere?

I have no idea -- I know it'll be difficult, because she's all the way in Seattle, and I don't know the next time she'll be over in L.A.

I just know that I had a great time -- Chandra [Wilson] is a great actress, and whenever we work together, sparks fly. So I'm looking forward to doing it again.




And she doesn't give Sam any asthma attacks, which is a good thing ...

Yeah, this season I think he's kind of taking a little more control over his life. I think they're butching him up a little bit. [Laughs]

I'm getting to do more heart surgeries ... and I know how to ride a bike. [Laughs] I get to put on the hero hat every once in a while.




Sam coming back to surgery has been a big deal -- will we see more operating room action soon?

I would assume that at some point, we're gonna figure out why I left heart surgery in the first place. I'm not sure, but I would assume that we're gonna have to prove that I'm up to the challenge.




I love Better Off Ted and am thrilled you're in the season premiere episode! You and Jay Harrington look like you're genuinely having fun.

Well you know we're best friends from college ... best friends. I mean, I'm a huge fan of the show, but that's one of the main reasons I decided to do the show.

Obviously, he did some work on Private Practice, so I was happy to come do some work on his show.

http://insidetv.aol.com/2009/12/03/t...etter-off-ted/