Bravo to James Spader; We Want More of Him!

Bravo to James Spader for winning the Emmy last night for best lead performance by an actor in a dramatic series. He's sensational as lawyer Alan Shore in David E. Kelley's brilliantly original and quirky Boston Legal. As Shore, Spader exhibits a fierce intellect, dry humor, and some of the authority and mystery of the sadistic boss he played in the movie Secretary, all while being an advocate for progressive views.

Hollywood success is dicey, because along with wealth, it often brings a lack of privacy. Spader is known for preferring to fly under the radar to hold onto his privacy, and who can blame him? But nor can I blame the media for asking him personal questions, like these that E!'s Guiliana Rancic asked him live on the air, following last night's Emmy's:

"Who are you here with?"

"My girlfriend."

"What's her name?"

"Leslie."

"How long have you been together?"

Spader either really couldn't remember (which I doubted) or he pretended not to remember in order to skip the question. He hemmed and hawed. Rancic moved on to another question.

"What do you like best about your girlfriend?"

Spader refused to answer, saying it was personal.

It will be interesting to see how Spader's newest Emmy (his third) will affect his career. It ought to get him a nice raise. But according to press accounts, he's also been hoping Boston Legal will add lots of new actors so he can have more time off. With this latest win, will David E. Kelley really let him have less show time? We viewers want to see more of him, not less!