Frequent Sitcom Star David Walton Stays Funny

David Walton remembers being nervous going into his chemistry read with Amanda Peet for a role on NBC's "Bent." After playing a string of supporting characters on various short-lived shows, Walton was up for his first leading man part. "People only see you as your last role, so it's hard to break out of that," he said.

Walton wasn't going in cold. Tad Quill, the creator of the show, wanted him for the role. Walton just had to click with Peet, who starred on NBC's "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip" in addition to appearing in several features. The actors dove into the read. "I think I was blacked out for the first minute or so," Walton confessed during a May 8 "Conversations" event at the SAG Foundation Actors Center.

Despite the nerves, Peet and Walton clicked. Walton was cast and the two became the romantic tension at the heart of "Bent," NBC's underrated half-hour comedy. The show features Walton playing a recovering gambling addict who's contracted to renovate the Venice Beach home of Peet's character, ambitious attorney Alex Meyers.

The show has run its course of six episodes and is waiting on a decision next week from NBC as to its future. It has a small following, but was up against ABC's "Modern Family" in the Wednesday 9 p.m. time slot. If the show doesn't get picked up - as many have predicted - Walton has an extensive resume to fall back on.

Walton began his career in theater in New York, where his performance in an Off-Off-Broadway play earned him a meeting with Marcia Shulman, who was then overseeing casting for Fox network. He was asked to sell her knives, and she bought two, he said, with a laugh. Walton signed a holding deal with Fox - something he's since refused to do at NBC - and was subsequently cast as Liam Connor on "Cracking Up."

"I thought I would be king of the world - just so cocky," he said. After the show was canceled, Walton said it took him two years to find work. "Your show goes away and you go back to truly being an unemployed actor again and you have to fight for everything," he said. "I quickly came back to earth."

Since then, Walton's appeared on several canceled series, including NBC's "Perfect Couples" and "Heist," which he said was canceled in the middle of his "Keyser Soze moment." He also appeared in NBC's "Quarter Life," where he met his wife of one year, fellow actor Majandra Delfino.

This time around, "Bent" isn't Walton's only iron in the fire. He's working on a pilot at CBS that he can jump to if "Bent" isn't picked up for a second season. Still, Walton admits that "Oh Fuck, It's You" might not have better odds. "It's a comedy and I have cancer in it, so it's going nowhere," he deadpanned.