Greg In Hollywood catches up with Eric Mabius!

Eric Mabius greeted me with a warm hug and we had a nice chat standing by the pool of the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

It was the final day of the TV Critics Assn. Summer Press Tour last weekend and the former Ugly Betty star had just flown in from South African set of his new series, BBC America’s Outcasts, the night before.

“I’m out of my mind right now,” he confessed. “Aside from jet lag, just coming in from South Africa to the land of excess here., it’s crazy. … I’m on my way to start a film in Shanghai and am going to work a couple of days there and I’m going to head back to Cape Town and finish the show.”

Outcasts is set in 2040 with the future of Earth looking increasingly precarious so the race is on to find an alternative home in the universe. A group of social misfits and criminals who are sent to be the pioneers of a new settlement on a nearby planet and Eric plays the vice president of the evacuation program.

I wondered if it’s been a difficult transition after playing magazine editor Daniel Meade on Ugly Betty for four years – a show beloved by its fans and, clearly, by Eric.

“To the extent that I miss the hell out of everyone from the show it’s been difficult,” he said. “We were such a tight family, it’s unfortunate (it was canceled). I was doing an interview about a month ago and someone asked me that and I got choked up talking about it. I miss everyone. It’s odd to be flung to the four corners of the Earth I’m sure. I’m definitely further away than any one of us and I’m having a little culture shock being back here.”

But Eric, whose pre-Betty credits include The L Word and the memorable films Cruel Intentions, Welcome to My Dollhouse, Splendor and Lawn Dogs, is clearly relishing the opportunity to sink his teeth into such a meaty new role.

“I love this character,” he said. “[Executive producer] Ben Richards has the guts to draw a character that is much more complex. I guess this could be Daniel’s father in some ways. There’s whole spiritual aspects coupled with the aspirations the character has and the charm that he employs as the need requires that he’s unapologetic for in way that Daniel wasn’t really. Daniel was trying to be a better person all the time it felt like and this guy is trying to make the world a better place  in his mind and, depending on your perspective, he is evil or messianic. He’s exceedingly intelligent and his thoughts are 50 moves ahead of time in judt about any dynamic that unfolds on the show.”

Ugly Betty was always set in New York but the first two seasons were shot in Los Angeles before cast and crew relocated to NYC. Now the actor is working in South Africa for more than four months this year “and hopefully again next year.”

“It’s just impossible to put into words the things we’re seeing and doing, the animals and the people and the food,” he explained. “We chose to live in this place an hour outside of Cape Town that has two of the top 50 restaurants in the world in the middle of nowhere. And the wine industry there, the California wine industry is a joke compared to what I’ve been experiencing. There are thousands and thousands of the finest wines ever.”

I’ll drink to that!