Posted in: ABC, TV | Tagged: ABC, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel Foley, bronson pinchot, Mark-Linn Baker, perfect strangers, Warner Bros
Perfect Strangers: Pinchot, Co-Star Linn-Baker Still Close Friends
Bronson Pinchot (Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F) discusses his time on ABC's Perfect Strangers and his friendship with co-star Mark Linn-Baker.
There's no shortage of warm fuzzy memories that drive the nostalgia craze of beloved 1980s IPs. One such beneficiary is Bronson Pinchot, who not only scored a hit with his memorable role as fashion designer Serge in the original 1984 Beverly Hills Cop, his breakout role in his second year as a screen actor but also the ABC megahit Perfect Strangers, playing opposite Mark Linn-Baker. While promoting his latest project for Netflix and Paramount, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, which reunites him with star Eddie Murphy and the second time he reprised Serge (after 1994's Beverly Hills Cop III), Pinchot spoke to People about the close relationship he maintains with Linn-Baker long after Perfect Strangers' end in 1993.
Perfect Strangers: Bronson Pinchot on Mark Linn-Baker Friendship
Perfect Strangers follows Larry Appleton (Linn-Baker), who moves into his first apartment in Chicago, acclimating to the big city when his cousin Balki Bartokomous (Pinchot) comes to move in with him from the Mediterranean island of "Mypos." Larry attempts to teach Balki about life in America and more than their fair share of misadventures. The series created by Dale McRaven lasted eight seasons on ABC running from 1986-1993.
"We text and call each other all the time. Mark, I mean, he's so embedded in my heart," the Emmy nominee said. "You talk about no time passing. When I get together with Mark, we're already laughing. Because we can read each other's minds. And I can't express to you how not an exaggeration that is." For both iconic roles of Serge and Balki, Pinchot utilized a heavy accent as European characters.
"The kernel of our individual beings really was connected to those characters. Mark likes everything to be concrete, and I [don't]," Pinchot said. "But we adore each other. So I will compromise because I love him, and he will compromise and go to a crazy place because he loves me. And that was the essence of the show. We can read each other's minds. We did the Dance of Joy like that," referring to the little jig on the show Balki would initiate when he was happy about something. "All they said in the script was, 'They do the Dance of Joy.' But he and I looked at each other and went, okay, and we did it." Pinchot also remains friends with cast member Melanie Wilson, who played Larry's girlfriend and later wife, Jennifer, on Perfect Strangers. The series' success led to the equally successful sitcom Family Matters. For more including the actor's thoughts on a reboot, you can check out the full interview here. Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is available on Netflix.