In the same way Justin Timberlake transformed from Tiger Beat staple to cool guys’ guy, Jesse Metcalfe is morphing from the stuff of a teenage girl’s dreams to badass actor. Metcalfe became a household name during his six years playing the love interest of Eva Longoria’s character on Desperate Housewives when he caused Suzy Homemakers all over America to fantasize about the prospect of an illicit affair with the pool boy. Then in 2006 he was a high school heartthrob who juggled three girlfriends at once in John Tucker Must Die. Metcalfe has dated pop stars and models—hell, he was even tapped as one of People magazine’s 50 Hottest Bachelors during his precious stage. But now Jerry Bruckheimer has cast the 32-year-old as hard-boiled, gun-toting U.S. Marshal Luke Watson on NBC’s Chase, and things are changing. In the hit show, which manages to balance rhetoric on immigration law and violent thrills, Metcalfe’s character feels like the guy who will take Jack Bauer’s place in a few years. That and his tattoos make us think he’d be a great guy to have a beer with, which we did at a sports bar in Dallas.

INKED: So you escaped Hollywood for Dallas?

JESSE METCALFE: Dallas is really cool … a very welcome reprieve from Los Angeles. Being in the center of it all, the center of the entertainment industry, can wear on you a bit. You can have a whole different lifestyle out here.

And Chase brought you here. How’s shooting been?

Yes, we film around Dallas. When we first came out to Dallas, with humidity, the temperature was around 110 to 115 degrees. Chase is a very tough show to shoot, and some days we shot 15- or 16-hour days. It’s pretty tough with the choreography of the fight sequences—but pretty rewarding.

Is working with Jerry Bruckheimer intimidating? Or is it nice knowing the show has an established leader?

It’s a little of both. Bruckheimer’s got a very respectable track record on television. You definitely want to live up to that. You don’t want to be one of the few failures that Bruckheimer’s had. I mean, obviously there are lots of different variables that go into a show succeeding, but it’s pretty difficult on TV these days. Some shows don’t even get the time to find their viewers. But being that it’s a Bruckheimer production, we definitely have a strong shot and they’ve stuck with the show and I’m really proud of it—the episodes keep getting better. My character keeps getting better, and I’m happy about that. And also, on the other side of things, yeah, there’s a little bit of pressure. But since Bruckheimer’s really behind Chase, it’s going to be well produced and it’s going to be big.

What do you like best about being in Texas, other than the lack of L.A. craziness?

The food is amazing in Dallas. We’re actually at a place called Lemon Bar, which has amazing food in the West Village area of Dallas. There’s definitely a very strong bar scene that I haven’t really been taking part in. But I’d say the thing that I love the most are the people. People just have a completely different sensibility down here. People do have that sense of Southern hospitality. They really want to talk and get to know you. And it’s more of a sports-driven and outdoors city.

Have you taken up a sport?

I’ve been training with my stunt double, who owns a mixed martial arts gym out here in Dallas. It has been really good for the fight sequences on the show and makes them look as realistic as possible.

Was MMA something you were into before the show?

I had done training and boxing for the last few years just because I love the workout. And I took martial arts when I was in college. But it’s just something I kind of branched off into a little bit because it’s a lot of fun and the training is extremely intense.