Kevin James: Defending The Mall

"King Of Queens" Star Continues His Streak Of Blue Collar Heroes As Paul Blart In "Mall Cop"

(CBS)  For nine seasons, Kevin James was TV's most recognizable delivery driver on "The King of Queens." In his new film, James continues his streak of playing blue collar heroes as Paul Blart in "Mall Cop."

"We know you so well from "King of Queens" which is running on about a thousand different channels in syndication. Is moving from a brown-suited delivery driver to mall cop, is that a move up or move down?" asked Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.

"I'm going to go lateral. It's a lateral move. As long as I have a uniform. If I have a uniform, I don't know why that happens too, by the way. But uniforms don't flatter me, but yet I keep going for them. I think it's an honest, lateral move. Might be a little up, because there's a little more risk being a mall cop, there's a lot more risk," James joked.

From footage in the trailers and advertisements of "Mall Cop," it looks like there is serious danger involved in being a mall cop.

"There's crazy action. You never know what's going to happen. When someone is going to ask for directions to the Cinnabon," James said.

Riding a Segway is quite a risky task.

"You have to have eyes behind your head. You can whip around that thing pretty fast. A little too fast," James admitted.

"Mall Cop" stayed true to its location and was actually shot inside a mall.

"We did, we shot in the Burlington Mall in Boston, Massachusetts and had to -- it was a working mall. Very busy. And we actually shut down sections of the mall and would work on it then," he said.

The Burlington Mall had a Cinnabon indeed.

"It did. Trust me. That's where all of my nutritional needs were met, there in the food court," James said.

Smith admitted that the smell of Cinnabon makes him weak in the knees.

"Try working if there is a Cinnabon scent wafting through. Try working. You can't work, you'd look like Yogi Bear. Tough working conditions," James joked.

Besides the danger and a love interest, there is more to the story.

"Family, I need to take care of it. It all ties in. I have to protect not only the mall, the world," James said.

Smith sarcastically compared being a mall cop to national security.

"This is," James replied. "Basically, you can substitute it for that, yes. You can basically say 'We can start in our malls and see how we operate there.'"

"You are on the front lines on the war on terror," Smith joked.

"That's it. Basically this is your defense," James said.

[valh1]

Kevin James is one of my favorite actors. He is hilarious and looks like a genuinely nice guy. It is rare for an actor to have an every day, down to earth aura about him. Can''t wait for the movie!