TOM SELLECK A clean shave for miniseries on A & amp;E

To play Gen. Dwight Eisenhower, the actor aimed for understanding.
SCRIPPS HOWARD
Tom Selleck has shaved his mustache, and now comes the hard part.
Imagine him bald.
The star doesn't want viewers to be distracted by a skin cap, so he will have his head shaved before he plays Gen. Dwight Eisenhower in "Eisenhower: Thunder in June" for A & amp;E. (Selleck plans to leave a small amount of hair around the ears and have that dyed gray.) Filming starts Feb. 7 in Auckland, New Zealand, which Selleck said looks a lot like Europe of the World War II era.
"This guy was more dynamic than anyone realizes. His story needs to be told; he was crucial to the survival of the free world," Selleck said.
Selleck said understanding Eisenhower mattered more to him than trying to imitate his voice or mannerisms. "I read everything I can, and I'm not dependent on doing an actor's impersonation of him."
Miniseries appearance
Selleck delayed shaving his head to prevent causing a distraction while he promotes the upcoming CBS miniseries "Scott Turow's Reversible Errors," based on the novel of the same name.
Selleck plays Larry Starczek, a detective who tampered with evidence in trying to win a murder conviction. Real-life husband and wife William H. Macy and Felicity Huffman star as lawyer Arthur Raven and disgraced former judge Gillian Sullivan. Arthur is trying to stop his client, Rommy "Squirrel" Gandolph (Glenn Plummer), from being executed for a murder he doesn't believe Gandolph committed.
"He's not a villain," Selleck said about his character. "He's made a lot of mistakes, but he's not a villain."
Still, the character is a departure from the detective of his "Magnum, P.I." days and the other heroes he typically plays.
"I don't do a departure just because there's a stretch," Selleck said, adding, "The part I'm going to do next [Eisenhower] shouldn't be an acting exercise."
But Selleck does take time to explore his characters; he cited the example of his gay character in the movie "In & amp; Out."
"How do I play a gay character? This character didn't define himself by his sexuality; he was an unscrupulous network reporter, and who the character was, was more important than what people perceived."
Selleck said he likes a challenge. "Every part you do should scare you."