For most of us, dressing up is something we look forward to, but these days, “Saving Hope’s” Michael Shanks gets more excited about ripped jeans and grungy t-shirts.

“At first I thought it was really cool,” he says about wearing a tux in all of his character’s hospital scenes. “I thought, if you’re going to be stuck in one piece of wardrobe, you might as well look snazzy in it, but as time has marched on, it’s getting kind of old,” he says.

His character, Dr. Charlie Harris, was in a car accident en route to his wedding (hence the tux!) and as his body lies in a coma at Hope-Zion hospital, his ‘spirit’ wanders the halls of the hospital in his snazzy get up.

“I was supposed to go out for dinner the other night and I had a suit in the closet and I was going to put it on.

But I took one look at the suit and said, ‘No way! I’m wearing ripped jeans and a T-shirt to this!’ It’s definitely ruined the aesthetic of dressing up for me for a little bit,” Shanks says with a laugh.

He does love, however, that his tux has become so much a part of Charlie’s character. “I love that it’s a metaphor – it’s the guy who’s still hanging around after the party and I like that aspect of it. Visually, it’s strong.”

But even if his bowtie’s undone, he still spends more time in formal wear than most of us ever will.
“At first I felt like I was James Bond, but now, not so much.”