Bronson Pinchot and “Perfect Strangers” Costar Mark Linn-Baker Keep in Touch: ‘He’s Embedded in My Heart’ (Exclusive)
The two actors starred on the ABC sitcom from 1986 to 1993
Bob Riha, Jr./Getty
Mark Linn-Baker and Bronson Pinchot in 1986Perfect Strangers fans, it's time to do the Dance of Joy! Bronson Pinchot tells PEOPLE he and his former costar Mark Linn-Baker remain “very, very close.”
“We text and call each other all the time. Mark, I mean, he's so embedded in my heart,” says Pinchot. “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.”
Pinchot, 65, and Linn-Baker, 70, costarred on the ABC sitcom for eight seasons from 1986 to 1993. Pinchot played Balki Bartokomous, a heavily accented immigrant from the fictional island of Mypos whose distant cousin, the more uptight Larry Appleton (Linn-Baker), reluctantly let him move in at his Chicago apartment.
Much of the comedy on the series came from Balki’s unbridled enthusiasm and wide-eyed optimism amid fish-out-of-water scenarios, as well as Balki and Larry’s Odd Couple-esque dynamic.
The show was a hit, and Pinchot believes Perfect Strangers’ success was due to his “eerie” chemistry with Linn-Baker. “That’s what made the show,” says Pinchot, who earned an Emmy nomination for his performance.
Chris McPherson
Bronson Pinchot on May 23 in L.A.“The kernel of our individual beings really was connected to those characters. Mark likes everything to be concrete, and I [don’t],” he says. “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.”
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“We can read each other's minds," he says again. “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.”
Over the years, there has been talk in the industry about rebooting the series, according to Pinchot, who’s skeptical a new version would work.
“Every time someone talks about, ‘Let's redo it with two Chia Pets,’ I'm like, ‘Yeah, you can say the lines. I mean, you can say one's from a different country. That's not what the show was about. It was about something that you can't put your finger on, so good luck. You know?” he adds.
Pinchot says he also remains close with Melanie Wilson, who played Larry's girlfriend (and then wife) Jennifer on the series.
Courtesy of Netflix
Bronson Pinchot as Serge in 'Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F'Pinchot is back with his other accented character, Serge, in Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F, reprising the role that first shot him to fame in the 1984 Eddie Murphy action comedy.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is now streaming on Netflix.
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