val emmich expands his horizon

At the age of 29, Val Emmich has experienced a career that most people in the entertainment would kill to enjoy. In seven years, the New Jersey native has released six albums and has been seen in a handful of notable appearance on a variety of television. In the last 12 months, he has been seen on television kissing some of the top women in the tube: Lucy Liu, Tina Fey and, most recently, America Ferrara.

Last season audiences saw Emmich on "Cashmere Mafia" as a manny who makes out with Lucy Liu and on "30 Rock" where he dated Tina Fey’s character. Having gotten to kiss all of these leading ladies, you’d think his wife might get jealous.

"She’s great. We’ve been together for so many years," said the doting husband, adding, "I’m not the guy even thinking about the kissing, I’m thinking about not standing in the way of the light."

The Betty Gig

Emmich also came back to "Ugly Betty" recently, and will be popping up throughout the season, as the writers see fit as Jesse, a musician and Betty’s latest love interest. He’s careful , though, not to give too much away about what is coming up on the show.

Despite not having seen an episode of the hit ABC series, he was able to score the role of Betty’s new love interest this season. But after his audition, he watched an early episode and was convinced he had blown his chances due to the show’s surreal surface.

Oh my God, I think I played it completely wrong. I was wrong about that, luckily," said the down-to-Earth Emmich. "This is a show that isn’t attempting to be realistic in any way. It’s a heightened, exaggerated show. Even though the emotions that they deal with are human, it’s just an overdone thing."

Due to an understanding about leaking plot details, Emmich isn’t able to be bribed into revealing anything upcoming on the show. Though he isn’t willing to spill anything about the plotlines, he is more than happy to talk about what we can expect from his character Jesse.

"He is pretty innocent guy. I actually find that to be true to a lot of artists that there is a childlike innocence about them. He kind of just says what’s on his mind and is playful with people," said the musician, who is playing one for the first time onscreen.

In fact, Emmich has made a conscious effort to not play artists before. "I shy away from musician roles because I just think it’s hard to get it right. I think they are often written poorly and they just don’t ring true to me. I don’t know if that is because I am hypersensitive to being a musician most of my life."

Are Movies Next?

Emmich, downplaying is prolific nature, said that having six albums out has more to due with his early musical training that sheer work ethic. "The reason for that is I guess the same kind of restlessness that made me want to put together a band. I probably rush things because of impatience, but I am just restless in that way. If I have an idea I would rather pursue right then and there, just like how I dropped those early childhood instruments I could drop songs just as easily," Emmich said, adding with a laugh, "It’s not a great trait to have."

This year has marked a first for Emmich as a musician. After appearing on the season premiere of "Ugly Betty" with a cover of Tom Petty’s "American Girl," Emmich has released the song on his Myspace page. Though he has done covers in concert, he’s never released one before. Instantly the song has caught on with over 14,000 plays on the page.

From here, Emmich is branching out into film with the movie "Fighting Fish," which he filmed over the summer. He has also finished his first novel, though it currently does not have a publisher - though it’s not due to lack of interest, but rather lack of time.

"Word got out that I had written it and I started to get some interest from people. I just haven’t had time to tie the loose ends," said the multi-hyphenate. "I can’t even call myself a writer until it gets published. It will happen soon enough."