The Thing That Upsets Steven Weber Most About His Chicago Med Character - Exclusive

Steven Weber's nearly 40-year career has run the gamut — from starring as pilot Brian Hackett on the hit NBC sitcom "Wings" and Jack Torrance on the television miniseries "The Shining" to special guest stints as Mayor Hamilton on "NCIS: New Orleans" and Anna Faris' newly divorced love interest Patrick on "Mom." But his latest role may prove to be one of his trickiest.

As gruffly complicated Dr. Dean Archer on "Chicago Med," Weber walks a tightrope between good guy and bad guy. A former Naval surgeon who has PTSD from seeing combat action, Dr. Archer is a skilled medic with a dubious way of doing things. After joining "Chicago Med" in Season 6, the character quickly rose up the ranks to become head of the emergency department — after inadvertently having a hand in getting his predecessor, Dr. Choi (Brian Tee), shot by a disgruntled patient.

Week after week, Dr. Archer saves numerous lives and is heralded as a superior surgeon, yet he often ticks people off with his brusqueness and periodic lack of sympathy. It's a well-played part for Weber, who elevates a character who could just be seen as a nuisance into a complex personality that becomes more sympathetic as time goes on.

During an exclusive interview with Looper, Weber said that the role is "always fun" to play. But also admitted that there's one thing that really upsets him about portraying Dr. Archer on "Chicago Med."

Actor Steven Weber freely admits that playing Dr. Dean Archer on "Chicago Med" is thoroughly enjoyable in the sense that, "getting to work at your life's dream is fun." But the role poses one big challenge that deeply disturbs the veteran actor.

"Listen," he said. "I'm starting to hear from people and fans of the show that Dean is not particularly liked, and that's a little disconcerting coming from a guy like me who has worked all his life specifically to be liked. I know that he comes off a certain way, so the challenge is for me to try to inject a little heart and soul underneath." Overall, despite the personality flaws, Weber sees Dr. Archer as a "good guy" and hopes fans of the show soon follow suit. "He's a bit of a mystery," Weber said. "He can be very short with people. Certainly, in the beginning when we saw him, he made some choices that were really questionable. I think the show has softened him a little bit, but he's still not immediately likable. He has proven himself as a person who has a heart, even though it might be encased in a lot of armor."

As for how Weber hopes to turn fans' distaste of his character around, he said, "It's hard. Because, like so many people in this world today, he's seen a lot ... He's not just a wrinkled, mean, ticked-off guy. He's got some layers to him, and in the upcoming episodes, we will begin to see those layers revealed. I don't think the writers and the show would have spent as much time on keeping Dean around if they weren't going to reveal some stuff about him, the why's and the wherefores that make him such a pain in the ass half the time."

Season 7 of "Chicago Med" airs Wednesdays at 8:00 PM ET on NBC.