'Cougar Town': Ryan Devlin on his Valentine's Day return

Laurie (Busy Philipps) spent much of last week's "Cougar Town" hidden in the closet of her white trash ex-boyfriend's bedroom. This was after a few secret romps in the sack with her best friend's neighbor/"someday guy" Grayson (Josh Hopkins), and not long after Travis (Dan Byrd) stopped her from sleeping with one of Smith's (Ryan Devlin) best friends.  

Remember Smith? The cute, sweet, rich dude who had to leave town for law school last month? The one who was actually nice to Laurie? The guy with whom she could be seen in public?

Yep, him.

He's back.

Ryan Devlin returns to "Cougar Town" this Wednesday (Feb. 10) and was kind enough to tell us what's on tap for him and his lunatic love interest...

Smith really seems to like Laurie, huh? Will she be surprised when he shows up again?
R.D.: Well, it appears that they've kept in touch. There is something [between them]. We're very different people but I think that's the reason the relationship works. Laurie, she's an interesting character -- I think the guys that she's chosen in the past haven't been right for her. And for whatever reason, Smith being a totally different guy that she wouldn't typically go for seems to be a good thing.

He's a gentleman. He's educated and wealthy. These are things she's not used to.
R.D.: Yeah. And in the Valentine's Day episode, you see a little more of the conflict there because my dad -- played by Barry Bostwick -- is very, very disapproving when it comes to Laurie.

How does Laurie deal with not being approved of?
R.D.: I love Laurie's outlook because everything just kind of rolls off her back. She remains with a positive outlook always. And ultimately I think she does a pretty good job of winning him over.

So far, you've also shared some screen time with Grayson and Bobby (Brian Van Holt), but will you get to work with any of the other cast members coming up?
R.D.: Yes, in the Valentine's episode, I have a lot of stuff with Ian Gomez (Andy), who is so funny and so cool, I'm a huge fan of his. And finally, I [filmed] a scene with Courteney [Cox]. It's my third episode in and I was wondering if I was ever going to get to work with her, and we finally had a great scene where Smith meets Jules for the first time. Laurie brings him over, almost to get Jules' approval. She gives me a little bit of a hard time, Jules does, but it was so cool to work with Courteney. Unfortunately, I had a cold and my voice was totally shot, but I did what I could to keep up with her in the scene. You may notice that Smith has more of a Darth Vader, James Earl Jones, Bea Arthur thing happening in the Valentine's episode.

Will we see Smith again post-Valentine's Day?
R.D.: Well, I don't get killed off. And when it comes to [show creator] Bill Lawrence, if the character is still alive -- and even if the character isn't still alive -- there's always a chance of seeing that character again. I don't want to give too much away, but I think there is potential for Smith and Laurie to have a little bit of a run in their relationship.

How cool would it be if you were a recurring character who popped up every now and then?
R.D.: I would like nothing more.

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Photo credit: ABC