Eddie Cibrian: 'I Couldn't Pass Up' 'The Playboy Club'

Eddie Cibrian was immediately attracted to NBC’s The Playboy Club.

"This is so different than anything I've ever done, and it's different for TV, too, especially now. I really couldn't pass it up," Cibrian, 38 -- who plays smoothtalking Nick Dalton.

"I've done many, many series, but this is the most high-profile show that I've been a part of," he adds. "I've been doing this for so long now that I never listen to or pay attention to any hype or buzz. The nature of the TV business is very fickle and you don't know what is going to catch audience's attention."

Cibrian got his start on The Young and the Restless, and has since appeared on Third Watch, CSI: Miami, Invasion and Chase. He met his wife LeAnn Rimes on the set of a Lifetime movie, Northern Lights.

"You just have to attach yourself to projects that, at the end of the day, whether it was a success or not, you were happy to be a part of it," says Cibrian.

Of his character, Cibrian says, "He is a chameleon. He's very social, very liked by a lot of people. On the facade, he seems to have it all. He's very successful. He's dating the head Playboy bunny. He's one of the first keyholders at the Playboy Club, but he has a very mysterious past."

"During that time in Chicago, the Mob was extremely influential in everything. He was a part of that growing up, in some respects. We'll find out, without giving too much away, that he was raised by some members of the Mob," Cibrian goes on to USA Today. "So, he's done some things in the past that he's not very proud of, and he's always been trying to break free from that. Now, he has an opportunity to actually really start doing good. You'll see he's going to start making a run for state's attorney, and that's going to bring him a lot of animosity from the underworld."

Cibrian commutes back to Los Angeles every weekend from the Chicago set of the series, which airs Mondays at 10 p.m. ET/PT, to spend time with Rimes, 29, and his two sons with ex wife Brandi Glanville of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills: Mason, 8, and Jake, 4.

Cibrian also opened up about Rimes' thin physique, which has received criticism.

“It bothers me because, obviously, I know she’s healthy. She eats more than I do sometimes,” he told Billy Bush and Kit Hoover on Access Hollywood Live on Monday. “She’s just a very [conscientious] eater, as far as what she eats. She eats pretty healthy, but she works out pretty hard too and she actually takes pride in the way she looks and it’s a shame that people will jump on the bandwagon just because she is fit. And she’s far from unhealthy.”