Raza Jaffrey: There’s More Than Meets The Eye To Dev On NBC’s ‘Smash’

There could be trouble brewing in paradise for “Smash’s” most solid couple – Raza Jaffrey’s character, Dev, and his ladylove Karen (Katharine McPhee)

Despite Jack Davenport’s character, Derek Wills, clearly having his eye on Katharine’s very-taken Karen, she might not be the one to worry about straying from the relationship.

“In a story like this, you’d expect a character like Dev to be at home waiting for his girlfriend, who’s an actress, worried about having affairs and what have you. Maybe there’s stuff going on the other way around. Maybe it’s Dev who Karen’s worried about,” the former “Sex and The City 2” star told AccessHollywood.com earlier this year as he promoted the Broadway-based NBC drama. “And that’s clever, clever Theresa [Rebeck] writing.”

Raza hinted that Dev’s career choice could lead to drama, something which clearly was hinted at in last week’s episode when Dev’s girlfriend, Karen, was forced to sit at a different table at a political event, while he sat with a gorgeous gal with connections.

“They’ve made Dev a politician for a reason, and they’ve made him someone independent for a reason,” he said.

The actor, who played a spy in the British PBS series “MI:5,” a husband whose wife broke his heart by cheating on him in BBC America’s “Mistresses,” and a sociopathic bad guy during “The Cape’s” brief NBC run, said signing on as politician Dev, one of the few characters outside of the Broadway realm, was an easy sell thanks to “Smash” creator Theresa Rebeck.

“It’s a mark of Theresa, really, that she’s invested so much in all of the characters in the show. It’s not a role I would have taken unless I knew there was some kind of meat to the character, and thankfully so far — and long may it continue — there’s real depth to that character,” Raza told Access. “Even in the pilot, in essentially a show about Broadway, you care enough about all these characters and these relationships to kind of want to see what goes on next. And again, what’s great about Theresa is she comes from quite a dark television and theater background so, there are things that go on with the characters that you wouldn’t normally expect in soap opera television.”

And should the opportunity arise, it turns out Raza too has some pipes.

“I used to do musicals in London,” he told Access when asked if he can sing. “You’ll have to watch and see. There may be plans afoot, there may not be. I can’t say. I wish I could, but they know I can sing.”

“Smash” airs at 10/9c on Mondays on NBC.