John Spencer

* The actor plays Leo McGarry on the NBC drama “The West Wing.”

Kickin’ It: Because my weekdays are usually so intense, come weekends, I like to shut down, go to my house, put the business line on the machine and garden and read. I like really distracting things like Anne Rice or Stephen King. I do a lot of research for roles I’m working on so I’m keeping abreast of some political things that are going on.

Green Thumb: I love gardening. I even did as a kid. I was raised in New Jersey and belonged to the 4-H Club. I used to win prizes for corn and stuff. L.A. has an incredible growing season here and this has been quite a paradise for me. I’m slowly putting stuff from pots into the ground. I put the bulbs in. I like all of that. When I’m gardening, my mind is kind of in a Zen place.

Curtain Up: I see a lot of theater. I’m at the Mark Taper a lot and even smaller houses. If I have a friend who’s doing something, I like to see it. And when I get back to New York City, I see everything. This year, I loved “Sideman.” I also liked an off-Broadway play about Joe Orton called “Nasty Little Habits.”

Tasty Treats: I have some favorite restaurants and they kind of go across the board. On the casual line, I love El Compadre, my favorite Mexican restaurant down on Sunset. I love Pink’s Hotdogs. Being a pizza aficionado, I think the best is at Cathy Moriarty’s joint, Mulberry Street Pizza in Beverly Hills. She tells me she brings in the flour and the water from New York. I looked in her eyes, and I believe anything she tells me. On the other, more formal end I like the new Spago in Beverly Hills and Orso, a great northern Italian restaurant. I like their Margherita pizza.

Up and Getaway: I like the Highlands Inn up in Big Sur for a night or two. Get a massage and just zone out and watch the surf. I prefer the mountains and ocean to the desert. Just a kind of chemical thing. I feel more simpatico with mountains.