LOS ANGELES — Richard Chamberlain is back in Los Angeles after leaving behind his Hawaiian "dream house" and says the move has proved a good one.

He quickly landed a role in the TNT series "Leverage," playing a dashing thief named Archie Leech. The character is a tip of the hat to Cary Grant, born Archibald Leach, and his role in Alfred Hitchcock's classic "To Catch A Thief."

"I wouldn't dream of trying to do a Cary Grant takeoff, but he (Leech) is very well-dressed, in any case, and kind of sophisticated. He's fun," Chamberlain said.

He was scheduled to begin filming the episode Monday in Portland and said there's a chance for future appearances on the drama that stars Timothy Hutton.

"Unless I muck it up," Chamberlain added, lightly.

After spending four years building an oceanfront home on Maui, Chamberlain said he realized "nothing's happening here" and headed back to the entertainment industry's L.A. base. A new management firm "suddenly came up with all these possible jobs," he said.

Chamberlain's longtime partner, actor-producer Martin Rabbett, has stayed in Hawaii for now but may move to San Francisco, which will mean "a relationship by commute," Chamberlain said.

Besides the "Leverage" episode, which will air when the show returns this summer, the "Dr. Kildare" and "Shogun" star has been cast in an independent film in which he plays a priest.

"A less naughty priest" than he played in "The Thorn Birds," Chamberlain said with a laugh, referring to the hit 1983 miniseries in which a young woman (Rachel Ward) falls in love with her family's priest.