Adam Huss' Long Island roots help him land perfect role

Adam Huss, who plays mysterious nightclub manager Josh Kantos in Starz's "Power," has been kicking around since the early 2000s, doing independent movies, guest spots on shows including "NCIS" and "Femme Fatales" and even a Radio Disney DJ gig where he was known as Big City Kid. Which is ironic, since he was born in Patchogue and raised in Islip.

"When this [show] came up," says Huss, a 1995 Islip High School graduate, "I went in for another role" in the drama "and a week went by and I got a callback -- but not for that role. And I read the description of this other character, Josh Kantos, and one of the things it said was, 'He's from Massapequa, Long Island.' And I was like, 'This is mine. This is it.' "

Series creator-executive producer Courtney Kemp Agboh thought so, too. "Courtney asked if I was from Long Island and I said, 'Yeah. I've had to hide my accent, but I didn't here.' On the show you hear it, more there than in real life. I had to hide it for so long. . . . When I went to L.A. and was working as a waiter, whenever I'd say 'carrot soup' people would say, 'Where are you from?' I don't know how they thought I should be saying it . . . 'kehr-rot'? But I became really aware of 'carrot' and 'water' and other words!" he says, laughing.