BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — It’s no wonder that actor James Wolk was chosen for one of the juiciest roles of TV’s new fall season. He’s exactly like the character he plays — aside from the larceny, of course.

Wolk, who’s best known for his portrayal as a teacher with Tourette Syndrome from the Hallmark Hall of Fame’s “Front of the Class,” plays endearing, charismatic, charming Bob in Fox’s slick new “Lone Star.” Bob’s also a cunning con man, a bigamist and a huckster who could sell a truckload of eight-tracks.

So what is it about Bob that brought out the worst in Wolk? “The description of him was interpretive,” said Wolk.

“It described what Bob did and from that, I kind of derived my own idea of what Bob was like. I kind of thought, ‘Bob’s a con man, he’s very charming and gets what he wants … I’m not going to play smarmy or sleazy because he’s not.’ That’s also not an effective con man.

“I knew that, obviously, Bob had something about him that people just trust, that people draw themselves to, and you’ll see that’s what I tried to accomplish here, just my version of a con man. In each scene I try to win people over and look people in the eye. That’s what Bob does.”

That’s what Wolk does, too. Brought up in Farmington Hills, Mich., he was a kid who loved school, played football, served as student body vice president his senior year, made good grades and excelled in the high school theater program with shows like “Grease,” “Footloose” and “Once Upon a Mattress.”

Through college at the University of Michigan, Wolk, 25, worked as an event deejay, performing at parties, weddings and bar mitzvahs. He continued that when he moved to New York to try his luck at theater.

“I crashed in my buddy’s apartment for three months when I first got there. He let me sleep on an airbed. Then we got a one-bedroom apartment and we built a wall in the living room and converted it to a two-bedroom. I don’t know why we split the rent, I should’ve paid less since he had the bedroom,” he said.

The deejay gig earned enough for him to study acting and pay rent. “It was the perfect job for me at that time in my life. It’s the kind of thing when you’re on the microphone, you’re acting.

“You become a family member, you’re schmoozing with the aunts and uncles. You have to assimilate into the family. That was good training, for Bob has to go into situations and talk to people and immediately have people warm up to him. So it’s interesting how it kind of brought us together.”

If Bob is always targeting his next victim, Wolk is conjuring his next challenge. “I guess in some respects I am a dreamer,” he said.

“And in other respects, I’m pretty logical, pretty grounded, pretty realistic. I’m a very realistic person. …

“I’m not outspoken. I’m not always the loudest person in the room, except when I laugh. I have an unbelievably loud laugh, but I’m not a shy person. I’m a social person and pretty comfortable with talking with people and interacting.”

His mother is an art teacher and his father owns a women’s shoe store, which his older sister helps run. His family always supported his idea of becoming an actor.

“My grandfathers, they were very influential to me at a very young age. I still think about them and the choices they made. I’m not sure why. I just always had a great amount of admiration for them,” he said.

‘Lone Star’

When: 9 p.m. Sept. 20

Where: Fox