(CBS) Many people remember Stanley Tucci as the kind fashion editor in "The Devil Wears Prada." But now he's playing a cold, distant brain surgeon in the new CBS medical drama "3 lbs."

Tucci's character, Dr. Douglas Hanson, leads a diverse team of neurosurgeons, but is far more interested in the brain itself than the patients. Hanson says the brain is just "wires in a box."

"He operates out of remove," Tucci told The Early Show co-anchor Rene Syler. "He's an enigma. He's a brilliant brain surgeon. He's emotionally detached, which is something I think … it's his nature, number one, and perhaps the reason he does what he does. Also, he feels that it's very beneficial to be that way when you're operating on somebody's brain."

Tension arises between Hanson and his young protégé, Dr. Jonathan Singer played by Mark Feuerstein. Singer has a different way of dealing with patients.

"He's much more interested in getting to know the patient and understanding emotional ways of helping them," Tucci said.

In tonight's pilot episode, a teenage girl has a seizure and the two doctors disagree over how to treat her.

"Do you know her name?" Singer asks Hanson. "Do you know that brain you touched is a brilliant musician? Do you know her string quartet plays with a trio with an empty chair since her sister was killed?"

Tucci said they only had a few days to shoot the pilot and called it the "nature of show business."

"They call you up. The movie I did last year, 'The Devil Wears Prada,' the same thing," he said. "You're asked a few days before, 'Do you think you'd like to do this role?' You say, 'Yes. OK, good.' There's not a lot of time to prepare. It is unnerving."

Tucci said one of the best things about the show is that it maintains a sense of intelligence but doesn't patronize the audience.

"It's not rarefied either, even though the subject is neurosurgery," he said. "I think it's very accessible, but it doesn't pander."

Even still, Tucci said he sometimes finds himself bewildered by the subject matter.

"There was a kid on the show the other day who knew much more about the brain than we did," he said. "He's studying it in school now."

The premiere of "3 lbs." is tonight at 10 p.m., 9 p.m. central on CBS.

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