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"I don't know if you ever really feel comfortable on NYPD Blue because of the process of how we make the show," Schroder says.
"Often, I'll show up for work and I don't know what I'm doing that day. After I go through makeup, I'll get a scene sent to me and then I'll know what I'm doing."
When he says he's never experienced a shooting atmosphere like NYPD Blue before, that's saying something.
Schroder has been in front of the camera his entire life, gaining fame as a youngster in The Champ and on Silver Spoons.
As Schroder matured, he appeared in the Lonesome Dove mini-series, Crimson Tide and as the heavy in Detention: The Siege at Johnson High.
Det. Danny Sorenson debuted last December and fans quickly accepted the former child star on the gritty cop show which airs tonight and tomorrow at 9 p.m. on HC and 11 p.m. on W.
"From everybody I've talked to and have talked to me, they're happy with the way I'm fitting into the show," Schroder, 29, says.
While he can't explain it, Schroder was the last to be convinced.
"I didn't really relax until this season. Probably episode seven, eight or nine of this year is where
I relaxed into the character," he says.
It was anything but relaxed last year when Danny planted an awkward kiss on Bobby Simone's widow, Det. Diane Russell (Kim Delaney).
Producers haven't ruled out exploring a relationship between the two in the future, but this season Danny has been romantically involved with another officer, Mary Franco (Sheeri Rappaport).
"It's around for at least the first eight episodes," he says, pointing out he is thinking about directions other than Danny's love life.
"I'd like to see a little more action," Schroder says. "I don't know if I'll ever get my wish. I had asked for there to be a little more movement and chase scenes."
Action? It's not as though the set of NYPD Blue has ever been boring since the Stephen Bochco/David Milch creation debuted in 1993. The revolving cast has seen the departures of David Caruso, Jimmy Smits, Sharon Lawrence, Gail O'Grady, Amy Brenneman and, as of last week, Nicholas Turturro.
Its seventh season didn't begin until last month after a much-publicized battle with ABC. The network delayed Blue's fall premiere in favour of keeping rookie melodrama Once and Again in the timeslot.
Nevertheless, Schroder says the station house has been quiet lately.
"As much as we miss Nick Turturro, we welcome Henry Simmons. He's a wonderful addition," Schroder reports. "We have great ratings. The shows are strong. David Milch is on top of his writing. The cast is strong."
Things have stabilized for Schroder personally this season, too.
He is no longer commuting between Colorado and California to see his family on weekends. His wife Andrea, sons Holden, 8 and Luke, 6, and three-year-old daughter Cambrie have joined him in L.A.
The couple met in 1990 when Schroder was filming the western Blood River in Calgary.
They married in 1992 and until recently spent most of their time on his cattle ranch outside of Grand Junction.
"Everything's good. We like California," Andrea tells the Sun.
"We're out in a nice area by the beach.
"Then I take the boys skiing up at Big Bear if I want a little piece of Canada and come back down to the beach."