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Tavis: I'm pleased to welcome Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon to this program. The talented, Haitian-born actress has enjoyed a successful career in television with hit shows like 'The Jamie Foxx Show'--we gotta talk about that boy in a second-- 'NYPD Blue,' and 'Models Inc.' Her latest role is the new ABC drama 'Eyes,' which premieres this Wednesday. Here, now, a scene from ABC's 'Eyes'.

Man: If you make me go back to L.A., It's extortion. It's tortuous interference. It's a crime.

Nora Gage: The crime is you were subpoenaed to testify, skipped town with a warrant on your head. The crime is Oliver will go to jail for 10 years unless you do as you promised. The crime is you get 365 days a year to make money. The court's asking you to just take one and do the right thing. And if you don't, forget the court. I'll mess you up just for giggles. But first, I want to watch the movie.

Tavis: Ouch. So mean.

Garcelle Beauvais-Nilon: She doesn't play around.

Tavis: So mean!

Beauvais-Nilon: You know what's so funny is that I get all these roles where, you know, these women are strong, and, OK, maybe I embody a little bit of that, but confrontation? I am the last person to come and say anything to your face.

Tavis: That means you're a great actress because you pulled it off well. You scared me. You convinced me with that scene. You were saying, when this clip was running, this is your first time seeing this.

Beauvais-Nilon: Yeah.

Tavis: I only raise that because so often I hear actors, and everybody has a different view on it. I'm curious what category you fall into. Actors who watch themselves, and actors who cannot stand to watch themselves. Which category do you fall in?

Beauvais-Nilon: You know, I may fall into a couple because with this particular show, I've watched only because we shot the pilot so far ahead of doing the actual series that I wanted to, sort of, refamiliarize with the character and the show itself. And, in watching, I don't think I'm gonna do that anymore. It's hard because you go, 'I could've done that differently. Why didn't I say it this way?' And, you know, you can't beat yourself up like that.

Tavis: I had the same problem. Why is that that stuff always occurs to you after it's done?

Beauvais-Nilon: Who knows?

Tavis: I could never figure that out. Yeah. It's, like, 'Now, why didn't I have that thought when I was actually in that moment?' Hits you later. I guess now is a good time to ask you to explain what the show is about. It premieres on Wednesday.

Beauvais-Nilon: Yeah, it premieres on Wednesday. It's called 'Eyes.' We're private P.I.s, and it's dealing with the corporate world. It's not so much as close to 'Alias,' 'cause that's more action-packed, but it's much more cerebral, if you will, in finding the bad guys, and our cool gadgets. And it's really a cool, slick, not so drama-ridden. It's light on comedy. It's really a great show, and I'm excited about it, and I'm proud to be on it, and it's great to be, you know, to have a black female lead, which you don't see that often. Usually, you know, we're in the background. We show up every now and then, so it's really nice to have a strong character that's in the forefront of the show.

Tavis: I mentioned Jamie Foxx. I want to come back to Jamie in just a second. Everybody knows that you were Jamie's love interest on 'The Jamie Foxx Show' for a number of seasons.

Beauvais-Nilon: And I enjoyed it.

Tavis: I know you did. So did Jamie, I'm told. But that's another issue. We're gonna come back to Jamie in just a second. I only raise that at the moment because you've been fortunate to play such a variety of characters. I mean, there's certain people in this business-- I don't mean to cast aspersions on anybody. You get the work where you can find it. But there's some people who play the same character, the same kind of role. I mean, this is as dramatically different from--

Beauvais-Nilon: 'NYPD Blue.'

Tavis: From that as it is from 'Jamie Foxx.' So talk to me about the fact that you really get a chance to, kind of, stretch.

Beauvais-Nilon: You know what? I've been really lucky. I think, for one, for me, I'm really picky about what I do, and I don't want to put my name on just anything. It's important to me that it's a good part. It's a part that's not gonna degrade us, you know, as women, as black folks, as anybody. So it's really important. So I've been really lucky to be able to find different roles that people are allowing me to do, to play. So it's been really great.

Tavis: OK. Let's go back to Jamie Foxx. We've mentioned him twice now. We'll go back to him. How did you feel when Jamie, obviously not just nominated at this point, but nominated and won everything he was nominated for at every award ceremony? You spent, what, 5 years with this guy?

Beauvais-Nilon: 5 years with him.

Tavis: How did you feel?

Beauvais-Nilon: Can I tell you? I felt like a proud mama. I felt like I gave birth to him, and I was so proud. So proud. And I would call him every time he got nominated, every time he won, and we'd go hang out, and, you know, we'd go to dinner and stuff like that, and celebrate. It's just phenomenal. I always knew he was that talented, but it was nice to see, sort of, like, the whole world embrace, and also get to see how talented he is.

Tavis: I'm glad you said that because, I mean, it's easy to say that after the fact. Everybody says, 'I knew he was talented. I knew he was gifted.' Tell me, though, whether or not you really, in those years, saw the talent that he had that could lead to, not just an Oscar nomination, but winning an Oscar. I mean, I tease Jamie all the time. I knew he was gifted, but I ain't gonna lie to you. I didn't see that when he was playing Wanda. I did not see Academy Award winner in his future playing Wanda.

Beauvais-Nilon: Not when he was playing Wanda, no. But the fact that he could play Wanda, who's so different from who he is as a person, gave you a little peep that there was something underneath. There was a lot. I mean, he would come to our show and we would rehearse all week. When the audience came in, it was like having a different script, 'cause his adrenaline just got so much higher. And, you know, you'd wait for your cue because you'd never know what he was gonna do. And I think he feeds off people's energy, and I think that had a lot to do with how he performed on our show. I mean, he would do our show. On the weekends, he would fly all over the country and do stand-up, and it's not like he would do stand-up, then go back to the hotel and get some sleep. He would party...

Tavis: That's the way Jamie is.

Beauvais-Nilon: Until the next day. And then he'd come to work, and he'd--he's just unbelievable. I'm a big fan. A big fan.

Tavis: Yup. Well, we all are. Tell me, though, what you think that means or what it portends for people in this business who start at one place, and the powers that be try to limit their skill, their talent? I mean, Jamie broke through all of that.

Beauvais-Nilon: Absolutely, and I think that's the beauty of the business. You never really know. You can go from Tyler Perry, being, you know, homeless, to having a movie that made 25 million, number one, you know, first weekend out. I think, also, you have Tom Hanks from 'Bosom Buddies' to double Oscar--

Tavis: That's a real story right there. Yeah. If you can play 'Bosom Buddies' and win Oscars back to back, there's hope for everybody.

Beauvais-Nilon: Absolutely. One day they'll say, 'Oh, my God! She started on 'Models Inc.' So I'm waiting for my turn.

Tavis: By any standard of measurement, you have already done well because you came to this country from Haiti. I want to talk about Haiti in just a second. But you came here from Haiti at the age of 7, did not speak any English...

Beauvais-Nilon: Nope.

Tavis: And here's a shout out for PBS--learns to speak English watching...

Beauvais-Nilon: 'Sesame Street.' Absolutely.

Tavis: Garcelle learned to speak English watching 'Sesame Street.'

Beauvais-Nilon: I sure did. I couldn't go to school right away, so I had to stay home until I knew enough English to be able to go to school to relate to the teachers or understand what they were saying, so, you know, I'd sit there, A--apple, B--banana, and I'd count with the count and that's what--that's all I could do. So...

Tavis: It's amazing. Haiti... is a place that's near and dear to my heart. I've been any number of times.

Beauvais-Nilon: Have you?

Tavis: My house is full of Haitian art.

Beauvais-Nilon: Is that right?

Tavis: I love this place. It's had, you know--this is the understatement of the year-- it's had its share of problems, obviously. Talk to me about your homeland and the turmoil that it's in even as we speak.

Beauvais-Nilon: It's really difficult. It's really difficult to watch what happens to Haiti on a daily basis, on a weekly basis, especially with the storm that they had not too long ago and how many people died. I have to say it sort of bothers me how we--and I'm saying we as Americans--embrace one country and not another. So I have a really hard time when we don't sort of give back to Haiti as we should. Or in just support, whether it's food, whether it's going in and really helping the government help the people, 'cause that's what we're lacking. So I have a hard time when other countries are in trouble and we will show up with all kinds of things to help out. So in that sense I'm really saddened by that. I just think that because Haiti doesn't have anything to export, it's almost like we can't benefit from it, so, therefore, why help? Which is unfortunate. But I'm hoping in time things will change, 'cause it has to. It's such a beautiful island. The people, as you know, are so proud. Whether you're poor, you hold your head up high, and you smile through the day, and you do the best you can with what you've got. So I'm hoping that things will turn around.

Tavis: I often wonder how the people of that small island nation keep going. To your point, they are a very proud people. But they are celebrating 200 years of independence. For those who know their black history--the old Toussaint L'Ouverture story--200 years of independence of this nation--and yet the struggles they go through every day. I don't know how one celebrates. How does one celebrate 200 years of independence?

Beauvais-Nilon: I think you have to. I think you have to. Otherwise, you'll just go mad. And I just think that you have to sort of see the bright side of things, you know? You're alive, you have your family--the ones that are still intact. And you just sort of make the best of it. Because otherwise what else are you gonna do? You know?

Tavis: Tell me--when you came here at 7, you were watching 'Sesame Street' on PBS and learned to speak English, when did you decide--I raise this 'cause there's so many talented folk in Haiti from the music to the art to the culture--when did you decide that you were going to do this and, in fact, that you could do this?

Beauvais-Nilon: Well, you know what, I think it was sort of decided for me. People would say to my mom, 'She should be a model. She's pretty,' blah, blah, blah. So I think that sort of started the ball rolling. But I wanted to be a journalist. I wanted to do exactly what you're doing. Um, so for me it was--

Tavis: Stay over there. I don't need the competition! Ha ha ha! Please stay on that side.

Beauvais-Nilon: So for me I think it just sort of evolved. But it's been great. And the reason why it evolved is because my mom was smart enough to bring us to this country to give us, you know, opportunities so that we had choices of what we wanted to do. It wasn't just about getting pregnant and getting married and having kids--not in that order. But you know what I mean. Opportunity. That's why we're in America.

Tavis: Given what's happened with Haiti these days, you are fortunate. You got in, though. And that's a whole other conversation for another show. How 'bout we make a pact? I won't try to act, you don't try to host a talk show.

Beauvais-Nilon: Ha ha! I don't know... I don't know!

Tavis: See? Ingrates! Ingrates! You let 'em on your show...

Beauvais-Nilon: In your own house I'm doing this!

Tavis: You let 'em on your show, and they still won't commit to not challenging.

Beauvais-Nilon: Don't worry about me. You got it goin' on.

Tavis: You're doing the same thing. Nice to have you on the program. The show 'Eyes' premieres on ABC starring Garcelle this Wednesday night. Check it out. Nice to see you, Garcelle.

Beauvais-Nilon: Nice to see you, too.

Tavis: That's our show for tonight. I'll see you back here next time on PBS. Until then, thanks for watching. Good night from Los Angeles and as always, keep the faith.