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Tavis: Faith Ford is a talented actress who starred for 10 seasons on the hit CBS series "Murphy Brown.' I loved that show, a show that earned her five Emmy nominations. She now stars on the ABC series "Hope and Faith.' Of course, she plays Hope, and not Faith, but anyway. The show kicks off its third season this Friday night at 9:00 PM. What a great gig. You get a show with your name in it, but they make you play the other character.

Faith Ford: Yeah. You know, I think they, at first I thought they did it to me just because I was getting to be that age, you know, the big 4-0. But no, it's really - it just worked out that way. I wanted to play Hope from the beginning. And it was just another character to me. And it didn't, you know - it didn't occur to me that my real name was the other character's name.

Tavis: Well, Hope, Faith, you can't go wrong with either one of those.

Ford: Yeah, they're all good.

Tavis: 'Hope and Faith,' that's all good stuff right there. Nice to have you on the program.

Ford: Thank you.

Tavis: Speaking of being 40, we have a couple things in common. One, I'm a day older than you, ha-ha. Like literally, one day.

Ford: Well, at least you're a day older.

Tavis: Yeah. (laughs)

Ford: I wouldn't want it to be the other way.

Tavis: I hadn't thought of it that way. I guess - that doesn't make you upset, does it?

Ford: No.

Tavis: So my birthday is the 13th of September - you're the 14th. I didn't know that, like a day apart. So happy belated birthday.

Ford: And same to you.

Tavis: Thank you. Second thing we have in common, I was part of the NFL at one point in my life.

Ford: You were?

Tavis: I didn't even tell you this.

Ford: Awesome.

Tavis: Now the audience is watching, like, wait, wait, how can you and Faith both have been a part of the NFL? We're not talking about the National Football League. Something far more important. We are talking about...

Ford: National Forensics League.

Tavis: National Forensics League. So how was your experience in the NFL?

Ford: Well, I actually, my freshman year, I went to state.

Tavis: That's great. Your freshman year.

Ford: Yeah, in dramatic interpretation.

Tavis: That is good. Wow. State competition your first year.

Ford: Yeah. I didn't know what I was doing, that's why. I've decided that that's my whole career. If I don't know what's going on, then I have success. If I try to figure it out, it's over, you know.

Tavis: That's not bad advice. Just go with the flow.

Ford: Yeah, I do.

Tavis: Yeah. I had a great time in the NFL. For those who are watching, they, what is this National Forensics thing? When we were both in high school, we were both involved in our speech teams, and there are all different categories you can compete in. I was in oratorical interpretation. You were in dramatic interpretation.

Ford: Dramatic, humorous interp, duet acting, prose, poetry.

Tavis: Oh, excuse me. You did like five categories.

Ford: I did. I did a lot. It was all my sister. She got me into it.

Tavis: Right. I just did one, just oratorical interpretation. I was the best in that one category.

Ford: I bet you were.

Tavis: Absolutely the best in that one category.

Ford: Did you do debate?

Tavis: I did debate in college. I went to Indiana University on a debate scholarship; I did speech team in high school, which - I got pretty good at that. And then I got a debate scholarship as a result of that to go to Indiana University. So I was on the debate team at IU for four years.

Ford: I bet you were good, too.

Tavis: Oh, very good. Very good.

Ford: I wouldn't have wanted to go into a room and compete with you.

Tavis: No, you don't want to debate me.

Ford: No, no.

Tavis: You really don't want to debate me. Of course, you got this drama thing down so it worked out. I wouldn't want to audition against you, either.

Ford: Oh, well.

Tavis: So we both have our areas of expertise, I guess.

Ford: Well, my thing about auditioning was always kind of interesting, because my nervous energy, I would get tired. I would yawn. Now, that was nerves for me. But other people, it would psych them out, because they thought it was like, piece of cake, when am I gonna be done? But it was really just nerves, and that's the way it sort of hit me.

Tavis: And you got in and you nailed it.

Ford: I guess I did. I mean, all of my focus and all of my energy had to go toward that very thing. And then I was exhausted, you know.

Tavis: We have a third thing in common. Before I get to that, though, let me, while - I wanna stay on this for a second. How fortunate have you been, speaking of your nerves and this, you know, process working well for you, 10 years on a primetime sitcom. Now three seasons on - that...

Ford: Doesn't happen very often. I know.

Tavis: Oh, God.

Ford: I know, I'm blessed. I'm very grateful. I think it's because, you know, really I don't think about what I can't do in life. I just sort of think about what can we do, what can we do. And I just feel like I have to just continue to work as long as I can. And when people are calling me up and asking me to come in and audition, even though I don't like the process of getting it. I - make myself go for it and do it. I'm just happy to be still working.

Tavis: Yeah. - That is a very fortunate thing, because there are a lot of people who never get a series, let alone one that runs for 10 seasons, and then out of that you get another one, so,

Ford: That's true. One of these days I'm going to decide to throw in the towel, or hang my hat up. I think I'm just going to sort of talk to young people, you know, start at home in Louisiana and stuff and sort of help them, you know, go the right direction.

Tavis: Yeah. Well, there's that third thing we have in common. We're both from down South. I'm born in Mississippi, hit hard by Hurricane Katrina, certainly. You were born in Louisiana. You were there the day before Hurricane Katrina hit.

Ford: Right.

Tavis: And you got out. And you're going back there tomorrow.

Ford: Right.

Tavis: So tell me about what it was like, first of all, growing up in Louisiana before we get to the disaster.

Ford: Well, growing up in Louisiana, as we know it's very diverse and - it's actually more so than I think Los Angeles, really, I mean, and New York. I mean, the fact that we all sort of, there's not sort of - there's the rich certainly, but then I just find that everybody else is sort of on a different level. We all - everybody goes to church on Sunday, depending on what church you go to. And then it's sort of, you know, it's the South. It's the typical South. But New Orleans is very different. It stands alone. I mean, it's certainly a very European city. Everybody does their own thing.

But I found New Orleans after sort of my senior year in high school, I started going down there and going to beauty school and finishing school and stuff down there, and I became really attached to it. And then I started to go home and visit New Orleans, and I'd go to Jazz Fest and things like that. So I felt like I was just so proud of that New Orleans. And the thing that's freaked me out all along is, what's going to happen to the French Quarter if we have a big hurricane? I've always, it's just because you know when you drive into New Orleans, you drive down into it.

And people don't realize that it's very hard to get to it anyway, because it's all surrounded by water, you know, different ways. You have to cross bodies of water. But I think there was a big breakdown, and I think we'll find out. And rather than point fingers, I would just like to get involved and see how I can help, because I think that people need help right now. And if we all sit around and argue about what was done wrong, I mean, all these poor people that are displaced right now, they need our help. So that's really what - all my energy on the side is, that's where it's gonna go.

Tavis: Now you were born, your hometown is - Pineville?

Ford: Pineville, Alexandria.

Tavis: Okay. How far is that from New Orleans?

Ford: It's about three hours north. And we have about, I think we have three or four shelters, plus we have all the churches that have taken in people. And they're just trying to find places for people to live right now. It's real hardcore stuff. And we can all sit back and sort of, you know, we can send money, but that's not really enough for me.

I have to really sort of do more. And I think that's what I'm going to do. And it's going to be a long-term fixing. And I'm hoping that we'll come back better. You know, we'll find our problems that were there, money's going to be hopefully put in the right places now. And I'm just hoping there will be a solution.

Tavis: So what's on your agenda for tomorrow, when you go back tomorrow? What - are you doing specifically tomorrow and the coming days?

Ford: Well, tomorrow is just flying. But when I finally get there, Thursday and Friday is going to be about me checking with my parents. We were starting a house down there and stuff, and seeing if that can continue on. Because it's very important for jobs to continue, life to continue as usual, because it's almost like an attack, you know, a natural terrorist attack, if you - will.

So, we don't want to stop that process. But I'm going to be visiting shelters and just finding out really exactly what is going to be needed. And I'm bringing gifts and things. And I've sent money, but it's important for me to sort of talk and meet people and just find out exactly, look in their faces, you know. And I know I'm just going to be crying my eyes out pretty much, and doing a lot of prayer, you know, because I think prayers are very important right now.

Tavis: So if you're watching down there in Louisiana, keep the faith. Hope is on the way.

Ford: Yeah.

Tavis: Anyway, I thought that was cute. But anyway.

Ford: Yeah, or keep the hope. Faith is on the way.

Tavis: Yeah, exactly, it works either way.

Ford: Either way, yeah.

Tavis: It works either way. Tell me whether or not being from the South, I've talked to folk on this program over the years who are from the South. And for some of them, it helped them, others felt that they were hurt by it. Billy Bob Thornton was on this program not long ago, who's from Arkansas. Had a long conversation with him about what it meant to be from the South being from Arkansas. What's your experience - been in this business being from the South? Have you had an accent you've had to deal with? Have you had certain ways people didn't quite...

Ford: I had to immediately get rid of my accent because I wouldn't have been able to work, actually. And I kind of miss it sometimes. But I can use it anytime I want. But I did have to get rid of my accent. And I can remember my first audition for a southern part. It was very funny, the director asked me to be a little more southern. And I said, well, gee, you know, that's really a problem, because there's the that southern everyone thinks is southern, and there's the real southern, and they're really very different.

Everybody thinks that the South is like a Tennessee Williams play, you know, especially the southern belles, you know. They think everybody talks like that. And now with the influence of MTV and - all of that, kids just don't talk like - you know, people don't talk as much like that anymore. So I think in that way we've closed the gap a bit. Sure, there's still, you know, the difference in class and in race and stuff, but not as much I think as you would think.

Like, for example, one of my favorite, favorite friends at home was - she was our dance line sponsor in high school, Sylvia Davis. I have to give her credit. She was my favorite. And we're actually friends now. We still correspond by email and stuff.

Tavis: That's cool.

Ford: And she is now the vice principal of our school, and she's African American and a woman. And I think that's just large, because you have to know that our high school mascot - we were the Pineville Rebels. So, talk about the irony there. But she stuck with it, and she is courageous and a magnificent, you know, woman. And I do believe that being raised in the South, when it's right up in front of you, and you see the movies and you watch it and you see what is going on. I think that really, one of my best friends will tell me, he said, you know, certainly it's there, you know.

But I don't like to - we like to turn no's into yes's in our life, and that's the way we live it. And I'm there to stand up for them all the way, you know. So, actually, it's funny because I sent one of my friends, his name is Patrick Gudo (ph), and I sent him over to Gucci to return a purse for me a couple of years ago. I couldn't get over there. I said, Will you do this?' And, it was messed up or something. This was a nice story and everything, and I went in and he was sitting there calling me, calling me.

And he said, 'I can't, no one seems to want to wait on me.' And I said, 'What's the problem?' He said, 'I don't know.' And so, I said, 'Well let me talk to somebody.' I got really upset. So, I called and I called the store and stuff, and they said, well, they said, you know, I said, 'I have got a friend there, and no one is waiting on him.' 'Where is he? Where is he? Where is he?' So they found him - and they sort of immediately helped him. But it definitely exists. You know. To pretend that it doesn't is sort of - but they helped him right away, but...

Tavis: Yeah, after your phone call.

Ford: Yeah.

Tavis: Yeah. Well, let's hope that out of this tragedy in Louisiana, for that matter across the country, we can start to get a handle on these race and class issues. I think we will.

Ford: I think we will.

Tavis: I hope so, hope so.

Ford: I feel good about it.

Tavis: I should tell you that, if I didn't say this already, the third season of "Hope and Faith" premieres this Friday on ABC. So you got a busy week.

Ford: Yeah.

Tavis: Going down South and a new season starting on Friday.

Ford: I'm going to visit everybody and...

Tavis: Tell your Mom and them I said hello.

Ford: I will.

Tavis: All right. Nice to see you, Faith.

Ford: Thank you. Nice to see you, too.

Tavis: Glad to have on the program.

Ford: Thanks.

Tavis: That's our show for tonight. You can catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. See you back here next time on PBS. Until then, good night from L.A. Thanks for watching, and, as always, you'll love this, keep the faith.