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• Mr. Akinnuoye-Agbaje's bio
• Article on Mr. Akinnuoye-Agbaje
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Tavis: He's been called one of prime time television's most intriguing new characters on the show named Best Drama earlier this week at the Golden Globes. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje is one of the newest cast members on ABC's hit series, "Lost", joining his fellow cast mates as the mysterious Mr. Eko. Recently a new episode focused on the backstory for his character, Mr. Eko. From that episode, here now a scene from "Lost".

[A film clip is shown]

Tavis: I'll talk to you for fifteen minutes if you promise not to grab me like that (laughter).

Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Behave yourself (laughter).

Tavis: He said behave yourself. Nice to meet you. Glad to have you here, man.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Thank you very much.

Tavis: Congratulations on the Golden Globe earlier this week.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Thank you very much.

Tavis: That feels good, huh? After all that work you guys put in in Hawaii?

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: It really does. On an international scale, globally, you know, even better.

Tavis: I've been practicing, you know, for days to get this name right. Did I do okay? Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje. Was it close?

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Yeah, you did very good. Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje.

Tavis: How are you going to tell me I did good and then come behind me on every part of the name and correct me (laughter)?

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: I'm just giving you props, showing you how close you were.

Tavis: You did good, but here's how you really say it (laughter). Anyway, I'll keep working on it; I'll keep working on it. So what does your name mean, though?

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Well, Ade is the crown.

Tavis: Okay, Ade is the crown.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Wale means to arrive home. So the crown has arrived home. Akin is warrior or brave man. Nuoye is a brave man of chieftaincy and Agbaje means wealth and prosperity. So when you link that all together -

Tavis: - you got a whole lot going on, brother (laughter).

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Every time they call you, they remind you where you're headed to.

Tavis: Tavis just means talk show host, you know, something real simple. You got a whole lot going on with that. But that's fascinating. I think it matters to young people when their names actually mean something. I was just in a conversation the other day with some friends of mine about the ridiculous names that we give our kids. I ain't trying to cast aspersions on anybody if your kid's got some strange name. But I think it does mean something when you come out of a culture, out of a history, out of a people, where they give you a name that actually means something. You agree?

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: I mean, certainly for me. I mean, I'm Nigerian of origin and from the Yoruba tribe and the way that my ancestors have named their kin is to give you a sense of purpose. It's based on the environment that you're born into, the time, the family, like I said, born into chieftaincy, and then they state your purpose so that, every time they call you, you're reminded of why you're here. So for me, you know, sometimes it can be a little daunting, you know what I mean?

But having said that, you know, it really depends on how you wear it because when you look at a simple name like Bob, it's the spirit that you're infusing to the name, like Bob Marley. You know, once he lived in that name, everybody wanted to be called Bob. So I would say to anybody that it's about how you live, not necessarily what you're called, but my name has really helped me, you know. That's what I was given by my ancestors and that's what I'll carry to the grave.

Tavis: What connection now do you still have back to your native Nigeria? You still get back regularly? You still have family there? What's the connection these days now that you're this big television star on "Lost" in Hawaii?

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: (Laughter) I've always had family there. Half of them are in Nigeria, the other half in London. I don't get back as often as I would like, but last year I was there. I'll probably go definitely this summer. But, you know, with the work schedule, it makes it tricky and it's the other side of the world. But definitely, I get back there a couple times of times a year just for the resuscitation, you know, just to get back home.

Tavis: There are worse places to be working than Oahu (laughter). Glad that somebody gets to hang out in Hawaii on a regular basis. Tell me about filming in Hawaii and, more specifically, about this character, Mr. Eko, that we are now fixated on this television show called "Lost".

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Well, filming in Hawaii, you know, is a blessing. It's one of the most beautiful places on this planet. It has a very mystic energy which informs you as an actor. You basically don't have to do anything. Just soak it up. So, you know, it's a great location. It is far, you know what I mean? Because you are cut off; but that can actually help you because we shoot in a vacuum.

Tavis: It allows you to focus?

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: It does, you know what I mean? It's a very small island and you kind of melt into the community and because it's shot there and they feel very much part of it. So you basically just get on with the work and it's only when you come off the island back into Los Angeles or New York that you actually get the impact of what you're doing. So for me, it's kind of cool. It was quite a big transition from - you know, I'm a city boy. I was living in London, so this shift was quite overwhelming initially. But the workload helped that because I didn't have time to think about it. Just get on with it, you know.

Tavis: Tell me about this character, Mr. Eko. We're learning more about him.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Well, Eko, let's see. Well, first of all, the name, again, is something I came up with because I wanted to create some mystery. Eko means Legos. It comes from Eleko, Lord of Legos. The character's origin was Nigeria and Legos in particular.

Tavis: How cool is that, though, to name your own character? That's pretty cool.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Yeah, I think it's important because the name, when you're acting, it carries a lot of meaning, you know what I mean? So you got to fit in the shoe and the name that was originally considered, I couldn't quite fit into it. Plus it was from a different dialect in a tribe, so I wanted to keep it authentic. Then I just added the Mr. on to give it the mystery. The writers, fortunately, have been really great in adopting a lot of the suggestions. They wrote along with it. We kicked it off by keeping him very mysterious, less is more and we're building it up. He has a very, very compassionate, spiritual base. He was really brought on there to bring that spiritual element, to explore it.

Tavis: Yeah, I saw that when you slammed that guy against the tree (laughter). I saw that compassionate, spiritual base - bam, I saw that.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: (Laughter) But you know, compassion simply doesn't have to always be, you know, soft. Compassion is just truth in its purest sense. It can be smacking you up against a tree (laughter) or just, you know, saying it with a smile. It's all love.

Tavis: Well, lie to me. Don't tell me the truth if it means slapping me around. How important for you - I hear you now talk about this character and the thought and the spirit that went into the naming of the character and what you want to infuse the character with and keeping the character real - how important is it for you to have a venue, to have a vehicle, this character, as an opportunity to say something, whatever that something is? Because this isn't just something that you - this isn't willy-nilly for you, I sense.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: I mean, to me, art is a very serious occupation. To me, art is the weapon of the future because you affect a lot of people. You know, you have access to a lot of hearts and a lot of ears. For that reason, you have to take it seriously. That's my approach. So names, characters, it's very important to get it authentic because what I don't want to do is cheat the people. I want to be in the essence of the moment. I'm painstaking about details like that and I'll sacrifice and go to the nth degree to give, you know, the people what they really need, which is the truth. They need the real stuff, you know what I mean? You know, it's all very important. I approach it like an athlete really. I just get in the zone, shut everything out and just go there. And it's painful because a lot of the characters I've taken on are far away from who I am.

You know, I just played a 50 Cents movie, a guy called Majestic, which was a very difficult part to play because he's very dark and I'm in a very, very good space in my life. So it's very torturous to go through it, but you have to remember that you're serving a plot and you have to be truthful, authentic, and you have to do it with integrity even if it really does compromise who you are as an individual. You have to kind of separate them and that's what I actually learned on that project, you know what I mean?

Tavis: How many times a week do you - I'm making an assumption here - how many times a week do you get scripts to play Africans and how do you process that? Is that cool with you? Does that offend you? Do you want to move beyond that? Does it happen? Does it not happen?

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: I think the course of your life will inevitably take the shape that it will take. I've never limited myself. I think the industry has been limited in its perception of perhaps what black characters can do. But you know, on the conveyor belt, as I call it, you just take what you can get and you infuse and do the best you can with it until you get into a position where you can create, write and produce your own. I mean, all of the characters I've played are not what you're seeing on paper.

For instance, Adebisi in "Oz" was a two-line, an American gangbanger. But, you know, when I present myself to a cast and directors, I bring everything that I am. I did it in five different accents, you know, English, Jamaican, American, British, Upper British, Cockney, and I gave them a plethora and that enlightens them to the dimensions of what a black character can do. She just put me in the car right then, took me to the writer and said, "Do what you just did for me." I did the same and he was just checking off the list and said, "I'll take the African."

We took an African character to prison. What that did, it gave me creative license because they'd never written for a Nigerian character. They would write it in American and I would translate it, but I had free will. I can translate it up or down, wide or thin. They didn't know, but the beautiful thing is that they trusted me and I trusted them and that's when you get something beautiful and organic.

Tavis: I assume that, given the success of "Lost" in a place like Hawaii, on Oahu to be specific, speaking of your athletic reference earlier, that a big strapping brother like yourself finds it hard to hide in Hawaii. I assume you stand out (laughter).

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: You do. There's an attachment to the military because there's quite a strong military presence over there, so they usually think you're somebody from the military. But I remember the first time I went there, it was quite a shock really because it wasn't as friendly as I thought it was going to be. There weren't many smiles on the street. You know, that kind of took me back. I was like, oh, I thought I'd been through all of this already. Then four months later, you can't walk anywhere. Everybody wants a picture of just going out to the gym, so, yeah, it's hard to not go unnoticed.

Tavis: Don King has a phrase for that: "Only in America". They don't smile at you when you arrive, but you become a star and everybody loves you.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Everybody.

Tavis: Well, do your thing, man. I'll keep working on the name Adewale. I'll keep working on the rest of it. Nice to have you on the program. All the best to you.

Akinnuoye-Agbaje: Pleasure to meet you. Thank you very much.

Tavis: Check out "Lost". I love that show. That's our show for tonight. You can catch me on the weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. I'll see you back here next time, though, on PBS. Until then, good night from Los Angeles. Thanks for watching and, as always, keep the faith.