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Tavis: So, fans of TV's "Lost' don't have long to wait to find out what will happen in one of prime time TV's most intriguing storylines this spring, that, of course, the fate of Michael, as played by this guy, actor Harold Perrineau. The Brooklyn native is part of a stellar cast from the hit ABC series. On Wednesday night, the season concludes with a special two-hour episode. Here now, a scene from "Lost.'

Tavis: Powerful scene, powerful scene. How you living, Harold?

Harold Perrineau: Oh, I'm good, man. (Laughs)

Tavis: Good to see you, man.

Perrineau: I'm just glad to be here, man. I'm just glad to be here.

Tavis: I'm glad to have you back.

Perrineau: Yeah, yeah.

Tavis: I'm afraid to tune in (laughs) to see what it is that you will do. You can't get between a father and a child.

Perrineau: You can't do that.

Tavis: Or a mother and a child. They will do anything.

Perrineau: Anything man.

Tavis: To protect that child, get that child back. So I know you ain't gonna tell me what's about to happen, but.

Perrineau: (Laughs) I can't tell you what happens.

Tavis: See? I knew that.

Perrineau: And you my man. You my man, I would love to tell you.

Tavis: You won't even whisper in my ear, even?

Perrineau: (Laughs) I'll tell you after the show.

Tavis: You'll tell me after the show? Okay, okay. (Laughs)

Perrineau: But it's coming to the conclusion, and so, like, that's what a father does, whatever he has to do. And so, that's what he's done. He's already started off by shooting those two girls, and that wasn't so cool, but.

Tavis: So you took two people out already.

Perrineau: And one (unintelligible).

Tavis: You're just trying to get your son back.

Perrineau: That's it, yeah, yeah. And so people keep asking me, like, how do you feel about that? And you don't feel good about shooting anybody, or pretending to shoot anybody. But you do have to understand, if somebody took your child, then you might go that far.

Tavis: So Hawaii is a bit different than Brooklyn.

Perrineau: (Laughs) Just a little bit.

Tavis: Just a little? (Laughs) A little more greenery. Well, there's greenery in Brooklyn. Maybe not Manhattan, but Brooklyn.

Perrineau: Well, it's interesting. Actually, there were times when I was in Hawaii, and it reminded me of Brooklyn, because when I grew up in Brooklyn, it was really, drugs hadn't become so invasive, and stuff like that. So there were a lot of families, that whole village to raise your child thing. So anywhere I went, there was somebody who was a parent to me.

And that's very much what Hawaii is like. It's a very family-oriented place. And so I feel really safe with my daughter there, and, like, there are still kids still running around the streets. And so there are many times it actually reminded me of Brooklyn in that sense.

Tavis: How's your family? I assume you moved your family to Hawaii.

Perrineau: Yeah.

Tavis: So how are they dealing with being, it's one thing for Daddy to go to work. You ain't never home, anyway. (Laughs) You're shooting 16 hour days. How's your family dealing with Hawaii versus Brooklyn?

Perrineau: Well, I tell you, the first thing was, I said to them, you guys, we were in Los Angeles. I said, you guys should stay, and I'll just commute. They're like, you're going to Hawaii? No, no.

Tavis: Yeah. (Laughs)

Perrineau: So they wanted to come over. (Laughs) And then when we got there, three months in, they were, like, is this it?

Tavis: Yeah. (Laughs)

Perrineau: Like, I said, I told you you should have stayed.

Tavis: The beach again?

Perrineau: Exactly right. (Laughs) Exactly right.

Tavis: This TV show is remarkably successful. And what just occurred to me, (word) and I were talking about this, the producer, before you walked on the set a moment ago, is that we've been on - this is the third season of our being on the air. And so over the last couple of seasons, we've had the occasion to have a number of persons from your show, "Lost,' sitting in this chair. And by my count now, you are the third person of color, which hits me. I've had three people of color from that one show.

Perrineau: Oh, yeah.

Tavis: A prime time show, no less. A hit show, no less.

Perrineau: (Laughs) Right.

Tavis: Don't tell me people of color can't do the prime time thing, when if you put them in a show that ain't a Black show, that it won't work.

Perrineau: Right, right.

Tavis: That's what I say. What's Harold Perrineau say?

Perrineau: (Laughs) No, like, I say that very same thing. There is always a struggle, when you're in prime time, about, like, screen time, and non-screen time. No matter what color you are. And so, but as African-Americans, we still have that struggle. It's like, use us, use us, use us. And these guys have been really, really good, to give a lot of us a really great storyline.

Adewale has a great, great storyline. And this thing with Michael and Walt, that's a really fantastic storyline. And yeah, and I think, like, come on. Let's start doing it. And, like, why are we still waiting for Shonda...

Tavis: Rhimes.

Perrineau: Rhimes is her last name, right?

Tavis: Yeah, on 'Grey's Anatomy.'

Perrineau: And she's doing a great thing on 'Grey's Anatomy.' And, like, yeah, like, what are we all waiting for? Like, (laughs) why do we have to keep, like, answering that question? Like, we are great on TV.

Tavis: The storyline, back to your character, Michael, on "Lost,' the storyline kind of reminded me of, there's a parallel to your own life that I was reading about in preparing for our conversation. You were in New York, but were away from your family when the tragedy of 9/11 hit.

Perrineau: I was.

Tavis: So there was, your family is in Manhattan, there's a separation between you and them. You're trying to get back after the tragedy hits. The parallel here, you're trying to get your son back over here.

Perrineau: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tavis: Trying to get back to your son on "Lost,' trying to get back to your...

Perrineau: Daughter in, yeah.

Tavis: Back in New York. Did that ever occur to you at all? Or is it my warped mind?

Perrineau: No, no, no. You thought of it, and for me, like, that whole 9/11 thing, because they were really, really close to it. My daughter's school was the closest to the Towers, and so my wife, when the plane was coming across, her plane grabbed her and pushed her down to the ground, because they plane was gonna hit the school. That's how close they were.

And so they were that close. It hadn't occurred to me in that respect, because that's stuff that we've been trying to just sort of deal with and get over, and sort of move on forward from. But what did occur is, like, if someone had taken my daughter, and there were times that I could substitute her in for him. And it puts you in a really funny place. It puts you in a really, really funny place.

Tavis: How does, and if I'm getting too personal, tell me, and I'll back up off of this. How do you, as a family, deal with that when you're that close and you survive, thankfully, but you're still struggling, trying to get back to them, knowing that the school is the closest thing to the Towers. How do you, it's been a few years now. You guys still dealing with that? Or has the family emotionally moved past that, or how do you?

Perrineau: We're not totally past it. Like, my daughter didn't have a fear of flying before. Now she has a little fear of flying, or enclosed spaces. She has a really interesting thing, a separation thing if I'm not around too long. So those things still sort of linger on. Most of the initial trauma, like, they've gotten over now. Just took a little time. Fortunately, in January, no February of 2002, I was doing 'The Matrix,' and we were shooting in Australia.

So I was fortunate enough to be able to bring them, like, to the other side of the world. Just to give them a chance to calm down. Because we still lived in the area, and the burning was going on for months. And so, no matter where we went or what we did, it was still so present in our psyche. But it just took time. But there are small remnants of it, like, here and there.

Like I said, certain enclosed spaces, my daughter flips out. My wife was really, really scared to fly. We had to take a boat from Los Angeles to Hawaii, because she wouldn't fly. Yeah, yeah. It's a five-hour flight. It's a 12 day boat ride. (Laughs) See what I'm saying? So you have to deal.

Tavis: I hear you. Yeah. (Laughs) And I was just about to say, I was just about to say, until you told that story, that if you were interested in adopting a son, I'm open to being adopted by you. (Laughs) 'Cause if you're taking your family to Australia and Hawaii, I'd love to be adopted by you. But I got to ride on boats (unintelligible).

Perrineau: Yeah, you don't wanna do that. (Laughs)

Tavis: (unintelligible) You know what? I think I'll just stay home. I'll just stay. (Laughs)

Perrineau: You wanna let that go, man.

Tavis: I don't need you to adopt me, I'll stay by myself.

Perrineau: But thank you. (Laughs)

Tavis: Yeah, you're welcome. (Laughs)

Perrineau: I appreciate it.

Tavis: This is a long way from, well, I shouldn't say a long way. But it's a slight departure, I guess, from what you thought you were going to be. People who don't know your background do not know that you started out as a dancer.

Perrineau: Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tavis: Alvin Ailey, no less.

Perrineau: At Alvin Ailey's.

Tavis: Not just a dancer.

Perrineau: (Laughs) No.

Tavis: I can dance, but Alvin Ailey, that's a whole nother thing.

Perrineau: I was at the school; I didn't get to dance with the company. I did, like, some sort of third company stuff that, like, we did lecture demonstrations in colleges, and stuff like that. And truth be known, I actually always wanted to be an actor. I just thought, because dancing came, like, I started it first, and I thought it would be my in to entertainment, and then that would be the way it would go.

So I danced for a really long time. And then when I realized that nobody was going to think of me as an actor unless I started acting, I just had to stop. I really just had to put it - I really had to just put it to the side. I went back to waiting tables, went back to doing that whole thing, and then back to school, and started refocusing, and started small. But yeah, it's a big difference from dance and I'm in the background. (Laughs)

Tavis: But it worked out, though. Nice investment.

Perrineau: Yeah, yeah. I think so.

Tavis: Busing those tables paid off.

Perrineau: Yeah. (Laughs) I think it paid off.

Tavis: (Laughs) Literally, if not figuratively. I wanna ask you one last thing before I let you out of here. I was reading an article the other day about Black people and their hair.

Perrineau: Okay.

Tavis: And the article specifically was focused on a couple of people who had gotten in trouble, had to argue to hold on to their jobs, because that age old story, the employer didn't like the way their hair looked, and brothers and sisters get caught up in that all the time. I thought about that in preparing for our conversation. 'Cause you have had so many distinct roles, and part of what makes your, part of, aside from your brilliant acting, part of what makes your roles so distinct is that you do this hair thing so unusually different.

The kind of hair, the look you rocked in 'Oz' was unique. This look is a little bit unique. But the hair thing, of course, you're an actor, too. But the hair thing has allowed you to do stuff that's a little bit different in a variety of roles. Yet other people in real life oftentimes get penalized for doing what you've been able to do on screen.

Perrineau: Well, that's interesting that you say that I've gotten to do it. Because I felt more often than not, I was being penalized because of my hair. So the roles I got to do were a sort of in spite of, do you know what I mean? Like, when I first started growing my ‘locks, every time I'd talk to somebody, they'd say, well, you couldn't work in an office, and you can't really do this. I couldn't do anything that was historical, do you know? Because the locks weren't there. And so what was offered to me were things that were either more contemporary, or just a little left of center.

And so, that gave me an opportunity to do that kind of thing. And then I thought, at some point, I want to explore more. And so I cut my hair; but then I wound up on this island, and so. (Laughs) (sounds like) They just say, let me comb my hair. I was trying. Dude, just let me pick it out. (Laughs)

Tavis: You know what? If this is what it takes to stay in prime time on ABC, leave your hair just like this.

Perrineau: I will do it. (Laughs)

Tavis: Just like it. Harold, nice to see you.

Perrineau: Hey, thank you for having me back, Tavis, I appreciate it.

Tavis: Always glad to have you around. Two-hour season finale Wednesday night. "Lost' on ABC. Thanks for watching the program. You can catch me 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., and as always, keep the faith.