E-mail a friendDennis Haysbert
airdate October 3, 2008
Dennis Haysbert is best known for his role as President Palmer in the hit TV series 24. Now starring in the CBS action-drama, The Unit, he has film credits that include Waiting to Exhale, Far From Heaven—both earning him critical raves—and Goodbye Bafana. A Northern California native, Haysbert declined various sports scholarships, opting to study at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. He's a certified deep sea diver, avid environmentalist and spokesperson for the National Leadership Commission on AIDS.
The Unit star discusses how his early career was inspired by Sidney Poitier, Marlon Brando and Laurence Olivier. (3:04)
Full interview. (12:59)
Dennis Haysbert
Tavis: I'm pleased to welcome Dennis Haysbert back to this program. The talented actor, of course, starred on the groundbreaking series, "24," before attacking his current starring role on "The Unit." The action drama kicked off its fourth season last week and airs Sunday nights at ten on CBS. Here now a scene from "The Unit."
[Clip]
Tavis: Dennis, good to see you again, man.
Dennis Haysbert: Good to see you.
Tavis: You been all right?
Haysbert: I've been good. Working hard.
Tavis: Yeah. That's a good thing, though.
Haysbert: That is a very good thing.
Tavis: Especially for a brother in this business.
Haysbert: Tell it. (Laughter)
Tavis: (Laughter) Working hard is a good thing.
Haysbert: Yes, it is.
Tavis: I'm gonna put you on the spot before I talk about "The Unit."
Haysbert: Sure.
Tavis: Jonathan, I don't know if you can zoom in on Dennis's right wrist; actually two wrists. I was just in a conversation about these presidential debates. I saw Obama and McCain got into the fight about who was wearing what wrist band.
Haysbert: Right.
Tavis: You know, who had what soldier's wrist band on. You got four bracelets on here. I'm counting four. Three on one wrist, one on this wrist. Do you know what these things are? Why do you wear four of them? I'm just curious.
Haysbert: You know what? All of a sudden, I just -
Tavis: - just tell me what they are. I'm just curious.
Haysbert: Well, the copper and the silver one is for my tendons. I play golf, so it strengthens your hand so you don't have to hold on and squeeze the club so much. This one's magnets. This is a Cat's Eye I got from Japan on a trip I took this year, and this one's from Lance Armstrong's "Live Strong" for cancer research and everything else. But I just love the name, "Live Strong."
Tavis: "Live Strong" is cool, yeah.
Haysbert: So it has a number of different meanings for me.
Tavis: That makes sense. I like that. I was just curious. I said, "Brother got four bracelets on. Let me see what this is all about." I was arguing with Chris, my producer. We literally were arguing in the dressing room. I could not believe that this is the fourth season of "The Unit."
Haysbert: Yeah.
Tavis: And I argued about that because it just seemed like yesterday that you were playing the president on "24" and now you're four seasons into this show.
Haysbert: Four seasons, yeah.
Tavis: Does it seem like four seasons to you?
Haysbert: Well, no. No, it doesn't. You know, I miss "24" tremendously, but, you know, we know how that ended and that was a shame. But "The Unit" is something that - you know, the character of Jonas Blane is just a magnificent character. It's based, you know, basically on Eric L. Haney who wrote the book that the show is based on, so ostensibly I was playing him, which is another milestone for me because, you know, he's this red-headed Georgian.
Tavis: Exactly. (Laughter) Little bit different, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Haysbert: A little bit different.
Tavis: For those who haven't seen the show, in four seasons, a lot of people have and it's doing remarkably well. The story line on the show is, and the character you play is about?
Haysbert: He's a Command Sergeant Major of an Elite Special Forces Unit that works undercover and covertly around the world to protect United States' interests and those of our allies.
Tavis: What do you make of the fact - we've had this conversation before and I recall having this conversation when you were doing "24" and now here you are on another show. I was joking earlier that you consistently in this business get a chance to work, which is a beautiful thing as a Black man or any actor, for that matter. But you also get a chance to play some high-quality roles that aren't necessarily written usually for African American men. So what do you make of that?
Haysbert: Well, a lot of luck, a lot of visualization.
Tavis: Yeah.
Haysbert: I know what I want and I ask for it. I know that may sound a little crazy or whatever, but, you know, you got to ask the universe for what you want or you have to take what the universe gives you. You know, I wanted strong, powerful roles that people could look up to and enjoy and be entertained.
Tavis: Does that mean that you would not accept roles that allowed you to break out of those strong, bold characters? That is, some point in your career, your fancy might not be tickled by something that's dramatically different from a strong, powerful -
Haysbert: - well, that depends. It depends on, you know, what the story is because the story is the thing, and if it's a good story and it's, you know, an interesting character. There are certain characters, no. There are certain characters I'm not gonna play. I'm not gonna play a pedophile.
Tavis: Yeah.
Haysbert: You know, I'm not gonna play someone that believes in incest or anything like that. I'm not gonna play those roles. They got guys that will play those and, God love them, they have something to say within those roles. You know, I could have flown here on my own helicopter for the roles I've turned down.
There's a whole lot of actors, white, Black, Japanese, whatever, that are playing roles that are, you know, suited for them and they're making a living and everything else, and I choose to make a living doing something that I believe in.
Tavis: So during those periods which I suspect that you had because everybody seems to have them no matter how big a star you are or have become, during those periods where you could not land those strong, powerful roles, the fortitude to endure those, shall we say, dry spells came from where?
Haysbert: They came from family. You know, they came from my mother and my father. You know, if you don't stand for something, you'll stand for anything. I don't know if that quote was exactly right.
Tavis: If you stand for something, you'll fall for anything.
Haysbert: You'll fall for anything, you know, so I've always chosen to stand. No matter what kind of adversity was there, you know, I'd find something else to do. See, I have no ego when it comes to - you know, if I got to make a living, I'll go out and, you know, stab papers on the side of the road and put them in a bag. I'll go and become a grocery clerk.
Tavis: Have there been times in your career when you had to do stuff like that?
Haysbert: Not in my career. But in the beginning, I was a grocery clerk, you know, when I was going to school and there were times when I was just out of high school, you know, getting work, you know, going to school. Yeah, I picked up papers off the side of the highway. You know, it's work.
Tavis: Yeah. (Laughter) There's dignity in all work, they say.
Haysbert: Absolutely.
Tavis: Yeah. The acting thing for you, to your point now about the various things you've had to do prior to becoming an actor, the acting thing for you came when, where, how? How did you know this was -
Haysbert: - well, God, I think I knew when I was ten years old what I wanted to do. I saw the movies I would watch and the movies I liked and the actors that I liked. There was a time when I was growing up around 11 or 12; I had pictures of Sidney Poitier, Montgomery Clift, Brando and Olivier on my wall. You know, I always loved James Earl Jones. I just loved strong, you know, wonderful actors.
Paul Newman, God rest his soul, you know, I loved his work. Gene Hackman, Clint Eastwood. I mean, all these guys, they were all strong, especially Clint Eastwood because he was 6-4. Everybody would tell me, "Oh, man, you're too tall to be an actor." I'd say, "Look at Clint. Clint's doing it. I can do that." (Laughter)
Tavis: (Laughter) I know you got called arrogant a whole bunch of times. Got a 6-4 Black man with Brando, Poitier (laughter), Olivier on his wall, Hackman. Yeah, like these guys are a bunch of slouches, yeah.
Haysbert: No, these were - but I had this when I was a young kid, not so much Hackman because I was a little older when I discovered him. But those three men, especially Poitier, Brando, Olivier, you know, those were the kings of their time and I didn't know that. I just knew I liked their -
Tavis: - liked their stuff, yeah.
Haysbert: I just liked what they did, and especially Sidney. There was one thing that resonated with me in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner," which is one of my favorite films. He looked at his dad who was a postman. He said, "Dad, you always looked at yourself as a Black man and I always looked at myself as a man." I sat back and I said, "Okay, I got that."
I mean, this is what I am when I come through the room. Everybody sees that. What they don't see is what's here and what's here. That's what I want to project and I said, "Okay, these are the roles I want to play." I would write them down, and I did do this. I had no idea that I would ever do it. I'd say, "I'd love to play the President of the United States" and I wrote that down.
By the third year of "24," I said, you know, I'm getting a little tired of this suit. You know, I want to do some action. I want to be Jack Bauer for a while, you know. I want to do something. I want to get out there. I want to run and gun and protect the world, save the world, whatever. Then "The Unit" comes up. You know, visualization is a powerful thing, you know. I believe in it wholeheartedly.
Tavis: I assume by now in this business, you've met Poitier more than once.
Haysbert: Yes.
Tavis: Take me back. He's a personal friend of mine. I love him to death. Take me back to the first time you met him in a moment where you had a chance to say something to him, and tell me you didn't get tongue-tied after looking up to him all these years. You said what the first time, "Humina humina humina" (laughter)?
Haysbert: Well, you know, I met him on three different occasions. One, when was I think about 18 or 19. I was going to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and I was an extra. One of the teachers brought me in on set. I think it was at Warner Bros. at the time and he brought me in to meet him.
It was Malcolm Atterbury, Jr. Malcolm Atterbury, Jr.'s father, Malcolm Atterbury, was a very good friend of Sidney's - Mr. Poitier's. Excuse me sir. I performed, you know, all the plays, I'd done scene study on "A Patch of Blue" and everything else and, yes, you're right. I was tongue-tied.
Tavis: (Laughter) I figured we'd be getting to that at some point.
Haysbert: The next time, I just met him, you know, in passing at a dance recital. I think it was - they were here a couple of years ago. And from there, I had lunch with him because I was going to South Africa to play Nelson Mandela and he had played him and we sat and had lunch at Wolfgang Puck's.
Tavis: I see it, yeah. Before I let you go here, we talked earlier about you're playing the president on "24." Speaking of visualization, maybe Obama was watching you. The guy's got a shot at this now.
Haysbert: Well, I'll tell you something. Few people know this, but unless they go back and read the article that I said this in, the first season - I think it was the first. No, the first season, I was a senator. The second season, I was doing an interview and I had become the president. They asked me, "Do you think you'll see a Black president in your lifetime?" I said, "I think it will be probably 2012." They said, "Well, why do you think that?"
I said, "Well, you know, I'm playing the president now and I take it very seriously and, if I inspire but one person to walk through that door, to have the chutzpah, that burning sensation in their stomach to become the president which is a tough job - I don't know if I would really want to do in real life - then I will have done my job." So everything I do has to have some sort of purpose, if only in my own mind.
Tavis: Yeah, that's important.
Haysbert: Hopefully, it's coming four years before, you know, my prophecy. (Laughter)
Tavis: You're only four years off, but who's counting? Anyway, "The Unit" on CBS starring one Dennis Haysbert. Glad to have you back, as always. Good to see you, man.
Haysbert: Thank you. It's good to be back.
Tavis: My pleasure to have you.
Back to October 3, 2008