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David Harewood [1965-0] English

Rank: 102
Actor

David Harewood, MBE is a British actor. He trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He is known for playing David Estes, the Deputy Director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, in the Showtime series Homeland, and Hank Henshaw/J'onn J'onzz on Supergirl.

Architecture, Smile, Teacher

Quote	Tags	Rank
Before recording my 'Homeland' audition on my iPhone in my bedroom in Streatham, I hadn't worked or had an audition in the U.K. for nine months.		101
Fatherhood is a joy. I feel very lucky to have a family. It gives you a perspective on things.		102
At school, I was the classroom clown - I was always being thrown out for being naughty. Before I left, a teacher called me in and suggested I became an actor.	Teacher	103
For all its problems, I found South Africa a beautiful country, interesting and inspiring.		104
I remember coming back to the U.K. after spending five months in Charlotte for 'Homeland,' and I just found myself just wandering around London. There's nothing like it - the buildings, the architecture, the sense of history, the sense of culture - there really is nothing like it.	Architecture	105
When I was sent the script for 'Homeland,' I didn't think anything of it. Three months later, my manager rang and said: 'They are interested in you.' I read it and I realised, 'Yes, I do want this.' Then I got an email saying I'd got it.		106
My parents are very proud of my success but still worry, as I'm in a profession where there is no guarantee of work. They have always supported my decision to go into acting, but there have been tough times work-wise.		107
British people are surprised that I'm British!		108
I loved working with Mandy Patinkin, I have to say.		109
I always get this feeling on my last day of work that I'm never going to work again.		110
Everybody can, you know, go online, read about something, and have an opinion about something.		111
There are countless fantastic actors out there who are being denied the opportunity to play Broadway because they're not a name, and I think that's kind of wrong.		112
British people are surprised that I'm British! It's extraordinary, I get tweets every day from British people saying, 'I had no idea you were British.'		113
When my agent told me I had an audition for 'Friar Tuck,' I burst out laughing. It actually brought a bit of sunshine to my day. I was thinking: fat suit. I was thinking: shaving my head. It was so outlandish, such a crazy idea.		114
I've done so much different stuff, people kinda go, 'Do you live in Islington?' 'Did you used to go to so and so school?' And when I say I'm an actor, they don't believe me!		115
It would be extraordinary if the BBC were to make me the first black 'Doctor Who;' it would be extraordinary.		116
When I was in South Africa, I went for dinner with some friends, and I knew more about their history than they did - it just hasn't been told.		117
You have to have a certain single-mindedness if you want to reach the top of the profession, and I'm not sure if I've got that cold-eyed egomania that perhaps is needed to get to the top. So as long as I can keep paying the mortgage and keep myself interested, I'll be happy.		118
I do enjoy acting, but it is such a game. So for that reason, I don't think I'll ever leave London.		119
I love the stage, but it doesn't pay the mortgage.		120
Art is all about the experience. I could say I don't really relate to opera, but then you watch Placido Domingo, and you go, 'Blimey, look at that.'		121
I remember when I first came to Los Angeles being staggered by the range of roles open to me. These were leading parts in shiny new projects, and what always excited me was knowing there was a possibility that I could actually get these parts. I always had the impression that I had a chance.		122
I grew up in Birmingham, but my parents are originally from Barbados. My dad, Romeo, was a long-distance lorry driver, and my mother, Mayleen, worked in catering.		123
I am the youngest of four children - three boys and one girl. I don't think becoming an actor had anything to do with seeking attention, though. My relationship with my siblings when I was growing up was close and playful.		124
I do know in the 1960s comics, Martian Manhunter took on the form of a black man - that could have been influenced by the political climate back then.		125
American television, for all its faults, still has a black presence in shows and even in commercials. You'll see black people in automobile ads, black women starring on their own television shows. We don't see that on British television.		126
Without a doubt, the majority of historical period dramas tend to be told from a certain perspective. At least in America, black people have some visibility in period dramas, although it's usually in the form of slaves or servitude.		201
We've yet to deal with the uncomfortable history of England being involved in the transatlantic slave trade, whereas America has at least made some movies dealing with its racial history.		202
Before 'Homeland,' I had £80 in the bank and no idea what I was going to do. I seriously considered giving it all up and getting a job as a lorry driver.		203
In England, you feel like a member of the revolutionary guard the minute you even mention race. But I do think that the OscarsSoWhite phenomenon will have to reflect back on England. What people are essentially saying is that they want to see more diverse stories. It's not about putting three black people in the back of the shot.		204
Studio heads seem to be getting the message that there is not only an audience out there, but there is a desire for people to see people of colour in central roles and in authoritative roles.		205
Everyone in America thinks I'm American - and everyone in England seems to think I'm American.		206
I've been acting for 27 years, and anonymity has always been a part of what I do. Of course you get recognised every now and again, but 'Homeland' pushed me into a completely different strata, and that took me by surprise.		207
You don't just win an Oscar because you're a great actor. You campaign for that Oscar: you engage with it; you go on the David Letterman show, and you do the interviews, and that's how you get out there.		208
I'm a nut for these 'crime reality' shows. Things like 'Forensic Files,' 'Forensic Detectives.'		209
I grew up in an environment in Birmingham that was really multicultural, with black kids, Irish kids, Indian kids.		210
I can only appreciate the kind of work that goes into being a top drag queen. Ru Paul looks just astonishing as a woman. And he's got this fantastic turn of phrase. I find him hilarious.		211
I've been on 'Mastermind' - I tied for first place and then lost on the number of passes. My subject was the 'His Dark Materials' trilogy by Philip Pullman. If I did it again, I'd choose Shakespearian tragedies.		212
You always want to look your best at events like the Globes, Emmys, or Oscars. It's a part of the business that I am not particularly comfortable with. I would prefer to turn up in a pair of jeans and an old shirt, but it's all about image - the studio wants you to look your best.		213
On the red carpet, one tip is to suck in your cheekbones - apparently it looks better on camera. I don't know, though; I think a nice smile is best.	Smile	214
I hope my kids can experience the seasons and a climate that's sustainable. The idea that things are going to be so very different for them is slightly scary.		215
As an ambassador for the aid agency Cafod and the Anthony Nolan Trust, I need to be sure that my public support for those charities is a help for their work, not a hindrance.		216
Support for charities takes many forms. Some people give their money, some their spare time. I give my name and my voice. We give what we can to make a difference to the people and issues that matter to us. But what's most important, especially for celebrities, is giving our genuine commitment.		217
Back in 2005, the Anthony Nolan Trust could have asked me just to speak out about the lack of ethnic minority donors on the bone marrow register, but that would have meant nothing if I wasn't prepared to join up myself.		218
We live in a world of strange priorities, where Kim Kardashian buying a Lamborghini creates international headlines, but children in Niger suffering from drought and children in Britain suffering from leukaemia go unnoticed.		219
When I first played Othello, a reviewer absolutely slaughtered me.		220
I watched the night unfold from beginning to end on my own here in my flat in Budapest where I've been working for the last six months, and when it was announced that Barack Obama was indeed president-elect, I wept.		221
My black hero is and always will be Martin Luther King, not just because of the strength of his oratory but because his vision was very much the reality that I'd come to take for granted.		222
Everyone wants to be James Bond, and there's a queue of guys ahead of me - but I will throw my hat into the ring. Bond is such an iconic role, you would have to seriously think how to approach it.		223
Working with Olivia Colman has probably been the highlight of my career so far.		224
Growing up, I really looked up to the classic Hollywood actors like Spencer Tracy, Robert Mitchum, and Peter Falk. I love character actors - I've never wanted to be the leading guy.		225
If you're black and have leukemia, the chances of finding a donor are drastically reduced. I added my name to the register, and lo and behold, six months later, I was asked to donate. I had a week of 'conditioning' where I had to take these pills and injections to create new stem cells in my body.		226
'12 Angry Men' has a truly great collection of actors giving fantastic performances. It's an acting masterclass.		301
I'd love to talk with Martin Luther King, just to hear his voice up close and be with someone who had such faith. He had such power.		302
We all have insecurities, but some of us are better at covering them up.		303
We live on a planet of limited resources - an abstract notion for some of the world's population, but for many of the poorest and most vulnerable, those limits are all too real.		304
When there is enough food to feed everyone, why are 870 million people going hungry? We must learn to share what we have; no one race or nation has a greater right to life than another.		305
I'm the only member of my family who dared to move away from Birmingham - my brothers and sister are still here, along with my mom.		306
After 'Homeland,' I was offered a lot of very authoritarian, square, angry boss types, but I wanted to do something different. Casting directors are surprised when they look at my CV and see all the work I've done, from Shakespeare to playing Nelson Mandela.		307
Birmingham people are the salt of the earth, and I've carried that with me all around the world. People respond to a certain down-to-earthness that I have, and that's purely as a result of coming from Birmingham.		308
I loathe the word 'celebrity,' and I hope I'm not a diva. Whenever I see diva-ish behaviour, I just leave the room; I find it appalling. You should always try to be civil to people.		309
I love New York. New York is busy. It's dirty. It's smelly. I'm a real urban animal: I love cities. I like being in the middle of it all.		310
If you don't register to vote, politicians don't really care about you: politicians aren't really caring about what you have to say, what you have to do, anything.		311
We have a generation of black actors playing leading roles on film and TV - Idris Elba, Chiwetel Ejiofor - which is great and is breaking the mould.		312
We all know the wonders of Skype, but there's nothing like getting a hug from your daughters or taking them to school.		313
I like America; I enjoy being there. Some people can't stand the insincerity - I love the waiter asking me how my day has been, the can-do culture there. I love the fact that again, you are visible in America. You turn the TV on, there are black politicians, black policemen, black soldiers.		314
It's been interesting seeing how vulnerable Obama is: not the secure president I thought he was or the strong leader that many people hoped he would be. He's a conciliator. But I've been listening to the Republican primary debates, and they're a bunch of lunatics. Just crazy.		315
Giving kids the chance to see live theatre should not just be free, it should be compulsory.		316
I'm very fortunate. I loved school and, when I went there, race, gangs and violence were not issues. There was a feeling, gone now, that you had to be presentable. If you hadn't combed your hair, older black ladies - complete strangers - would come up to you in the street and pull out a comb and straighten your tie.		317
I was always the classroom clown, and the teachers allowed me a certain latitude. The assemblies were good, and the headmaster used to tell little stories; I loved the idea of communal storytelling.		318
I was in a number of school plays, one in particular, when I was 13 or 14, entitled 'Illusions.' It was put together by one of the teachers, and was about famous historical figures. I had to do the Martin Luther King 'I have a dream' speech, and some black women in the audience were clapping and crying and whooping.		319
Two years after drama school, I had a nervous breakdown: I heard voices, and the voice I heard in my head was Martin Luther King's.		320

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