Prototype Issue
Going Beyond Skin-Deep With the ‘Sexiest Man Alive’
By Meri Nana-Ama Danquah
(page 2 of 2)Other than your grandparents, who got to you? Well, I could name historical figures who I look up to and who I revere, like Dr. King or Gandhi. But beyond that, I really do believe that mentorship works in the form of books. I was gifted a book called The Way of the Peaceful Warrior by Dan Millman. I never met Dan Millman and I don’t need to because what I got from him was from the book, and if you could see this book of his that I have—and this is from when I was young—there are so many underlines and so much writing in the margins. It’s mentorship on paper. Letters to a Young Poet by Rilke is another book like that for me. When I think about answering that question, it really leads me to books.
Anything you’re working on changing about yourself? I want to be much less messy, much more efficient and able to commit more easily.
Anything you can’t you hear about yourself? Well, you never want to hear that you suck. You know, it’s hard. But people lie to you anyway. Like when you’re doing a play, and people meet you after the show. I really want their honest opinion, but they’re like, “You were great. You were the best.” I fall into that trap too. When I go see a show and one of my friends was horrible, I’ll be the one right there saying, “You were great. You were the best.” Now my friends and I have this inside joke so that we don’t have to out and out lie. When someone has a bad performance, we have this thing where we say, “Oh, man, you did your thang. You did your thang.”
You collect art? I do. I love art. It’s such a passion of mine. The ability of artists to capture spirit and motion on canvas or wood, bronze, or whatever the medium, moves me and I love having it around me. I have so much of it that I can’t hang it all. I have tons of it sitting in storage and in my garage, and it makes me feel guilty sometimes because I believe art deserves to be seen. It’s not done to exist in a vacuum, so I’ve gotta figure out how to display it all.
Let’s close with your worst moment in the entertainment industry. That’s a very painful question to ask. I would say that the worst moment was driving cross-country by myself in a rental car from Detroit two or three days after Sept. 11, after I had done a screen test with Eminem—and actually, the second day of the screen test was on 9/11, and it didn’t go well at all. It went horribly. They had told me that I was the choice, that the role was mine. I was set up, had really been built up, and in the morning I was in my hotel room, preparing in the morning and I got a call saying that the audition had been postponed. I asked “Why?” and they said, “Haven’t you been watching your television?”
It was just a mess. My acting was a mess. The country was a mess. They gave me an option to audition for another character and I made a decision. I said “No.” And I remember feeling horrible driving back. I had to leave Detroit. I went to the airport and said, “Give me a rental car. I don’t care what car.” I didn’t know how to get from Detroit to LA. I hadn’t printed out a map or anything. I just started driving by myself and I really was in a state of depression because of the whole confluence of everything.
Harper on LA
Fave local places: The beach. Also hiking area. Like right near my house, I can go to Fryman Canyon or Runyon Canyon. Fave Restaurants: I have to mention the two that I’m part owner of—The Lodge and Big Wangs, and a restaurant near my house, Pacé.
Discussion