The hardest-working man in Hollywood on ‘Hustle,’ ‘Crash’ and assassinating stereotypes.
Terrence Howard has been kicking around Hollywood since 1987, appearing in everything from "The Cosby Show" to "Big Momma's House" and "Ray." But nothing could have prepared him for the kind of year he'd experience in 2005.
The 36-year-old Chicago native is nominated for an Academy Award for best actor for his searing performance as DJay, a Memphis pimp who finds redemption through music in "Hustle & Flow." Howard also received nominations for the role from the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild Awards as part of the ensemble, and he's in contention for an Independent Spirit Award.
In addition, Howard won a SAG Award as part of the ensemble of the Oscar-nominated racial drama, "
Crash." Also in 2005, he starred in the features "Get Rich or Die Tryin'," and "Four Brothers" and the TV films, "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and "Lackawanna Blues."
That's quite a year for somebody who didn't even come to Hollywood to be an actor. "I came out to L.A. as a singer-songwriter and tried to make my way as a musician," Howard reflects. "But I couldn't play any instruments. By the time I learned to play instruments, I was already in the acting game. That has become my life."
Q: The stars aligned for you in 2005.
A: It was a huge year, but that's what happens to you when you align yourself to the creative forces of the universe, all of these creative giants that put forth all of their love and bled onto these pages their hearts and their hearts' desires and now look at what we have, something that's feeding the world. Look what happened with George Clooney with "Good Night, and Good Luck." It is just amazing what Phillip Seymour Hoffman did, expanding the range of what we can achieve as actors.
Q: Your grandmother was an actress.
A: My great grandmother and great grandfather, my grandmother and grandfather and mom.
Q: Did they work on the stage?
A: All of them did stage. That's all there was [for African Americans] in the 1920s, '30s and '40s.
Q: Then acting is in your blood.
A: Yeah. It's interesting. [All the nominees] are representing those members of our family that stood underwater so we could stand on their shoulders.
Q: You are still one of a handful of African Americans who have been nominated for an Academy Award in the best actor or actress category.
A: I think we have stepped aside from the films that lend themselves from propagating stereotypes and really are starting to represent American society as a whole, because there is not one pure individual on this planet that is of one race. We are all one race: we are the human race. And in a minute no one will be mentioning you are an African American who is nominated, they will say you are an American. I think will happen within this next generation.
Q: Is it true that when you were originally approached to do "Hustle & Flow" you turned it down because you didn't want to play a pimp?
