Harold Perrineau
Appearances
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Oh, snap. I'm about to do Shakespeare. Shakespeare. With, you know, some of the greatest actors on the planet. And this amazing young director, Baz Luhrmann. And it was one of those times when I was just like, this is wild. Like, this is wild. We shot in Mexico City. It was really, really amazing. It felt like... Yeah, yeah, it felt really good to have to do that.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I had done this movie also. I did this movie called The Edge. And it's me and it was Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins, which is already mind blowing, like mind blowing. It's crazy. and we go to the premiere, and we walk out of the premiere, and somebody goes, young man, that bear ate you up, and I look up to see who it is, and it's Morgan Freeman, and I stop. I'm just like,
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Like, I can barely say a word. Like, you know, it's crazy. Or, like, I did this play, and Denzel Washington came backstage. He's like, man, you a tough dude. And I was like, oh, Scott, that's Denzel Washington. You know, like, these are people who I've looked up to my whole career and sort of tried to emulate part of my career.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Like, they're amazing, amazing artists, and they work really hard, and I've tried to emulate them, and it's just...
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Like, oh, yeah, that's really cool. My wife isn't impressed by mostly anything. The only thing my wife wants to do, and I've never been able to do it, is meet Larry Bird. That's her whole, like, her whole... I could tell her I met anybody. I could say Nelson Mandela came back and was talking to me, and she'd be like, oh, oh. It's interesting. I actually can make that intro.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
If you can, we'll do it. That's all she wants to do.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Okay, okay. I've got to learn to swim, though. I really do.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
And listen, before we even start, what I really want to know is, Where'd you get those red Nikes from? Those are hot. I like them.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Look, I would say to you, and I would say it directly, you have to stay engaged with what you do. Like things may change or you'll find different pivot points, but you have to stay engaged because you have to stay interested in what you're doing. And the more interested you are, the more success that you'll have. You'll just have to keep going.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
And your interest will be the thing that drives you to keep going. So stay in there. Keep trying. Keep working on it. Keep building. Every time you get someplace else, you want to get another place, right? So just keep doing it. But you really have to, like, enjoy what you're doing. And I don't mean, like, I'm laughing and giggling.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I mean, you have to really enjoy the process, right, of creating and building and doing something new all the time.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Where's Walt? Right. Okay, so here's the thing. Walt is out here in California. He's a rapper. He's so good. He got off the island. Malcolm Kelly. I love Malcolm Kelly. Malcolm's a rapper. Do you guys stay in touch? We have seen each other now and again throughout the years. In fact, we did... one of these Comic-Cons where we sign things.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
And I had him there and also the young man who plays my son now. And so it was really kind of dope to have them both there. And we just took pictures together. So I see him once in a while. I follow him on social media. I'm really proud of him for all the stuff that he's doing.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I'm going back to the fourth season of From, and that's been a really amazing journey. We've been producing a film called Slay the Dreamer that we finally, I think, got fully greenlit. My buddy Lawrence Fishburne is going to be in it, Jeremy Irons, Anthony Hopkins. We've got all these really great talent. That's going to be in it.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
We are on tour with Sable Bourbon that I'm doing with my buddy Taye Diggs and Morris Chestnut and Malcolm D. Lee. And we are just in the mix, just like doing a bunch of new things, like putting new projects together and just, like I said, staying creative. It's not easy, but we're just staying in.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
It's doing really, really good. When we first shot the show, you know, we were like, um, I don't know, this is really scary to me and kind of cool, but, like, I don't know. I mean, people might like it. And then people just started loving it. And I was like, whew, I thought I was crazy, which we've talked about already. Yeah. But, yeah, lots of people are really digging it now.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I was at the doctor's office the other day, and the doctor came out of the door to get somebody else. He goes, Boyd is in the house.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
and they connect with different people and different points. So many people can see themselves as Boyd or as Sarah or as Donna or any of the characters, and that's what keeps people coming back. It's not just, oh, this is scary, because you can see yourself. It's really good writing. Really, really good.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Those are the ones I like, though.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
All right. But let's talk about what you want to talk about first.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
journey for a couple of minutes. It's really easy to summarize. I come from these projects in Brooklyn called Cypress Hills. I do that all the time. Cypress Hills is in East New York. And nobody in my neighborhood was an actor or anything like that. And it's been a long journey from Cypress Hills to the Matrix Revolutions and Reloaded and all of those things. And
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
And so, yeah, those things are filled with so many ups and downs and like learning new skills for a long time. I was a dancer, you know, I wrote some songs and so I was in the music part of it for a while. Always wanted to be an actor and had to keep struggling to do that. And so there are lots of twists and turns and pivots and in order to get to a place where you might call success.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Exactly right.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
All the time. I wish I could stop thinking about that. Somebody asked me the other day, they said, oh, when did you realize that you made it? I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. I made it. I'm still on the wheel. And it's not like I haven't done well, right? We've done well. But still, there's always another new step to keep you interested.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Yeah, I'm really glad that when I started acting, I didn't know what it took. because I would have never done it like I'm really glad that at this point I was just like I just believe I can and the truth was I probably shouldn't but I did believe it and so then you just keep going and keep working it out and keep working it out but there is a real delusion there's a real like No, no, no.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
No, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I know. I'm weird. I'm weird looking. But I'm still going to be an actor. And then here I am.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I don't want to just sit through the rest of my life, you know what I mean? And I don't want to just keep doing things that I know how to do because then I'll be bored. And so, yeah, I like to try new stuff and just get out there and see it. That's why success isn't so straight line. And it's not like, I'm so desperate to be successful. It's just like, I just want to keep learning stuff.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
That's so many things that are really the same as, like, an actor. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I have to take out insurance in my house because if I have a party and somebody does a thing, they could try to sue you, which has actually happened. It's so... It's crazy. And I didn't realize so many things were, until we were talking today, so many things were so similar with entrepreneurs.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
And I'm glad you're telling me about this because, you know, I just started a bourbon business, which we talked about. And so now I got things to look forward to. The ups and downs of bourbon.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I do like because it's always like it's really interesting. Every challenge is something new and interesting. You know, I mean, I don't. I don't want to be bored. I don't want to sit. I don't want to just sit through the rest of my life. You know what I mean? And I don't want to just keep doing things that I know how to do because then I'll be bored.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
And so, yeah, I like to try new stuff and just get out there and see it. That's why success isn't so straight line. And it's not like I'm so desperate to be successful. It's just like I just want to keep learning stuff.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
It's really interesting to, like, think back on the whole journey, to think back on the time when you're like, damn, I'm just gonna be stuck in the Bronx forever. Because I used to live in the Bronx for a little while. And to actually be here today, like, leading the show on From and stuff like that. And it just makes me, you know, it makes me really understand, like, the power of belief.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Like, I can only say, like, you just really have to believe, like, I'm fully living proof that that's how you move forward. You have to pivot. You have to do all these things. You have to, and you have to be tree number three. Like, you actually have to go and do that because that keeps inspiring you to, like, not have to do it again. Do you know what I mean?
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
You'll be tree number three, and the next time, you're gonna be tree number one. And then the next time, you're gonna be the dude. So it really, when I think back about it, man, it's been a long journey. And of course, when we look back, it's been really interesting and cool. But at the time, it was all felt really tricky and like, ugh. So it's just going to take forever. But now here we are.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
We're like, I'm doing stuff that I love. And there's still hard times. There's still hard times. But I really am doing things that I love. And I couldn't be happier. I've been a really lucky dude.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Exactly right.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Yeah, no, when I was in, when I grew up in Brooklyn in Cypress Hills, I was just, I was just the cat that wasn't like, you know, I couldn't play any of the sports. I wasn't that cool to hang out with. You know, people used to do the dozens. Yo mama is so stupid. My yo mama jokes were the worst jokes you have ever heard. Like, you know what I mean? And anything that I could do wasn't really cool.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Like, I was really good at math. That wasn't cool. And then I became a dancer, and that wasn't so cool. But like a ballet dancer. There's lots of people who can dance, but I was like a ballet dancer. And so all that stuff was really, really tricky to see yourself succeeding, even though the environment where you are, you're completely failing. because it's just not where you belong.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
And you really just have to go like, you know what? This is not for me, man. I'm not knocking anybody else. It's just, this is not for me. I don't belong here. I can't hustle drugs. I just can't. I don't know how to do it. Do you know what I mean? I don't have that kind of, I'm not that brave. I'm not interested in it. And so what I want to do is I want to be, I want to go do Swan Lake.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I would say to you, and I say it directly,
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I really, really do. Like I want to learn how to to dance to Tchaikovsky. I really, really do. I do want to go read, like, you know, the great plays by Arthur Miller and, you know, and do those on Broadway. That's what I want to do. I want to do Shakespeare. So, it's been really tricky to be that goofy guy, but, like, just
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
step into it and just be like, all right, then I'm just going to, I just got to be that goofy guy. And I'm just going to have to see where that goes. And it's taken me pretty far.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Absolutely. And that's one of the things, again, we talked about this earlier. We talked about representation, right? It's really important to see different types of people who do all these things to see women who are entrepreneurs and men who are dancers, bisexual people who don't have to talk about their sexuality at all, but really succeed whatever field they're in.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Representation is so important because if somebody is out there that feels like they're alone, they're the only person who looks like them, is like them, thinks like them. You know what I mean? You have to know that you're not the only person like that. And you need to see people who felt the same way and actually have been able to succeed in their own journey.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I would listen at the end of the day. I'd say what I've been saying the whole time. You really just have to believe it. I don't know if you should quit your job. I don't know. Like I had a lot of jobs that I didn't quit and I just kept going. I met everybody that I could who was like doing plays and I would do all these readings like a place for no money at all.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
And then I would go to my bartending job or my you know, my waiting job and then come back. And I just did everything I could to stretch myself to be in the place where I wanted to be. I started treating myself as if I was already there. Like if I had to do a bartending gig, I'd do my bartending gig and it's like, oh, hold on, I got to go meet this director.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
And it really is just a friend of mine who's directing a little play and that's all good, but that's really the place I want to be. Like you have to try to put yourself in those places where, you know, where you will find your community. Every one of us will find, you know, the community of people that vibe with us. And you'll be able to really sail when you find those people.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Right, right. But I do because I'm still hustling, right? I'm still trying to make great art. I'm still trying to make a name for myself, even as it were. And, you know, my daughter just turned 12, and I'm just going to miss this part of her 12, which is going to be really, I'm going to try to do everything I can to see her as much as I can.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
But, you know, I'm sacrificing that thing because, you know, I have this desire. I have this desire to succeed. my success isn't more important than my daughter, but I want her to see that, you know, you have to be able to work hard and sometimes you have to do a little sacrificing right now to get what you want eventually. Do you know what I mean?
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
Like, I think it's... Look, I think it's important to raise, like, great human beings, right? And so... being a great human being means you're active in your own life as well, and so I like them to see me do things that I succeed at or that I work really hard for, because they're not going to see the part that's really hard, which is parenting. parenting is really hard.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
They're not going to see that part, but they're going to see the other things that I do and realize that even within that, I still try to incorporate them as well. And I think it's going to help make, help them be really great rounded human beings and find their own passions and figure out like, oh, my dad, he used to work really hard. I remember those times he would go away. So,
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I might not be able to be with my friends tonight, but I do want to go and do this thing because it's really going to serve me in whatever it is I'm looking for. And so hopefully they'll see those things happening with me and that'll inspire them in some way. I hope. I hope.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
I got to say that, you know, in my career, I've had a lot. I've been really successful. Lucky is what I mean. Not just successful, but, like, there are a lot of actors, and there are a lot of great actors. And, like, not only working hard, but it takes a little bit of luck, you know what I mean? And luck is... almost where you make it, you put yourself in the position to be lucky.
Living The Red Life
Harold Perrineau: The Struggles They Don’t Tell You About in Acting
But I do remember when I got William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and I had the dreads, and I was just, you know, and I was like this dancer who was weird and wacky, and I didn't think I had a shot in hell to get it, but I kept going back and going back and going back, and Baz was like, let's try this, let's try this, and then I wound up being there, and I remember when I got it, I was just like...
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I got to say that, you know, in my career, I've had a lot. I've been really successful. Lucky is what I mean. Not just successful, but like there are a lot of actors and there are a lot of great actors. And like not only working hard, but it takes a little bit of luck, you know what I mean? And luck is almost where you make it, you put yourself in the position to be lucky.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
But I do remember when I got William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, and I had the dreads, and I was just, you know, and I was like this dancer who was weird and wacky, and I didn't think I had a shot in hell to get it, but I kept going back and going back and going back, and Baz was like, let's try this, let's try this, and then I wound up being there, and I remember when I got it, I was just like...
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Oh, snap. I'm about to do Shakespeare. Shakespeare. With, you know, some of the greatest actors on the planet. And this amazing young director, Baz Luhrmann. And it was one of those times when I was just like, this is wild. Like, this is wild. We shot in Mexico City. It was really, really amazing. It felt like... Yeah, yeah, it felt really good to have to do that.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Yeah, yeah. I had done this movie also. I did this movie called The Edge. And it's me, and it was Alec Baldwin and Anthony Hopkins, which is already mind-blowing. Like, it's mind-blowing. It's crazy. And we go to the premiere, and we walk out of the premiere, and somebody goes, young man, that bear ate you up. And I look up to see who it is, and it's Morgan Freeman. And I stop. I'm just like.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Like, I can barely say a word. Like, you know, it's crazy. Or, like, I did this play, and Denzel Washington came backstage. He's like, man, you a tough dude. And I was like, oh, Scott, that's Denzel Washington. You know, like, these are people who I've looked up to my whole career and sort of tried to emulate part of my career.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Like, they're amazing, amazing artists, and they work really hard, and I've tried to emulate them, and it's just...
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I get that all the time. Like, oh, yeah, that's really cool. My wife isn't impressed by mostly anything. The only thing my wife wants to do, and I've never been able to do it, is meet Larry Bird. That's her whole, like, her whole... I could tell her I met anybody. I could say Nelson Mandela came back and was talking to me, and she'd be like, oh... It's interesting. I actually can make that intro.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
You can make it into the Larry Bird? All right, man. If you can, we'll do it. That's all she wants to do.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Okay, okay. I've got to learn to swim, though. I really do.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Every time I get an application, it's like, who's your employer? I am. And you write the IRS nice checks every year too, right? Exactly right.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Look, I would say to you, and I would say it directly, you have to stay engaged with what you do. Like things may change or you'll find different pivot points, but you have to stay engaged because you have to stay interested in what you're doing. And the more interested you are, the more success that you'll have. You'll just have to keep going.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
And your interest will be the thing that drives you to keep going. So stay in there. Keep trying. Keep working on it. Keep building. Every time you get someplace else, you want to get another place, right? So just keep doing it. But you really have to, like, enjoy what you're doing. And I don't mean like, I'm laughing and giggling.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I mean, you have to really enjoy the process, right, of creating and building and doing something new all the time. Okay.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
The most important question.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
You've maybe been asked it before, too. Okay. Where's Walt? Right. Okay. So here's the thing. Walt is out here in California. He's a rapper. He's so good. Yeah. He got off the island. Malcolm Kelly. I love Malcolm Kelly. Malcolm's a rapper. Do you guys stay in touch? We have seen each other now and again throughout the years.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
In fact, we did one of these Comic Cons where we signed things, and I had him there and also the young man who plays my son now. Okay. And so it was really kind of dope to have them both there. And we just took pictures together. So I see him once in a while. I follow him on social media. I'm really proud of him for all the stuff that he's doing.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I'm going back to the fourth season of From, and that's been a really amazing journey. We've been producing a film called Slay the Dreamer that we finally, I think, got fully greenlit. My buddy Lawrence Fishburne is going to be in it, Jeremy Irons, Anthony Hopkins. We've got all these really great talent. That's going to be in it.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
We are on tour with Sable Bourbon that I'm doing with my buddy Taye Diggs and Morris Chestnut and Malcolm D. Lee. And we are just in the mix, just like doing a bunch of new things, like putting new projects together and just, like I said, staying creative. It's not easy, but we're just staying in.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
It's doing really good. It's doing really, really good. When we first shot the show, you know, we were like, um, I don't know, this is really scary to me and it's kind of cool, but like, I don't know. I mean, people might like it. And then people just started loving it. And I was like, whew, I thought I was crazy, which we've talked about already. Yeah.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
But, yeah, lots of people are really digging it now. I was at the doctor's office the other day, and the doctor came out of the door to get somebody else. He goes, Boyd is in the house. I was like, oh, that's weird.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Got it. Where is this going? And that's the thing we were talking about earlier about connecting with people. We have a lot of characters in that thing, and they connect with different people and different points. So many people can see themselves as Boyd or as Sarah or as Donna or any of the characters, and that's what keeps people coming back.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
It's not just, oh, this is scary, because you can see yourself. It's really good writing. Really, really good. I really like it.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Thank you for having me. And listen, before we even start, what I really want to know is, where'd you get those red Nikes from? Yeah.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
When we were about to start, I was looking down and I was like, damn, I like those. I'll get you a pair next time we see each other. Right on. But let's talk about what you want to talk about first.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
yeah no it's it's uh it's really easy to summarize i come from uh uh uh these projects in brooklyn called uh cypress hills i do that all the time cypress hills is in east new york and um you know nobody in my neighborhood was an actor or anything like that and uh and it's been a long journey from you know cypress hills to the matrix revolutions and reloaded and all those things and uh
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
he's doing this superman thing beyond acting he stepped into entrepreneurship as a co-founder of sable bourbon a premium whiskey brand created alongside longtime friends and co-stars i don't want to just sit through the rest of my life you know what i mean and i don't want to just keep doing things that i know how to do because then i'll be bored and so yeah i like to try new stuff and just get out there and see it that's why success
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
And so, yeah, those things are filled with so many ups and downs and like learning new skills for a long time. I was a dancer. You know, I wrote some songs. So I was in the music part of it for a while. Always wanted to be an actor and had to keep struggling to do that. And so there are lots of twists and turns and pivots and in order to get to a place where you might call success.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Exactly right.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
All the time. I wish I could stop thinking about that. Somebody asked me the other day, they said, oh, when did you realize that you made it? I was like, I don't know what you're talking about. I made it. I'm still on the wheel. And it's not like I haven't done well, right? We've done well. But still, there's always another new step to keep you interested.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Yeah, I'm really glad that when I started acting, I didn't know what it took because I would have never done it. Like, I'm really glad that at this point I was just like, I just believe I can. And the truth was, I probably shouldn't. But I did believe it. And so then you just keep going and keep working it out and keep working it out. But there is a real delusion. There's a real like. No, no, no.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
No, yeah, yeah, yeah. No, I know. I'm weird. I'm weird looking. But I'm still going to be an actor. And then here I am. So it's pretty cool.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I mean, that's wild. That's so many things that are really the same as, like, an actor. Like, you know what I mean? Like, I have to take out insurance in my house because if I have a party and somebody does a thing, they could try to sue you, which has actually happened. Yeah. It's crazy.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
And I didn't realize so many things were, until we were talking today, so many things were so similar with entrepreneurs. And I'm glad you're telling me about this because, you know, I just started a bourbon business, which we talked about. And so now I got things to look forward to. The ups and downs of bourbon.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
It's really interesting. Every challenge is something new and interesting. You know what I mean? I don't want to be bored. I don't want to just sit through the rest of my life. You know what I mean? And I don't want to just keep doing things that I know how to do because then I'll be bored. And so, yeah, I like to try new stuff and just get out there and see it. That's why success
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
isn't so straight line. And it's not like, I'm so desperate to be successful. It's just like, I just want to keep learning stuff.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
isn't so straight line. And it's not like, I'm so desperate to be successful. It's just like, I just want to keep learning stuff.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
It's really interesting to think back on the whole journey, to think back on the time when you're like, damn, I'm just going to be stuck in the Bronx forever. Because I used to live in the Bronx for a little while. And to actually be here today leading the show on From and stuff like that. And it just makes me really understand the power of belief.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Like, I can only say, like, you just really have to believe, like, I'm fully living proof that that's how you move forward. You have to pivot. You have to do all these things. You have to, and you have to be tree number three. Like, you actually have to go and do that because that keeps inspiring you to, like, not have to do it again. Do you know what I mean?
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
You'll be tree number three, and the next time, you're gonna be tree number one. And then the next time, you're gonna be the dude. So it really, when I think back about it, man, it's been a long journey. And of course, when we look back, it's been really interesting and cool. But at the time, it was all felt really tricky and like, ugh. So it's going to take forever. But now here we are.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Exactly right.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
We're like, I'm doing stuff that I love. And there's still hard times. There's still hard times. But I really am doing things that I love. And I couldn't be happier. I've been a really lucky dude.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Right.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Were you the odd one out in England?
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Yeah, yeah. Can you talk about that? Yeah, no, when I grew up in Brooklyn, in Cypress Hills, I was just... I was just the cat that wasn't like, you know, I couldn't play any of the sports. I wasn't that cool to hang out with. You know, people used to do the dozens. Yo mama is so stupid. My yo mama jokes were the worst jokes you have ever heard. Like, you know what I mean?
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
And anything that I could do wasn't really cool. Like, I was really good at math. That wasn't cool. And then I became a dancer and that wasn't so cool. But like a ballet dancer. There's lots of people who can dance, but I was like a ballet dancer.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
And so all that stuff was really, really, it was really tricky to see yourself, to see yourself succeeding, even though where the environment where you are, you're completely failing. because it's just not where you belong. And you really just have to go like, you know what? This is not for me, man. I'm not knocking anybody else. It's just, this is not for me. I don't belong here.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I would say to you, and I say it directly,
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I can't hustle drugs. I just can't. I don't know how to do it. Do you know what I mean? I don't have that kind of, I'm not that brave. I'm not interested in it. And so what I want to do is I want to be, I want to go do Swan Lake. I really, really do. Like I want to learn how to to dance to Tchaikovsky. I really, really do.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I do want to go read, like, you know, the great plays by Arthur Miller and, you know, and do those on Broadway. That's what I want to do. I want to do Shakespeare. And so it's been really tricky to be that goofy guy, but, like, just step into it and just be like, all right, then I just got to be that goofy guy, and you're just going to have to see where that goes.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
And it's taken me pretty far, I think.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Absolutely. And that's one of the things, again, we talked about this earlier. We talked about representation. Right. It's really important to see different types of people who do all these things, to see women who are entrepreneurs and men who are entrepreneurs. who are dancers, bisexual people who don't have to talk about their sexuality at all but really succeed in whatever field they're in.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Representation is so important because if somebody is out there that feels like they're alone, they're the only person who looks like them, is like them, thinks like them. You know what I mean? You have to know that you're not the only person like that. And you need to see people who felt the same way and actually have been able to succeed in their own journey.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I would listen at the end of the day. I'd say what I've been saying the whole time. You really just have to believe it. I don't know if you should quit your job. I don't know. Like I had a lot of jobs that I didn't quit and I just kept going. I met everybody that I could who was like doing plays and I would do all these readings like a place for no money at all.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
And then I would go to my bartending job or my
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
uh you know my waiting job and then come back and i just did everything i could to stretch myself to be in the place where i wanted to be i started treating myself as if i was already there like if i had to do a bartending gig i do my bartending gig and it's like oh hold on i gotta go meet this director and it really is just a friend of mine who's directing a little play and that's all good but that's really the place i want to be like you have to try to put yourself in those places where you know
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
where you will find your community. Every one of us will find, you know, the community of people that vibe with us. And you'll be able to really sail when you find those people.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Right, right. But I do because I'm still hustling, right? I'm still trying to make great art. I'm still trying to make a name for myself, even as it were. And my daughter just turned 12, and I'm just going to miss this part of her 12, which is going to be really, I'm going to try to do everything I can to see her as much as I can. But I'm sacrificing that thing because I have this desire.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I have this desire to succeed. My success isn't more important than my daughter, but I want her to see that you have to be able to work hard, and sometimes you have to do a little sacrificing right now to get what you want eventually. Do you know what I mean?
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
Like, I think it's, look, I think it's important about to raise, like, great human beings, right? And so... being a great human being means you're active in your own life as well, and so I like them to see me do things that I succeed at or that I work really hard for, because they're not going to see the part that's really hard, which is parenting. parenting is really hard.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
They're not going to see that part, but they're going to see the other things that I do and realize that even within that, I still try to incorporate them as well. And I think it's going to help make, help them be really great rounded human beings and find their own passions and figure out like, oh, my dad, he used to work really hard. I remember those times he would go away.
The Living Your Legacy Podcast
The Untold Journey of Harold Perrineau – From Dancer to TV Icon
I might not be able to be with my friends tonight, but I do want to go and do this thing because it's really going to serve me in whatever it is I'm looking for. And so hopefully they'll see those things happening with me and that'll inspire them in some way. I hope. I hope.