Naveen Andrews

Tavis Smiley: Good evening. From Los Angeles, I'm Tavis Smiley. Tonight a conversation with award-winning journalist Linda Ellerbee. 
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Also tonight, from the hit ABC series Lost actor Naveen Andrews stops by. The London native earned an Emmy nomination for his work on the show's debut season. Lost kicks off season number two on September 21st. We're glad you could join us. That's all coming up right now.
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Tavis: Take care. Up next, from the hit TV series Lost, actor Naveen Andrews. Stay with us.

Tavis: Naveen Andrews is a talented actor who stars on one of TV's brightest new dramas, Lost. In just its first season on the air, Lost garnered, get this, 12 Emmy nominations, more than any other primetime drama, including Naveen's own nomination for outstanding supporting actor. If you missed any or all of season number one, it's out on DVD September 6th. Man, these things come out quick these days. But most fans have September 21 circled on their calendars. That's when season two premieres on ABC. Naveen Andrews, nice to have you on the program.

Naveen Andrews: Thank you for having me, Tavis.

Tavis: And congratulations on the Emmy nomination.

Andrews: Thank you.

Tavis: For you and the entire cast.

Andrews: It seems that way, doesn't it? Well, it's not just the cast. It's the crew as well, you know. We're totally dependent upon a good crew, and I feel profoundly grateful that we've had that kind of acknowledgement for the work.

Tavis: And Hawaii isn't the worst place to shoot a TV series.

Andrews: No, I've been in worse locations, you know, Brixton? It's a long way from Brixton, and London, I might add.

Tavis: Yeah, Hawaii, not a bad place. I want to get to London in just a second. Before I do, though, on the show, Lost, you were born in London.

Andrews: Yes.

Tavis: I want come back to that in a second. But on the show you play an Iraqi, which I said to you before we came on the air, to which you responded by saying...

Andrews: Wonders will never cease.

Tavis: Wonders will never cease. How is that? Yeah, you play an Iraqi on television.

Andrews: You know, I'm still amazed. When I first got the script, I could not believe that they we're gonna have an Iraqi, a former member of the Republican Guard, as a main character. I mean, usually these characters are peripheral to the main story, or negatively portrayed, so I couldn't believe that was happening on primetime network TV. And to be fair to the Americans, you know, you wouldn't see that in Europe, either.

Tavis: Yeah, I've got to ask, though, what kind of response--I assume with an Emmy nomination, obviously your peers, the folks in the business, think you're doing a fine job on the program. Do you get any kind of personal pushback or fallback--pushback as a result of playing this character?

Andrews: It's much more easy to get through lines in airports now than it ever was, ironically.

Tavis: Easier?

Andrews: Yeah. Oh, yeah, it's great. But the best thing about it is it seems that the American public seems to have reached out to that character. They're trying to sort of connect, whether consciously or unconsciously, with the so-called enemy in a way that the government or the media won't necessarily allow them to do. And that's pretty good.

Tavis: It's also fascinating to me that you're not just playing an Iraqi character, but they actually let you have a white woman love interest on this show, white American.

Andrews: Yeah. It's always the other way around, isn't it? For some--I've never understood the problem. It's like you always see a black woman with a white man, you know? And I always found that kind of offensive to me. It was always, like--to me, it goes back to, well, you know, our very recent history in this country.

Tavis: Absolutely.

Andrews: And why can't it be the other way around? I remember being very firm about that when I was talking to the writer, Damon, that in order to push the envelope, you know, we had to have it that way. We had to, because you know, one of the things about this show is that it reflects the society that we live in. When I'm watching a show like Friends, or when I did, it just seems to be about white people to me. You know. I didn't see any, you know, it didn't exist, it seemed.

Tavis: Even though it was in New York city. (laughs) I never figured that out, either. I ain't mad at you all for all the money you made, but, what? No negroes in New York City?

Andrews: Enough said. Enough said.

Tavis: I'm not getting this. I mean, come on. But I digress on that point. Speaking of people of color, though, and the issue of race, I mentioned earlier, you were born in London to immigrant parents. I want to ask you a few questions about this, if I might. Let me start, though, with what you made of this Brazilian immigrant being gunned down by Scotland Yard?

Andrews: Well, the worst thing about it is that we're now finding out that there was a cover-up. It turns out that the guy did not vault over the turnstiles at the tube station, but calmly walked in, bought his ticket, bought a paper, was not wearing a padded jacket, but, you know, a summer denim jacket, and was pinioned to his seat by policemen before the geezers came in running in with the guns, and shot him 11 times. When I go back to London, I hope I'm not wearing a backpack or carrying a thermos of coffee or anything like that, because unfortunately what we have in England, we have an incumbent who also pretends to be a Christian, and, you know, it's very, very worrying.

Tavis: Yeah. Is it fair to say that, though, about the place where you were born, given that London has more people of color, has more immigrants, I should say. There are more immigrants in London than there are, people who came to London, than there are people who were born in London. So at least they've been very willing over the years, it would seem, one could argue, they've been willing to let folk from the outside move to London, come to London, become a part of their economy, part of the lifestyle and culture of London. Is it fair, then, to take this incident and to cast aspersion on the way they do business at Scotland Yard or in London, period?

Andrews: Well, the police have always been the police in England, as far as I'm concerned, and especially my dealings with them. You know, if you're black and you're not white, and you're on the street, you're gonna get stopped before a white person does. You know, that hasn't changed. This so-called multi-cultural society that we have in London, it's just on the surface. You know, it looks that way, but, you know, old attitudes die hard, and the English still have a problem. You know, I don't think they've gotten over losing their empire, and we will suffer because of it, really.

Tavis: Yeah. Do you think that because we live in the most multicultural, multi-ethnic, multi-racial world ever, not just America. Those numbers, those statements rather, "multicultural, multi-racial, multi-ethnic," apply to the whole world that we live now. I wonder whether or not you think that as a result of that, things are going to get better where race relations are concerned. Or to the point, perhaps, you were making earlier, that because old attitudes die hard and power never concedes anything without a demand, that it's gonna be more difficult in the coming months and years for people of color to navigate their lives?

Andrews: I have hope that things will change. I mean, I don't think I'd be here otherwise.

Tavis: Playing an Iraqi on TV no less, with a white woman.

Andrews: We're--moving forward.

Tavis: Yeah.

Andrews: If things, for instance, as an actor, that's the only way I can look at it. If Indians or people of color see my character on TV or see that I actually have a career, that I'm actually working, if that encourages them to go into that field, then I've done my job, do you know what I mean? That's the only way I can--from my own point of view, that I can see making any difference to what seems to be something that's insurmountable. And things are structured so rigidly, it seems, especially in this country, I can't see it changing anytime soon.

Tavis: Yeah. Tell me, though, take me back, since we're talking about your acting, tell me how you got into this field? How did you become a Thespian?

Andrews: A Thespian. Well, I--remember sort of when I was five years old, a teacher at primary school telling my mother that "Maybe he should become an actor," and parents were appalled, because, you know, being Indian, they thought, well, how can he possibly work? And rightly so, I think, looking back at it. I mean, this was 1975, '76, before the Race Relations Act, so they had a point.

I ended up going to drama school by fluke. I was thrown out of school. I had no qualifications, and I'd heard that if you auditioned for drama school and got into one of the top three at that time, that the government would pay for you. And I was lucky enough to get in, and once you're there, they just fill you with propaganda and make you feel that this is what you're gonna do with the rest of your life, and it's highly competitive. So, sort of by accident, really.

Tavis: When did you develop, and I assume that you have because this is not an easy business to be in, certainly when you look the way you look or the way I look. So I assume then, somewhere along the way, while you found it by accident, you developed a passion for this. When did you develop a passion it, or are you still doing it just because you get the work?

Andrews: I always had a passion for it. I mean, 'cause it was something I could do. It seemed to be the most wonderful act of the imagination for a child, to be anything and do anything that you could. It was a way of escaping from, you know, London was pretty heavy in the seventies. You know, it was hard growing up, and it was a kind of way out. Having said that, you enter a profession where casting directors say, "Well, you do this because you look like this. And it's been a constant battle, to sort of keep energized and focused and optimistic about what I do.

I mean, I have to say, I mean, I'm glad I came to America, man, because, you know, look, a nomination is better than a kick in the eye, and I've worked more than I ever worked in England, which is strange, you know.

Tavis: I wonder whether or not it's worth it. Is it worth it to have to endure the insults, people marginalizing your talent, putting you in a box, is it worth having to endure all of that to every now and again, although you struck gold with Lost, but to every now and again strike gold, is it worth going through all the stuff that you have to go through to find that oil well?

Andrews: I firmly believe it is. I mean, you know, I'm here for a reason. I didn't choose acting. I think it happened to me, you know. It's not a matter of choice, and I feel grateful that I'm able to, you know, I--don't know where I might be, you know, today. I just feel very grateful that I'm able to express myself in that kind of medium and get paid for it. You know, I could be on the street. You know, I'm not.

Tavis: Speaking of expressing yourself, do you feel, then, a certain burden or responsibility to express yourself in a certain way by choosing certain roles. I go back to the beginning of this conversation where you told, was it Damon, the writer? You made some specific notes about what you thought needed to be done to make this particular show a little different than the others, to push the envelope, as you mentioned earlier. Do you feel a certain responsibility, a certain burden that you bear in looking the way you look, in representing the way that you think someone like you ought to represent?

Andrews: I feel a responsibility to portray a human being.

Tavis: That's fair.

Andrews: You know, in all its complexity. It's not good or bad, but you know, it's a mixture, a myriad of colors and elements. All human beings are complex. You're complex. You know, hopefully I might be a little bit complex. So that's all I'm asking for. I'm not asking to be shot in an attractive light or, you know, in a positive sense, because that's another kind of racism, you know. That's a lot of bollocks as well. I just want the same consideration that white people get, you know, as an actor, you know, because that's what I am.

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Tavis: Congrats on the Emmy. All the best to you.

Andrews: Thank you.

Tavis: That's our show for tonight. You can catch me on weekends on PRI, Public Radio International. Check your local listings. See you back here, of course, next time on PBS. Until then, good night from LA. Thanks for watching, and, as always, keep the faith.

Announcer: For more information on today's show, visit Tavis Smiley at PBS.org. 

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