WALKING
HIS PATH
Whatever path is
right for you, you
want to try and stay
on that for as long as
you can, because then
people will continue
to like you.
L
et’s get one thing straight:
There’s no man in Hollywood
like the one and only Omar
Dorsey. He can do anything,
and we can all say he is a talented force of
nature. He’s acted in a wide range of genres,
from playing comedic roles to gangster roles,
and now starring in the hit drama series,
Queen Sugar. When he’s off the stage,
Dorsey’s whole life has been about
inclusiveness and bringing everyone under
the umbrella of art. We chatted with Omar
about playing “Hollywood” Desonier in
Queen Sugar, as well as his upcoming role
in Halloween, along with how to become a
over-the-top actor and what his life is like
when he’s not acting. BY JUSTIN GRANT
Cliché: First, I want to congratulate you
on your successful run in your acting
career so far. I can’t say enough from you
starring in the The Blind Side, Django
Unchained, and Starsky & Hutch, and
many more movies, including television
68
Photo Credit: Sean Hagwell
shows, to now starring in the hit drama
series, Queen Sugar. When looking back
where you first began your acting career
journey to where you are now, how
much work and motivation does it take
to accomplish these major feats? Most
importantly, though, how much work did
it take you to become a rising star and a
professional actor?
Omar Dorsey: Well, you know, it takes some
time. I always told people it’s a marathon
and not a sprint. When I first started, my
first movie was Road Trip and that was 19
years ago, which it doesn’t seem like it was
two decades ago. In 1999, I was still in grad
school. So it’s been a journey from that date.
You have your ups and your downs. You
have these high points and you also have
these really low points in time but you have
to stay the course. And you hope when you
get to the other end when you are 40 years
old, or whenever that time is, you can say it
was all worth it, which it was for me.
I have been on stage since I was 5
www.clichemag.com
years-old. My mother was a theater director,
so she always had me in acting classes,
being in football practice, band practice,
piano lessons, and all of that. But I really
gratitude a whole lot to the acting. It’s a skill
and a process. You are saying a rising star,
well I have been doing this for around 37
years. It might seem like it’s something
overnight but it’s just a whole lot of work
that got me to this point.
How would you say the show, Queen Sugar,
has made you a ‘leading man’ in your
career? In other words, how has starring in
this show impact your daily life?
I played a lot of gangsters, a lot of comedy
people, funny guys, and the first time you
see me playing somebody who was a loving
man, and then people are gravitating to that.
Because in real life, I am a real dude. I am a
real person.
Well I been on a lot of hit shows,
including Ray Donovan, but it’s just
something about the character that really