No Exit's Dennis Haysbert Shares Personal Connections, "Good Hands" Jokes, and Big Geek Interests
When Dennis Haysbert takes the screen in No Exit, most viewers will like recognize him for the popular phrase, "Are you in good hands?" which he has recited on All State commercials for years. Then, there will be memories of seeing him play various military figures in several of his more than 100 acting credits. Now, he is bringing that calm and assuring presence as seen on those All State commercials to a military veteran character for No Exit. Haysbert talked about his time working on Hulu's new thrill ride in an exclusive interview with ComicBook.com, where he also allowed some of his deep geek side to show and revealed just how personal a character like this is for him.
No Exit puts Haysbert in the role of Ed, a character from the 2017 novel by the same name. Haysbert is no stranger to adaptations, having been a part of DC Comics animated shows among other properties. Still, No Exit has some high expectations based on the comment sections in YouTube videos of the film's trailer as excited fans poured out their love of the book which is translating to excitement for the film. Still, Haysbert does his best to never let the outside in when he portrays such characters. "I always do it the way I wanna do it," he says. "They're not privy to the same information I'm privy to, you know, and they're not working with the people I'm working with, they're not engaging with different directors and actors, working each according to their gifts. You have to stay in the moment with these things and you have people that are uninformed trying to inform people as to what they should like and not like."
Haysbert does have first hand accounts of people in the military and military backgrounds. Working with the USO, Haysbert has traveled to different sectors of the world to meet and interact with members of the armed forces which helps inform him for roles like No Exit's Ed. "I've seen people go out on patrol and I see how pensive and how frightened they are and I saw the relief in their eyes and the smiles on their faces when they returned," Haysbert shares. "So to see that and to understand that, and this is something that they do every day and when they leave that fob, you know that they don't know if they're coming back and when they do come back, man, it is such a release.
Haysbert's military-esque credits include The Unit and the narration of Secrets of Pearl Harbor but nothing equipped him for the psyche of soldier quite like meeting real soldiers. "I've played a number of military characters and no two are alike," Haysbert proclaims. "No two are alike. I mean, Ed is as far away from Jonas Blane from The Unit as you can get and they all have their flaws and their challenges and their traumas and Ed is no different. Ed has some, you know... I tried to do it with a look or, you know, or the fact that I didn't look at anyone, you know, to sort of feel what that PTSD must be. The best thing I can say is, he's a warrior without a war."
Despite the many impressive credits to his name, Haysbert knows that many know him for the All State commercials above all. "They always try to work something in," the actor smirks, sharing that people often try to make reference to the famous commercials. "It all depends on what they like, you know, and what draws them to me and what their connection to me is which is unbeknownst to me," he says. "It's all about what they feel and how they feel about something they've seen me in. So I get across the board, all kinds of different approaches and comments about things I've done and you never know what's gonna come out of their mouth. Most of the time it's gonna be, 'Are you in good hands?' That kind of thing. But like I said, I've been so blessed and so grateful to have the roles and to have played the roles that I've played that people are actually still talking about them, you know?"
Still, the actor has fun dreams and ambitions within the geek space. "I am a huge fan of Peacemaker. It is so off the wall," Haysbert says, naming the popular DC series which recently wrapped its first season as a personal favorite. He went on to rattle off more titles and characters he enjoys. "I've worked with John [Cena] and [Peacemaker] is some of the best work he's done to date. I'm a big Mandalorian fan...I think it's gonna come out that [Grogu is] a full fledged Jedi and he's waiting to get ahold of that dark saber...He just has to remember." Ultimately, the No Exit star has his ultimate hopes on taking flight in the DC Universe. "I've always wanted to play John Stewart," he says. "The Green Lantern, man... I think he's probably the most powerful superhero there is. And you know, he's former military as well."
No Exit is now streaming on Hulu.