Laz Alonso believes when one door closes, another one opens.
The actor sat down for an interview on this week’s episode of the TV One interview series Uncensored, and discussed his life and career.
During the conversation, the Cuban-American performer shared a story about a past failure that turned into a win.
“My successes were built on failures,” he said in a clip from the interview.
The Washington, D.C. native was born to immigrant parents. He reflected on actor and comedian Flex Alexander hiring him to play a Cuban barber on the early 2000s sitcom One on One, which Alonso referred to as “The Flex Alexander Show.”
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According to his IMDb page, the actor played “Manny” a barber at Phatheadz, on four episodes of the comedy series. One on One inspired a spin-off called Cuts, and Alonso had a role on the pilot.
The actor told Uncensored he was the only person in the pilot’s cast who wasn’t brought back when the spinoff received a series order.
“When they picked the show up, they picked everybody on that show, except me. I was the one character that the executives at UPN said, ‘We don’t get him. Is he Black or is he Latin? He sounds Latin, but he looks Black.'”
The actor said the TV execs “could not comprehend” the idea of an Afro-Latino, and he was left devastated.
“At the time it felt like a failure,” he explained.
A few months later, he got an opportunity to audition for another high profile job.
“In less than three months, I auditioned for this movie called Jarhead, and guess what they were looking for — a Black Cuban character named Ramon Escobar. I auditioned for the part and I got the part,” he recalled.
“Had I gotten that show on UPN, I would not have been available to shoot this big budget movie for Universal,” he said.
Jarhead, a 2005 war drama, had a reported $72 million budget and earned $97 million at the global box office.
Alonso noted that he got to work with Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes on the film, and Oscar-winning actor Jamie Foxx.
He said the publicity surrounding the film boosted his career.
“That was a success that happened because of a temporary failure,” he shared.
You can hear more from the actor when Uncensored: Laz Alonso airs on Thursday, April 23, at 8p/7c.
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