August, 2007

From working as a New York City police officer to starring on Showtime's hugely successful series Dexter, David Zayas has experienced more than most people see in a lifetime and is living life to the fullest. I had the opportunity to chat with this funny and talented actor about his days on the NYC police force, his role on Dexter and where the show is headed in season two.

Q: I understand you were a cop in NYC before you got into acting, what made you decide to switch careers?

David: "I was a cop for fifteen years, but I always wanted to be an actor.

I grew up in a blue-collar family and I got married young and had two kids right away, so those dreams became a fantasy. I needed to work and support my kids, so I became a cop when I was very young. Then about halfway into it, about 1991 or so, I got divorced, it was a bad time in my life and I decided it was a good time to make a switch. While still being a cop, I started studying acting.

Being in New York was great because I was able to involve myself in a lot of theater and that's where I got a lot of my training. I joined a great theater company at the time called the Labyrinth Theater Company and we had a lot of good unknown actors at the time like Sam Rockwell, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Judy Reyes. I got lucky with a couple of parts, one of them was Oz on HBO and was able to retire early from the police department and concentrate on acting, which has gone really well."

Q: What was the most bizarre thing you saw as a cop?

David: "I've seen a lot of bizarre things. The most bizarre thing I found were the people tried to commit suicide and not succeeding.

It's not funny, but ironic. People who try to commit suicide and not succeeding, the journey that led to it I always found the weirdest. I pretty much have seen it all and I always tried to maintain a good sense of whatever happened to this person at this particular moment, it is what it is and this isn't who they are."

Q: How did the role of Angel Batista come to you?

David: "I was shooting a film in Toronto at the time and I came to New York for the weekend to see my wife and kids. That Friday there was an audition for Angel Batista and I met the director Michael Cuesta. I didn't feel it was a very good audition and I went back to Toronto not thinking I did very well. To my surprise, they called me to come to Los Angeles and test for the role. I had a much better audition and I got the part. The good thing about being a cop and playing a cop is that there are a lot of things people take for granted -- the whole persona and psyche of being a cop. I have that in me, so it gives me the luxury of just concentrating on the character and the personal traits of the character and not really worrying too much about the technicality of the law enforcement aspect because it comes naturally to me."

Q: So your police training came in handy in preparing for this role?

David: "Absolutely. My training as a police officer helps me with a lot of roles. One of the things is trying to size up people, try and figure people out and pay attention to every physical aspect because it may save your life one day."

Q: What similarities do you share with your character?

David: "There are a lot of similarities. What I like about this character is that he's not a tough guy and I'm not a tough guy. He's not 'supercop' and I wasn't 'supercop.' I was just trying to do the best I can, not trying to make an arrest every chance I got. Angel Batista has a lot of flaws, he's sensitive and he deals with the everyday part of being a cop. He works in this precinct with a guy who is his friend, who happens (unbeknownst to him) to be a serial killer."

Q: What's ahead on season two of Dexter?

David: "There's going to be a lot of revelations with Dexter, there's going to be a lot of revelations with what he's doing. There is going to be a lot of investigations into what he's doing. There is going to be new characters coming in. Keith Carradine is coming in as a federal officer; he's a real interesting character. I have a direct correlation with his character because I'm going to be working for him throughout the season. There are a lot of twists, it's very shocking and very exciting!"

Q: When does it premiere?

David: "September 30."

Q: Do you think your character will ultimately discover that Dexter is a serial killer?

David: "I don't know. You and I both know that people can keep secrets for years and years and years. They find ways to have a secret life. We're all cops on this show, so we're going to come really close."

Q: Do you have any projects in the works?

David: "I have two small parts in movies that are coming out soon. One is a movie called Michael Clayton with George Clooney, it comes out in September. The other is a small part in a movie called The Savages with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney."

Q: Anything to say to the fans?

David: "I looking forward to continuing to do good work, make people think and hopefully affect people in some way with what I do. I humbly appreciate it."