5 questions for: Hill Harper

Ebony, Feb, 2005

1. What's the one secret about men that you wish every single Sister knew--especially those Sisters who are seeking a soul mate this Valentine's Day?

What a lot of us seek in a partner is someone who elevates the quality of our life; we want someone who brings us joy. A good friend of mine is always very passionate about life and she was never dateless. I played Cupid and introduced her to my other friend and they're married now. All of us have problems and issues, but we can still approach life from a place of joy. Men love dating women who bring a sense of joy to us.

2. So how has your life changed now that you're a national sex symbol?

That's a pleasure! There are so many beautiful, fantastic AfricanAmerican women who I have the pleasure of meeting ... I'm totally joking. I'm single and I'm dating.

3. What are you searching for in a soul mate?

I'm very passionate about life and I want my soul mate to be equally passionate--and we don't have to be passionate about the same things. She can be passionate about being a florist or a teacher or a mother. She should approach life from the stance that the glass is always half full. My soul mate should have her own sense of joy and a relationship with God.

4. Are Black actors making progress in Hollywood?

I think strides are being made, but we still have a long way to go. Our [predecessors], the Diahann Carrolls, the Sidney Poitiers, the Billy Dee Williamses, opened the door so that there are many more roles available to African-American actors today. However, the industry still tends to pigeonhole African-American projects and characters. The thinking is that the stories we tell, the experiences we have, aren't universal; the thinking is that they apply only to us. I don't think audiences think that way; I think audiences just want to see good stories.

5. You're getting rave reviews for your portrayal of pathologist Dr. Hawkes. Who is the real Hill Harper when the cameras aren't rolling?

Dr. Hawkes is much more reclusive than I am. He loves the exploration of the human body and is always down in the basement with a whole bunch of corpses, and that's the way he is. But I like to get out and enjoy the fresh air. I really love life. That's not to say that I'm cavalier or carefree with all situations in the world; I work hard in areas that are important to me and that matter. My friends and I have a motto: "You only live once, and if you do it right, once is all you need."

Hill Harper is a triple threat--and then some. The sexy Iowa native has won major accolades on the theater circuit, the big screen, and the small screen (he's currently wowing television audiences as Dr. Sheldon Hawkes on the hit drama series CSI: NY (CBS), and this month he will appear in Halle Berry's film Lackawanna Blues on HBO. Harper is also a scholar--he graduated magna cum laude from Brown University and has two graduate degrees from Harvard University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a master's degree in public administration from the Kennedy School of Government.