Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening wherever you are in the world. It’s Dr. Jan Fortman with Relationship Matters TV. Hope everyone is having a beautiful morning or afternoon. We’re here in Chicago and we had a couple of days of snow, but it wasn’t really a lot of snow. It was that big white fluffy flakes that looked so beautiful coming down until you have to drive in it and then it’s slushy and then it gets dirty and then you start thinking, you know what, I’ll be glad when the snow melts. But anyway, well today, guess who I have on this show on this episode? I have Harold Dennis. Let me tell you who Harold Dennis is. Harold Dennis is somebody, when I grow up, I want to be just like Harold Dennis. But let me tell you a little bit about him before I bring him on. Harold Dennis is an actor, a producer, and a director. He lives here in Chicago and guess what, in 2008 he earned the nickname the hardest working man in Show Business. He’s worked in films and television since 2000. He’s appeared in over 200 short and feature films and he’s just a dynamo. He’s also a teacher and he teaches acting. I think I want to take an acting class, you know. I want to be on TV. Well, I’m on TV now, but I want to be in the movies. But anyway, enough about me, let me bring Harold on. Okay, hi Harold, how are you this evening?

Harold Dennis
You’re making me feel excellent.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
You are excellent, Harold, you are excellent. You know, I think this is the first time that I have had a conversation on this show with a movie star and a director and a producer and someone who teaches acting, someone who is in television, and someone who has a podcast. You are still the hardest working man in Show Business. I’ve heard somebody else say that, but I think you are. So tell me something, Harold, before you got into acting, what did you do?

Harold Dennis
I did a whole bunch of things. I sold cars, I had a real estate license, I did a lot of multi-level marketing jobs. And so what happened was I realized growing up too, I moved around, went to three or four different grammar schools, landed at one high school, and went to Northern, joined a fraternity, just moved around. And then when I was old enough to be on my own, I found myself moving from job to job to job. And so finally, when I found acting back in ’95 and I started in ’97, I found something that worked for me because I could go from gig to gig to gig because that’s my past.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, wow. So when you say you found acting, how did you find acting?

Harold Dennis
Well, when I was younger, my father’s baby sister, Mary Ann Roll, she used to do a one-woman show off-Broadway and over in Europe, Edinburgh, and all over the place. And I used to hear about that, but she was long distance, so it never settled in on me. But what happened was my high school band teacher, I played trumpet for four years at Hirsch High School, he, years later, ended up in “The Fugitive.” He had lines with Harrison Ford and he lives here in Chicago. He doesn’t live on the coast. I was like, how did he do that? Then he ended up in “Soul Food,” the movie. He was Uncle Pete that came out with the TV and the money at the end, John Watson Sr., the late John Watson Sr., “Groundhog Day,” “Hoodlum,” you know, a bunch of movies. And when I saw him, I was like, I want to do that. I can do that. If he can do it, I can do it or whatever it was. I figured that that’s what I wanted to do. And so I’m driving, I’m working at one of my ship’s furniture stores, fraternity brother’s furniture store on 66th and Halsted, and this ad kept playing on the radio, “Be an extra in the movies.” This was in early ’97. “Be an extra in the movies.” Finally, I wrote the number down and called, and I ended up featured in this show called “Early Edition” that came on CBS in ’97. And I did that a few times. They featured me and I was like, I want speaking lines. And so one of my buddies, one of my noobs…

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Kenny, did you freeze? Oh my God, you froze. You froze. If you can hear me, you froze. O M G. Could you hear me?

Harold Dennis
Okay, I’m back.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, yeah, okay. Yeah, you froze. Okay, go ahead. So you were saying one of your buddies…

Harold Dennis
And he says, why don’t you take an acting class? This was ’97. And I was like, yeah, that’s a great idea. Where? And so he pointed out ETA over here on 75th and South Chicago on the south side. And I was like, I know that place. I lived over there. And so that week, classes had just started that Tuesday, and this was maybe Saturday or something. And so the next class, I was in the class sitting in. And after that first class with the late Okoro Harold Johnson, one of my mentors, he was a founder at ETA, I said, I’m going to do this the rest of my life. So I was all nervous and stuff. Yeah. And so it was August, September ’97. Well, I found my home.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow, you found your passion.

Harold Dennis
Yes.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
That is wonderful. That is wonderful. You know, we all, when it hits us, it’s like, this is it. This is what I want to do.

Harold Dennis
Yes.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, so now, so that’s where you started. And so would you become, does it take a lot of training to become an actor, especially one as good as you?

Harold Dennis
Well, you know, there’s a lot of training. There’s some children actors that are incredible, and I don’t know how much training they could have gotten when they stepped in front of the camera. It’s like they’re just natural, you know. For me, I’ve spent the last, I’ve been in classes well over 20 years studying with different people just so that I felt like, you know, I’ll be ready, you know, when something breaks. And yeah, I mean, at this point, I’m very comfortable and confident. And yeah, and I’ll just read a script now, and from all of the different things that I’ve studied, you know, with the different teachers, the script talks to me or, you know, so, you know, you get the idea of this is how to play it. And then you say, okay, what are alternatives and what else, you know, what else can I do? What else can happen? What else can I feel, you know? So a lot of things run through my mind when I sit there and read the script the first time slowly, you know.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, okay. So do you call that method acting, or is that just something I heard?

Harold Dennis
You know, I’m not sure. You know, it’s like I said, I’ve studied a bunch of places. I studied with this guy, Ted’s. I did beginning and advanced acting over at ETA back in ’97, ’98, that whole school year studying with the late Okoro. And that was some form of Stanislavski he was teaching. And I got with Ted Serratos, who I studied with for 18 years. Every Wednesday, I’m in class for 18 years working with him. And his whole thing was teaching on camera. The way I got in his class, I had went to sit in on his class back in late, early ’03, and he was videotaping, yeah, videotaping the actors while they were standing there delivering their monologues. He’d say, chin down, nose to the camera, smile, and I, energy out, action. And then they do their monologues. And he taught all types of things, opposites, play this and this at the same time, what’s your intending dream scene, okay, what do you want the person that you’re talking to to do physically that if they do it, we’ll all see it, down glide statements 100% of the time, inhale, hold it, now are you dying yet, now action, you know, all types of things for 18 years. So I just stayed with him because I was like, plus it was free, you know. I asked him, can I help you clean up around here? No. And then so 10 months went by and he called me to come to a showcase. Okay. I went and I said, I’m that same guy 10 months ago that says, I hope you clean up around here because it was an old building on the north side. And he said, yeah. And so that January 1st, 2004, I stayed with him all the way up till he retired in January 2020. Well, 18 years, yeah, 2022. Yeah.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So he was your teacher and a mentor.

Harold Dennis
Absolutely. Because it was, and the lesson was learned while I’m sitting there in class watching him work with other people from different backgrounds and different things going on in their head, watching him work with them. And also I was studying with Ted. I did the Meisner over at Green Shirt Studio. I did the level one, two, three, four, and five. And they needed someone else. And that was once a week for 15 months. And they needed someone in the, on the Tuesday night class. So I ended up, I was in class three classes for a year from 2011, 2012. So, you know, I took it while I’m doing everything else, you know.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay.

Harold Dennis
And that Meisner was good to have, you know.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And what is that before you go now? What is Meisner, the Meisner technique? So this, what is that?

Harold Dennis
The quickest way that I can explain that, there’s a whole definition, but I say, okay, if you’re on stage and you’re doing a play and there’s a glass and there’s a bucket of water and you’re supposed to drink, pour some water in the glass and drink and let us see your Adam’s apple move.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Really?

Harold Dennis
Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
What does that do?

Harold Dennis
Well, it looks like I’m actually drinking. Drink the water. Don’t pretend like you’re doing anything. Oh, you’re not. Stop, stop shaking, you know. Yeah. And last year and a half or so on and off, I’ve been studying with this guy, John Swannbeck on Zoom. He’s out in LA and he’s like Ted Serratos with all of that magical acting teaching. He specifically says, I’m the lens of the camera and this is your frame. Act. And so I actually read his book. I found him on social media. He was posting all of these quotes and I was like, these sound like Ted. And he just put up a nice quote just this afternoon and I have to get it real quick because this will describe who he is. Okay, here it is right here. It says, once you understand the situation, add a memory from somewhere in the character’s life that has nothing to do with the situation and sustain it the entire scene and you’ll be cinematic. You know, so those types of, it’s philosophy more than let me say these words. It’s a psychology acting, you know, it’s psychology, philosophy, all of those things other than saying words and getting angry and crying, you know, other stuff going on in our heads.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And thank you for saying that because most of us think it’s memorizing lines, you know what I’m saying? And, but when you’re talking about the philosophy and, you know, and that’s what makes a great actor, you know, that’s why you’re great. That’s why I got you on this show.

Harold Dennis
Years ago, years ago, I asked myself, my buddy Kenny, he asked me, HD, what is it that you want to do? Do you want to do plays? You want to do TV? You want to do, what do you want? I said, I want to be in people’s movies. And that was probably 1998 or 99 because we started an acting troupe back there, myself and about 25 other actors. And we’d meet from February 28th of February to 1998 to February 1999. We met every Saturday morning while I was taking those two classes and we were working in the basement, just working on our abilities, you know. He asked me, what is it? And I said, I want to be in people’s movies. And then later I changed that. I want to make my audience feel something. And so I asked myself, how do I do that? So I, my buddy Tracy that was in the acting troupe, he put this book in my hand called, and I didn’t, I wasn’t talking to him about it, but he says, here, read this. So they wanted to read, do the Sid Fields video and write my own movie. And the tape was almost eaten by the tape recorder back then. He says, just read this big book. I was like, I don’t want to read that big book. It was called “Story” by Robert McKee. And so it’s about screen, how to write a Hollywood archetypical screenplay, all of the genres, structure, and goes up deep. It’s not a how-to book, but it’s the philosophy. And so I took a month, read that book slowly. And over, that was back in 2002. And I was like, oh, this is what screenwriters are supposed to put into their screenplays. As an actor, with me knowing these things, it gives me, it’s like another acting class, things that they don’t teach on acting class. I was like, this is great. And so I had to apply some of those techniques to my delivery and things like that. And then when I got with Ted, when he started talking about intending dreams and things to think about other than letting words come out, while the words are coming out of my mouth, the acting is over here with the things in my head. And so it creates dynamics, like doing the opposites at the same time, what I want you to do, and then, or maybe I want to touch your heart while talking to you. You know, it’s a million different things you can do. There’s many different techniques out here and we just find what works. And so, like I said, I’ve been in class over 20 years, so a lot of stuff comes in my head.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So now you teach acting also, right?

Harold Dennis
Yes. For a bunch of years, I would do a workshop maybe twice a year, three times a year. I just invite people and they come to this location and I have them do their monologue and I watch them and I ask myself, okay, what’s missing? And then I’d say, try this, try that, and have them. And the whole idea is for me to feel something. If I don’t feel something coming from you, like a chill or, you know, a heart palpitation, then we’ll keep working. And generally, I get something from everyone. And that’s through Ted Toronto’s teachings with the opposites, attending dreams and statements, projection. And so I did that for years. And then I got hired at Second City. So here in Chicago, I was teaching acting on camera and I did that for two years. And I’d get that from the students as well, have them have me feel something. And then Second City closed for the pandemic. Yeah, 2020. And I hadn’t gone back. I think I’m still on the roster, but I was like, you know, and I was making that money because over the pandemic, what I did was I decided to do a hundred workshops, two-hour online workshops. And it took me over a year, but I got them all in and I’m done with that. That was fun. Once a week or sometimes two times a week, because I was like, let me get these numbers in, let me get to 100. I’m kind of goal-oriented.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay.

Harold Dennis
And so after that was done, so now I just do one-on-ones like this, like I’d get you on Zoom and we sit there and you’re in your frame and I’d say, okay, smile and talk to the microphone, get these in your head, let me see your monologue. And then, okay, now try this, try that. And I’m, all I’m working for is to feel something.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay. Have your students gone on to bigger and, you know, like you’ve seen them on the screen or on, you know, TV or anything like that?

Harold Dennis
Well, one of my guys, he got cast in “Chicago Fire” and he thinks, yeah, yeah. And he called, he says, it was because of your piano method, something that came to me one day. I’m sitting there trying to get people to make statements, you know, like instead of asking questions like Americans do, trying to get them to instead of asking questions like Americans do. So I was like, you got a piano at home? Okay, sit by the piano. Now go, go down the keys, let’s say in your dialogue. And it was that simple. And he said that helped him. And that was just one thing that came to me.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah.

Harold Dennis
And other people have had any acting and has come along and this has been for years. I work with them a few times and now they’re out getting cast in independent films. One guy says, he was, I sent this Facebook post I saw to this guy, he’s a karate master, right? A real life, you know, and he’s got his dojo and everything and he’s wanted to act. And so he started coming to the workshops and I saw an ad on Facebook, they’re looking for an old Asian to play and has have one line in this independent film. And I sent that to him. I said, he says, I’m not Asian. I says, but just apply. And he applied and he had cast and they wrote him a whole couple pages of dialogue.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, wow.

Harold Dennis
He had just started. Yeah. So people fly, I say, I work with you. Okay, it’s time to go. You know, my work is done, but you can always come back, you know.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow. You know what? I’ve always wanted to be an actress.

Harold Dennis
I understand. I understand.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
My husband over there.

Harold Dennis
It could be as easy as you want it to be, but it is definitely a work behind us.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
But I think that that would help a lot in public speaking because I do, you know, public speaking and the way you’re speaking about, you want the person to feel something, you know, a chill or something in the heart. And if you’re doing public speaking, especially if you’re trying to get, you know, well, like they say, sell from the stage or if you’re, you know, trying to get clients or whatever, or just put your message across, you know, if you’re trying to motivate or inspire.

Harold Dennis
Yeah. You know, I did, like I said, I did the multi-level marketing in the 90s. And with, I remember one time back in, I was living in DeKalb around Northern and I got involved in this multi-level marketing program called, which one was that? A quorum electronics. And so my Asian doctor, he got me into it. And so we used to meet at his condo and throw, I see so long ago, I forgot what you call these things, events where you invite people and they come and look at the presentation. So I worked with my, I worked with him and we practiced before we did the first one. So I’m over his apartment and his condo and he did the first part about the business and I had, I got a chance to get up and talk about the money. So I got excited about that. And so when I was doing it, and this was really my first time, I was like, uh, and, uh, yeah, 100, uh, blah, blah, blah, uh, and, uh, uh. And so he stopped me. He said, and he just gave me this one thing, which was effective. He said, every time you want to say, uh, just pause for a second, don’t say anything. And when the next word comes to you, the next sentence, then speak. And so I did that at that presentation. We had about 20 people in the room. And when I finished, when we finished, and after I finished my presentation, I was like, well, who wants to sign up? And most of the people raised their hands. And I asked this girl, I said, why did you sign up? She says, because you’re powerful. This was before I was an actor. And so I don’t think I’m a public speaker at all, but I can inspire.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I could, I could actually work on my public speaking, but I can inspire in the process.

Harold Dennis
Yeah.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, wow. Wow. Well, we have a question that came in here from Renita Dixon. She says, can acting help people in Corporate America where genuine emotions are discouraged?

Harold Dennis
And what comes to mind is, is that on a one-on-one setting or is that in a group setting? Because Second City has a Corporate America workshop where they work with people in companies to help them get along. I think they play games and they do this and get people comfortable and exciting. But yeah, acting can, I think acting can definitely help you because I watched Ted over the 18 years work with other people. He’s worked with ministers, teachers, and different people from different walks of life, not just actors. So that’s why I said this is a philosophy, psychology thing, because it just helps people to get comfortable in their own skin and dealing with people. And, you know, you can wear your emotions on your face or, you know, or not, you know, and that’s, that’s acting can help you in Corporate America because there’s workshops for that.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow. Yeah. Okay. Well, it seems like you’ve inspired someone. Liz Beauty Queen Marty says, I want to act.

Harold Dennis
Ain’t nothing to it but to do it.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All right. Let me say this though. I’ve, I’ve spent a lot of years, I used to work with people for free and give them that first acting lesson. And then I think I just threw too much on them because after that, they was like, well, now, you know, I thought I wanted to act. So what I would say is go ahead and take a class and check it out. Go sit in on a class. You don’t have a ticket. Say, I want to audit the class. I want to sit in and see what it is or go get cast in a community play. You know, there are community plays. People are trying to put up plays in churches and halls all over, all over town, you know, find out where you can find a community play. They got Facebook groups with theater and acting and film acting groups. Join those and keep an eye out, you know, and check it out.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All right, Liz, you heard that. And Renita, the one, she, the one that asked the question about in Corporate America, she says the face.

Harold Dennis
Yeah, it’s me. That’s what I’m saying. And so in acting on camera too, what we work on is delivering the lines like this. The emotions are on the inside, but just deliver the lines like this. You don’t have to talk to people who, you know, and to, you know, like you don’t have to do any of that. Just keep it on the inside and shake it off, you know, keep the face like that.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
People tell me, oh, it showed on your face. So that’s have to practice, you know, and like the eyes, you know, that I forgot what they call it now. I used to know the terminology when, when split seconds, it, you know, somebody’s talking to you in a split second, your eyes tell what it is you’re thinking or feeling. And, and so you work on that in acting also. I forgot what they call that.

Harold Dennis
No, I just let stuff just happen. There’s no expression or something. I let stuff happen organically, like a true reaction, you know, even if I’m reading the script and I’m familiar with it, I don’t know how, what I’m going to do at that split second. I know what the script says and I know how I feel. So whatever happens, happens. Yeah. You said something about a split second.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah. The eyes, you know, it’s a micro expression. I think that’s what they call it when, and it’s something that’s involuntary. So in other words, I could be talking to you and you’re saying something. And even though my face, you know, is still and no expression, but my eyes in a split second, zoom, you know.

Harold Dennis
Okay. You know, I’ve learned that involuntary is not necessarily a good thing in a script. You know, we, I’ll, like I said, I don’t know exactly how I’m going to do what, what’s going to happen, but I have a marker like this is going to happen right here on this line in this space. And then say, okay, that’s got to happen there. But then the involuntary stuff, I don’t want to be, you know, doing that’s involuntary. Like, yeah, that should, everything should be planned.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow. Wow. Okay. Even the movement, even the eye blinking, I blink, I blink when I want to blink. Sometimes someone has to remind me, can you blink in this scene?

Harold Dennis
Yeah. Because, you know, they say blinking is vulnerability and keeping your eyes open is, I need to listen to that guy.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
How do you keep your eyes open without blinking?

Harold Dennis
I practiced. I watched “Training Day” back in 2001 and I was like, wait a minute, because I was learning that monologue. What now? Huh? What you going to do? You going to shoot? You going to bust your cherry? I was learning that monologue and I was watching Denzel. I was like, he’s not blinking. I’m sure when they said cut, he would blink.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
But you know what? The next time, next time we watch “Training Day,” I’m going to look at that.

Harold Dennis
So we, we blink when we want to say something.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay. Now here’s another question. Liz says, asked, is it true that in order to cry when acting, you have to think of something sad?

Harold Dennis
I learned that back at ETA back in ’07, the late Okoro. He was like, if you have to be sad, go back into your head or think of something sad, like your dog dying in your arms and sit there and feel that presence or standing there at the casket. See yourself standing there at the casket, looking at your dead mother burned up in a fire, open casket.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, okay.

Harold Dennis
Yes. So that’s a technique.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah. Oh, wow. Okay. What I want to do is show something here so people can see exactly what you do. Here it is. [Video plays]

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Wow. You know what? Now that’s really something. And you look different in each one of those scenes.

Harold Dennis
Well, let me say that, that first one where I was playing the priest, we did that movie back in 2004. That’s called “Pieces of a Dream.” And that demo reel was made in 2010. So there’s a bunch of, those are actually old films and clips.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah. Okay.

Harold Dennis
But yeah, I do look, some people have said that you look different in this movie and you look different in that one. I’m like, oh, I do. Thank you.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, you really do. And so, and in one of those clips, you had a different accent.

Harold Dennis
Yes. I learned how to speak, you know, actually I did “A Raisin in the Sun” down in Louisville, Kentucky at the Actors Theater back in 2001 in the black box theater. I played Joseph Asagai and I had to work on that accent. I had no accent. And that’s why I’m going in to play George Murchison. This guy saw me at this workshop and says, we need a George Murchison from Chicago. And I’m from Chicago. And so I went to the rehearsal thinking I’m going to do, I watched “The Raisin in the Sun” because I never watched it before. And I said, George, I said, yeah, I can learn that real quick in five weeks. And so I get to audition and there’s one guy that’s playing Joseph Asagai and he had this rich accent. He was dark-skinned. He just wasn’t as handsome. And so the director who had worked with him before, he looked at me and says, do you have an African accent? And I was like, yeah, no, but I said, yeah. And he says, okay, read this. So what happened was I was listening to this guy with this beautiful accent, listening. And so he gave me this book and I’m so I’m cold reading Asagai’s full page of lines. And so I put the book in my face and I was like, oh, piggy day, oh God, you wear it well, beautiful hat and all. And I finished the whole page and he said, okay, you got the role. I was like, nah, I got to learn all of this. But I did it. I worked and worked. And so then I had it back in 2001. So I did that, the Nigerian film, “Audio” with this guy, Francis Onpolo, who’s from Nigeria. And we did it and it was about me marrying a 14-year-old girl and bringing her home, paying her father money, you know, short film. And so he took it, showed it to his uncle in Nigeria. And his uncle says, Francis, I know this man. What part of the country is he from? And he says, uncle, he’s not Nigerian, he’s American. I was like, that was the greatest compliment I could have got.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah. Wow. So have you done other accents?

Harold Dennis
Oh, I did this one feature film where I was, it was an independent film and I had a British accent. And so there was a girl that was in my class at Toronto’s from somewhere over there in London. And I asked her to help me over the phone back in 2009. She worked with me on the phone and I gave her my lines and we worked my lines, you know. And so I did the film and did it and it looked convincing to me, you know, I don’t know. And you know, because there’s the Cockney and there’s the upper crust and blah, blah, blah, everything in between. So I tried to find something and land on that.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay.

Harold Dennis
And, oh, go ahead.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So there’s this film, this guy gave me a script for where I’m supposed to play a Jamaican West Indies guy. And that one I don’t have. So I ordered the cassettes on, I ordered some stuff online and got with this guy, sent him my lines and he sent them back, a white guy. He did his best impression and we still haven’t shot the film. So I got time to work on my Jamaican bomba class. I got time.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So a lot of questions. All right. Which is easier to do, comedy or drama?

Harold Dennis
Drama.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Drama. Well, you like…

Harold Dennis
Yeah, I like drama. Now, so while I was teaching over at Second City, I could take classes over there for free because I’m an instructor. So for those two years, I was in, I took improv for actors, improv for actors two, stand up one. And I was like, after stand up one, I was like, I’m done with that. I’m not taking stand up two. But 10 months later, I took stand up two. I took intro to screenwriting, screenwriting, screenwriting lab, body movement, storytelling, you know, just different classes that interest me, production, you know. So I’m always a student, but comedy is, so that’s why I took improv for actors so I can work on my funny. Then I took improv for actors two so I could work on my funny. Then I jumped out on the ledge to take stand up and I had to go do open mics. I’m over here on the south side of Francis on 75th, you know, they ain’t laughing at nothing. And then I’m like, and I’m the first week of class, he says, you got to do stand up open mics. I’m like, what? So I had to fear, I’m scared. I’m up in there and I’m like, why’d the chicken cross the road? If you wanted to, you know, it’s just goofy. I was like, but you know, I got better and better. But after stand up one, I was like, I’m done. But then I ran out of classes. I was like, you know what? I was talking to a guy in the stand up one class. I said, I’m going to take stand up two because he was having successes. I’m going to take it. Then the young lady says, you know what? You don’t have to do open mics. I was like, cool. And just work on my funny in class. And so quick start. So I took my brother, I had him and his wife come to support me at those other mics because, you know, I only go up in there by myself. And so he came to a couple of them and he said, Harold, you stunk the place up. And I was like, I had a couple of people laughing. Yeah. He’s like, no, you stunk the place up. And so 10 months later, I took the stand up two class and I finished it. And we had the student showcase over at Second City in one of the small theaters. And I invited him and his wife because I, and I said, I’m doing my stand up two showcase. I want you to come and support. And so I’m driving that and we’re going down Lake Shore Drive headed north. And I’m, I’m acting now. I’m like, man, all of this traffic I got to go through the stand up. And he says, man, you seem like you’re, you’re panicking, Harold. And he’s the funny one. He says, Harold, run the routine by me and let me help you out. I was like, no, just wait till we get there because I already knew it was funny. So we get there and I said, you just got this new iPhone. I want you to record my stand up. I’m, I’m supposed to come out fifth. Just record me. Okay. He says, okay. And so he recorded me and he’s the, he’s my laugh track in the background because he didn’t know that I had really worked on it. It was funny. And so he recorded and I uploaded it on YouTube. It’s called Harold Dennis comedy or Harold Dennis stand up. It’s just a five minute piece. And the funny, the, the best part of that was surprising him.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay.

Harold Dennis
But yeah, comedy is tougher.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, Harold.

Harold Dennis
It’s profanity in there too, because I’m, you know, I’m talking about, well, they all grown.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah.

Harold Dennis
What happened was I had, it’s kind of a true story too. Yeah. Because I was in my sixth week of class out of eight weeks and I’m going to class and something happened and I’m like, I’m, I waited to last and go because I wasn’t ready. I still had my material in my hand and I was just so uncomfortable. And so what happened was, okay, I finally just threw the book down and I’m standing there in front of everybody and says, let me tell you what happened on the way here. They says, that’s what you should do your showcase about. That was probably week five. So I spent three weeks working on it.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Harold Dennis.

Harold Dennis
I’m the most recent thing that happened is on WE TV. That’s like what TNT, AMC and all of those channels, WE TV. I’m in a series that my buddy Kenny, 25 years ago said, take that acting class. They moved out to LA 20 some years ago and they got green lit to, which Kenny wrote, he wrote a series called “Cold and Windy.” That’s cold with a K, “Cold and Windy.” As a matter of fact, it airs 9 p.m. Central on Thursdays. And this is week four. I was week four of eight episodes. I was in episode three, but you can see it on demand. And he’s called a lot of buddies from the acting troupe from back in the day and other people. And he’s got this dope series. It’s about two young girls that are rappers, drill music, hardcore, and it’s how it’s affecting their lives and the streets. And it’s real urban. I was like, Kenny usually does comedy. I was like, this is a drama. He said, yeah, this is a drama. I’m like, okay. So I went down to…

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
K-O-L-D.

Harold Dennis
Oh, okay. Like the Windy City, “Cold and Windy.”

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, I got you.

Harold Dennis
You like Chicago, “Cold and Windy.”

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay.

Harold Dennis
And so I shot my scenes and they told me if they get picked up for a season two, I’ll have a reoccurring character. So I’m excited about it. It seems to me that the show is hot and they could have a lot of viewers.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Oh, and so that’s just happened. And I mentioned earlier, I have 16 films that are on Tubi TV that you can watch for free. “Pieces of a Dream” is on there where I played the priest, “Paradigm Gray,” “For Hannah,” a bunch of family wood is on there, a bunch of films, “Before I Do.”

Harold Dennis
Yeah, you go to YouTube and put your name in there. Will all of this come up?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Some stuff will pop up. I think if you go to IMDB.com and type my name in, there’s a whole list of movies and you can try to take, say, let’s see if this movie is over. Yeah, I have a couple of things on Amazon Prime. One of them is this film I did. It’s a short, it’s like a series called “Pear Shaped.” One of my noobs, he did three short films and called the series. They have nothing to do with each one, but I’m in episode three, whereas we shot it in Center Space. It’s just me sitting in a car with my old army jacket on dealing with PTSD with the cops behind blue lights. It’s called WBLS, “Whirling Blue Lights and Sirens.” Dope film. I showed it to my Second City students the first week of class so that they can see who’s working with them. And they’re like, yes, sir, Mr. Dennis, what’s next after they see that? It’s called “Pear Shaped,” WBLS, episode three on, and it’s on Amazon Prime. Yeah, I have a bunch of projects out there. You just have to go to the IMDB.com and just search.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, that’s I-M-D-B.

Harold Dennis
D as in David, B as in boy.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, a lot of people.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay, let me delete that and put it right. I-M-D-B.

Harold Dennis
Yes, yes.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All right, folks, and you see that you can go in there and see all about Harold Dennis. Okay, so a question came in from my text. What are your aspirations for the future?

Harold Dennis
Aspirations for the future? Get paid millions of dollars for projects and win awards.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, well, we talked about this before you came on, and I said, you know, we’re going to put a number on it, right? On supporting role, but for leading role in a drama. And I said, yeah, put a date on it, a tab, everything on it, and claim it. And then I want to be invited because I’ve never attended one.

Harold Dennis
That’s right. So I have screenings here in Chicago, films, you know, once they finish them, they screen them here and at different film festivals. I’m on the community council or is there a question?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
No, she said, Dunbar says, my son knows Kenny and was also on “Cold and Windy,” first episode.

Harold Dennis
Oh, who was he in it? Because I definitely watched every episode because Ronnie Ray, what did he do in it?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I don’t know. You got to put that again.

Harold Dennis
I’ll re-watch it.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, yeah. So what I was saying is “Cold and Windy” is cold. I’m telling you, people are watching. My cousin was on the East Coast and she says, I was sipping a drink and relaxing and I’m watching this new series called “Cold and Windy.” And who do I see? My cousin, Harold Dennis. I’m like, people are watching. I don’t have to tell them. People are watching.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah. Wow. That’s just wonderful. So now you also have, you told me you have a podcast.

Harold Dennis
Oh, yeah, yeah.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
So tell us about the podcast.

Harold Dennis
Well, say what Ronnie Ray did and yeah. Okay. Harold and Brad, Windy City Filmmakers Podcast. And my buddy Brad, he was in the acting troupe with us back in 1998. And we’ve been friends that long. And so just a short few years ago, he says, let’s do a podcast. And what we’re going to do is interview our friends that have gone on to do things. And so we’ve been a few people, he sets it up and we both come on. And those are on YouTube, Harold and Brad, Windy City Filmmaker Podcast, Filmmakers Podcast. And we’ve interviewed Kenny Young, Carl Seaton, our buddies, because Carl’s directing “Chicago PD,” “Snowfall,” and all of these things came from the acting troupe. So, you know, he’s doing, we interviewed him and a bunch of other people. We’ve interviewed Bob Tittle, Alex Picos, the guy that just sold Center Space, you know, he owned that for years and just different people. Harry Lennix, you know, he was in “Five Heartbeats” and “Man of Steel” and those types of things. He’s from Chicago. Our buddies that were in the acting troupe that are out doing theater, graduated from Harvard all over the country, you know, things like that. It’s a fun podcast. We laugh and talk with them for about 15 minutes. We’ll do 30 minutes and then cut it up into two 15-minute episodes because of tension span type of thing.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay. Glenn said, Ronnie Ray, he was the one who came in the store asking to buy a gun.

Harold Dennis
Yes, the big guy. That’s cool. That’s cool. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Then he came back in the club later and got it. Redrum, that Kenny did, Redrum.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay. Yeah, I saw Redrum too. They came back from school here in Chicago, Redrum.

Harold Dennis
Yeah, back, oh, years ago.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, yeah. Okay. And we got another actor in the house. His name is Dr. Lauren Michaels Harris. Hello, everyone. And I’ve forgotten the name of the film he was in, but I think it was also an independent film.

Harold Dennis
Yeah, I do know. I do know now.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay. Another question from a text. What advice would you give to folks who want to get into some area of films?

Harold Dennis
Well, you know, the easiest thing to do is to pinpoint what it is that you’d like to do. If it’s hair, makeup, or crew, lighting, acting, directing, producing, go on Google and read up on this stuff. Knowledge is power. And from there, you can find where you can take classes. You know, they have this place called Chicago Filmmakers, whereas it’s not a college, but they teach different aspects of the behind the scenes in the business, editing, writing, you know, screenwriting class. If you want to write something, take a class, read a book, read a book, take a class, just do the research. And from there, you’ll know if it’s for you or not. And to find out what is for you and research it and then study.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Okay. And I’m reading something here and it said you were Black Excellence Award nominee for outstanding achievement in film as an actor from the African American Arts Alliance of Chicago.

Harold Dennis
Yeah, yeah, I remember that. And so what happened was I put on my tuxedo. I’m like, I’m nominated, you know, we went over to the DuSable Museum and I’m feeling fresh, you know. And so they had some nominees and the young 23-year-old guy that wrote the film, he was the lead actor and he wrote it and directed it. He won best actor and best director, best film. It was a film called “Growing Pains of Chicago,” Englewood, “Growing Pains of Chicago.” And I was happy he won it because this is the role I had in the movie. I’m at the beginning of the movie, the janitor at the park district. He comes running by and I say, of course, that had my building. I got a hat on, you know, stop running, pull off the head, my building. And so he goes on by and then at the end of the movie, this will go back to that scene and I’m talking to him and the other guy in the basketball in the gym. And as something happens at the end, I do something like that and run back in the building, Englewood, “Growing Pains of Chicago.” And I got nominated for that. I was like, who do I know on that council?

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Right.

Harold Dennis
Yeah, but I was happy to have that night in the pictures and things like that.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
But, you know, I’m getting ready to brag because I was a nominee, but mine was for best nonfiction book and called “The Secrets to How Not to Throw Mama From the Train.” And it was the same, like, who nominated me for this? I didn’t win, but like you say, it’s wonderful to be nominated.

Harold Dennis
Yes, it is. I did win best supporting actor in a comedy, a short film in this small independent film festival years ago. And a lot of films that I’ve been in have been nominated and won a lot of film festivals.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All right. And you know what that means? Like I said, yes, you’re going to be walking that red carpet.

Harold Dennis
Yes. And like I was saying, there’s plenty of screenings and something’s going to come up sometime this year and I’m in the film and they’ll have it at some theater and they may have a red carpet rolled out and I’ll take it.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah, that’s the line. Yeah, that’s the one. This has been anything you want to add to my folks, my audience? They, you know, they are, it’s so many comments on his, like, I can’t put them all in here, but so what’s your last parting words for us who thinks that we can be in movies and TV and all of that? What are your parting words for?

Harold Dennis
Well, I’ll say this real quick. I have my hands in a few projects right now, projects to be completed. I just finished two last weekend, two different ones, you know, come in and do something in them and have projects that I’m shooting on famous Canadian actors. I’m one of the main characters in that series and shooting with my buddy Darren Orange on a drinking movie, you know, it’s not alcoholic, but we’re, it’s crazy, a lot of things. And I have things coming up that I have scripts for. And so my parting advice is find out what it is that you want to do and research it and do it. But with both hands and both feet, jump in, don’t look back, don’t look back.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Let me say this to you right before we go. You remind me of Denzel.

Harold Dennis
Thank you. And you know, like I’ve been doing that “Training Day” monologue for years. It’s like I told you, I’ve learned it. Then I worked on it with Ted Toronto’s back in 2004. And after three months of doing that “Training Day” monologue, he says, okay, Harold, we can stop because I was working on it. He says, okay, you’re ready to show, you know, you’re ready for the recorded or whatever. And so right after I finished and I’m trying to go fast, right after I finish, I got a cattle call audition for some Robert Townsend thing back in 2004, May. And I went, hundreds of people out there. And to make a long story short, I didn’t get cast, but a buddy saw me in that film and cast me in the film “Pieces of a Dream” that’s on Tubi also. That was from that “Training Day” monologue to be blowing the whole room away.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All right. So Dr. Sabrina L. Davis says, Harold is amazing.

Harold Dennis
Hey, man.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
You know her?

Harold Dennis
Okay.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
And Dr. Patricia Rogers says, congratulations, Harold.

Harold Dennis
Yes, I am running for my life because we won’t get a second chance.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All righty, Harold. Thank you so much. I have to have you back.

Harold Dennis
I’m happy to come back.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
I have to have you back. Thank you so much for being on the show. It has been a delight and I am going to definitely watch your shows. And you know what? You might see me on your one-on-one.

Harold Dennis
Yeah.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Because, you know, I want to be a movie star.

Harold Dennis
And check out “Paradigm Gray” on Tubi too. I’m very happy with that.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
Yeah. Oh, wow. You ought to have a beautiful, blessed… Oh, wait a minute. One more thing came in. They want to know if you’re single.

Harold Dennis
Thank you. Sorry, y’all. I’m not going to say if we asked that question. Sorry.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All right, Harold. You have a beautiful, blessed rest of your evening.

Harold Dennis
Thank you very much.

Dr. Janice Hooker Fortman
All right. Thank you. Wow. This has really been great. I didn’t even go to commercial. My spouse is going to say, oh, you owe me. But Harold has been great. This has been wonderful. And I really want you all to look him up so you can say to yourself, I remember him when you see him walking that red carpet. I keep saying that. You’re going to say, I remember him. Yes. And he’s really good. So relationships matter and Relationship Matters TV show is all about all kinds of relationships. And I am just so blessed and just happy that I have formed a new relationship. So next week will be on course for two weeks because I’m doing something special, but I shall be back. So you know what I think I’m going to do on that second week that I’m out? I think I’m going to run this show again. So for all of you who didn’t get a chance to see it or want to see it again and want to be refreshed on how you can see Harold, tune in two weeks from next Thursday. In the meantime, have a beautiful, blessed rest of your morning, afternoon, or evening. Bye.