Dwight Henry

I'm from New Orleans. Before I was cast in the part I owned a bakery called Henry's Bakery and Deli right across the street from the casting agency where Court 13 had their studio. They used to come over and have lunch or breakfast in the morning. After a few months we kinda developed a relationship. They used to put these fliers in the bakery with a phone number to call if you were interested in appearing in one of their movies. As simple as that! They used to put them up at my business, but I was never interested in auditioning, because I'm a restaurateur. If you understand that business, you know you don't have time to do nothing else but that. It took some work. One day me and Mike [Gottwald], the producer, was sitting in the bakery. I wasn't doing much so I decided to go over and cast for this part. He laughed. I did a reading for the part - never trying to get it or really wanting to get it - just doing a friend a favor and passing time. I go over, do the reading and two weeks later they come back and say, "Mr. Henry, Mr. [Benh] Zeitlin wants you to do another reading." I did a second reading and, during the auditioning process, I moved my business from one location to a bigger location where I had parking and things like that. During that time, the production company had decided that I was the one for the part. Nobody could find me. They asked my old landlord and my old neighbors where I had moved to, but I wasn't open yet. They came there looking for me and nobody is in the building. Two days after I open my new location, Michael Gottwald walks in with a calendar and says, "Mr. Henry, you got the part. Mr. Zeitlin loves what he sees. Here's what you have to do: you have to move out of town for two-and-a-half months." He had a whole schedule blocked out for me: acting coaches, this, that, all these things I had to do. I just opened up a new business. I can't just close my doors and walk away from a business I worked so hard to build. They were still casting a few people and it would be some time before they started shooting. I was told that they would try to work things out. He came back a couple of weeks later and I told him that I was sorry because I couldn't do it. They wanted me so bad that they gave me even more time to work things out with my partners. Three weeks later they came back and brought everybody. They even brought the accountant with. When they bring the accountant with, they are serious! They brought the accountant, all three of the producers, and the director. They came in my place and demanded that I sit down. "Mr. Henry, you are perfect for this part and we want you to do it. You bring something to the part that nobody else can bring." They obviously saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. They believed in me so much that I was able to work things out with my partners. Show less «

They contemplated bringing in professional actors from New York or California to do my role, but they wouldn't have brought the passion to the film as someone who went through this on a regular basis. I was in Hurricane Katrina in neck-high water. I have an inside understanding for what this movie is about. I brought a passion to the part that an outside actor who had never seen a storm or been in a flood or faced losing everything could have. Benh [Zeitlin] helped me so much to bring what I go through in real life into that part. He helped me with the transition. I was two-years-old when Hurricane Betsy hit New Orleans and my parent had to put me on the roof of the house. An outsider couldn't have brought the passion to the role that I did. Show less «