Derek Luke: sometimes just getting onto the movie lot can be the beginning of a whole new chapter

Raised in one of New Jersey's toughest neighborhoods, Derek Luke's first acting gig was putting on a game face on his walk to school. Years later the struggling actor caught his big break in Denzel Washington's Antwone Fisher (2002). Paying his bills as a studio usher and a gift-shop clerk at Sony Pictures' Los Angeles lot, he met the real Antwone Fisher and read his autobiographical script, setting in motion a chain of events that would earn him the title role in a "discovery" story bound for Hollywood lore. Currently onscreen in David Mamet's new thriller, Spartan, Luke catches up with his Pieces of April co-star, Katie Holmes.

KATIE HOLMES: I have some questions to ask you. I need you to be a good interviewee.

DEREK LUKE: [laughs] I will.

KH: You grew up in New Jersey, right?

DL: [in a Southern drawl] Yes ma'am. On a farm.

KH: On a farm? Really?

DL: NO. It's just where I grew up [in Jersey City]--it was a place where you didn't see a lot of dreams being fulfilled. That's how I'd define it.

KH: What are some of your favorite memories of your childhood?

DL: Just being able to dream. Growing up I got to go any place I wanted to just by thinking about it. I used to love to be by myself and dream.

KH: Do you remember the moment when you realized you wanted to be an actor?

DL: Well, I went to college for one semester, and I took every subject I could, and I ended up failing. So I thought to myself, Ever since I was a kid, I've loved expression--and that's when I started thinking about acting. Then I was working in a store in Newark, New Jersey, and I saw an actor in person, and I got so excited. My whole day changed. That's when I decided to challenge myself to make my dreams become a reality.

KH: I'm so glad you did. Now tell me about Spartan. I know David Mamet wrote the screenplay and directed it, so it's probably very complicated and wonderful.

DL: I like how you said that. You must be an artist. It's about this elite unit of the armed forces named the Delta Force. I play a protege of Val Kilmer's character, and he kind of gives me a hard time. He's looking for the president's kidnapped daughter; everybody he calls on to help him is busy, but lo and behold, you look across the room, and I'm waiting for that action.

KH: It sounds interesting. Was it fun to make?

DL: Oh, yeah. David Mamet challenged me a whole lot. It turned out to be a good learning experience for me. He pushed me to see things through his eyes, and I pushed him to see things through what I believed. It wasn't a tug of war, but there were definitely discussions about direction.

KH: That must've been a wonderful experience. It's like a coach that's really hard on you--you're challenged the whole time, but in the end, you know you've grown a lot. How did you like working with Val Kilmer?

DL: I had a lot of fun with Val. He's like a big kid.

KH: You've been working with great people! DL: Both of us! I've got to be honest: Working with you on Pieces of April was beautiful. Whenever I hear your name my face lights up. My wife's too.

KH: Thanks. You guys are so sweet. Now, is it true you had to audition for Antwone Fisher, your first movie, five times in four years?

DL: Yes, ma'am. The first time, I read for a casting director and I don't think I gave him what he wanted, but he had me back two weeks later. After I was done he said, "Come back next Thursday." So I came back for a third time. But the next thing you know, the project shut down.

KH: Oh, no.

DL: Yeah. About three years later, the project went back up, and I got a callback. I walked into the room and Denzel Washington was there. I couldn't really look at him because I admired him so much. So we read, and I got another callback, number five. I didn't hear anything, so I went back to the store where I was working on the Sony lot--where I had met the real Antwone Fisher four years prior. One day Antwone came into the store to do some shopping. As I was walking him out, I saw Denzel and [Antwone producer] Todd Black coming in. Denzel called me Antwone, and I grabbed him, hugged him, and kissed him. Later he said I went through the full range of emotions that I went through in the movie.

KH: [both laugh] Oh, wow. I'm sure you had a nice celebratory dinner that night.

DL: Oh, my God! My wife and I, boy, we got down that night. On a personal note!

KH: [laughs] What are you working on now?

DL: A film called Friday Night Lights with Billy Bob Thornton. It's about Texas high school football, which is like a religion. Are you up to anything?

KH: In the spring, I'm working on Batman.

DL: What?! Girl! Oh, Katie! As we say, "Holla!"

KH: Holler?

DL: You gotta add the little hard "h" to it. Holla!

KH: Holla! [laughs] We're shooting near London. If you happen to be there, come visit. DL: I once had a London broil steak.

KH: [laughs] Listen, Derek, have the best time on this new movie. Holla!

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