Dennis Haysbert on Doing His Own Stunts and Being the Allstate Guy

He played President David Palmer on 24 and convinces us we’re in good hands with Allstate. Now Dennis Haysbert, 62, takes us to the year 2074 in the TV series Incorporated, premiering November 30 on Syfy, as Julian, the head of security for a corporation running that future world.

The future in Incorporated seems to be an extreme reflection of today with its haves and have-nots. 

It’s more than have-nots: The people in the red zone don’t have food and other comforts, but they do have a certain freedom. I’m sure they wish they were in the green zone, but the people in the green zone don’t have it all either.

The future world of Incorporated seems to involve a total misuse of power, especially in the green zone.

I can only speak from my character’s perspective in what he sees and how he sees it. If he didn’t have a wife and child, he would have probably remained in the red zone. Maybe not even there. He probably would have tried to go out on his own and live in the woods. I can understand survivalists now. Actually, in the first episode when they’re talking to him, and he asks them, “Do you know what it is I do?  If you truly knew what I do, you wouldn’t bring someone to me with a 55 percent chance of being guilty.” In that little answer, I saw a lot of humanity in him. The one common thread through the entire show is everybody’s doing what they need to do out of love.

Julian is the head of security, but he seems more like a fixer.

He was once an elite soldier. What he does is cruel. He doesn’t necessarily like it, but that’s his job, and he does his job to protect his wife and child. As the show goes on, he becomes more and more compassionate.

In addition to Incorporated, Undercover just aired on BBC America.

I play a man who was wrongly convicted and is on death row. Sophie Okonedo is playing my lawyer from England, and she is trying to get a stay and to have my case reopened. It gets deeper than that, but I can’t tell you more about that until you see it. It deals with illegal incarceration and it also speaks to the inhumanity of the death penalty.

What’s your goal for the Haysbert Humanitarian Foundation?

To help children, be it education, nutrition or stress counseling. I’m involved with something that is very much in the news these days, and that’s assisting children who have lost their parents prematurely.

With your growing acting career, why continue doing TV commercials for Allstate?

I like the company and the people in it, and it is a good insurance company. Everything that I say, lawyers have to pore over, so I know I’m pushing an honest product. It gets the gravy on the rice of my day.

Is your sportswear line, DH6, based on your love of golf?

It came about, basically, because I was losing my identity. I went through a phase where all I was doing was commercials, and not that it was a bad thing, but I was referred to as “the Allstate guy” as I was walking the streets. Someone comes up to you on the street, you would like them to know your name. So I was like, “I have to do something to raise awareness,” even if it was just for myself for who and what I want to be. So, I came up with the DH6 line. I designed the logo and I’m working on the quality of the clothing that I use. But one of the things I insist on is that it’s all made in America.

Several of your movies—Sniper: Ghost Shooter and Dead Rising: Endgame—are action films. Do you do your own stunts?

It depends on the stunt. I’ve done a lot of different things in my life. I’ve parachuted, done some deep-sea diving. Inasmuch as it’s safe to do, I can do it.