>> good evening from los angeles, i'm tavis smiley. the actor known as the most interesting man in the world. he charts success to "stay interesting" i don't always tell stories about my life but when i do, they are true and amazing and regina king joins us to discuss her career working in front of and behind the camera. we're glad you joined us. jonathan goldsmith and regina king in a moment.

and by contributions by your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you. before becoming a cultural icon, he appeared in hundreds of tv shows and never made it big until he landed the role of the most interesting man in the world. look at that face. i love that face. stay interesting. i don't always tell stories about my life, but when i do, they are true and amazing.

what a great title. i'm honored to have you. >> thank you. it my pleasure. >> my god. it's my great pleasure. this face -- you must not be able to go anywhere now without being stopped. >> good. i'm delighted. people say does it bother you? no, keep them coming. >> for 45 years you were in this town trying to make it like everybody else, just like everybody. >> and eventually -- we'll come to the commercial in a second. tell me what that 45-year journey was like trying to be in the business -- not trying to be. you were. >> i was in the business and made a living at it. i didn't do anything else. it was the same struggle everybody has. so many ifs, ands, maybes, close calls, heartbreaks, almost there. those dreams stomped on so many

times. i got out of the business for ten years and got a call from one of my agents after being gone in hollywood for ten years out of sight, out of mind has a special meaning in hollywood and said there is a commercial that's being cast. i have a hunch you're right for it. i didn't know her well. and i said, well, what do i have to do? she said it's an improve and you have to end with the line and that's how i arm wrestled fidel castro. that wasn't easy. [ laughter ] >> so i was living in the high sierras in the business world for ten years and got into some financial problems and i always wanted to go back, you know. that was my dream and goal even though i guest starred on the 350 shows, i hadn't made it. i'm driving this old truck down and thinking do i still have it? is it possible if i ever had it?

can i fool them one more time? and i got to this camp ground, i didn't have -- i had money but not enough really and i didn't want to save so i slept in the back of my truck in the malibu canyon has a matter of fact and it was a long night by myself. there was no hot water and i just wondered, could i stand another disappointment? i wasn't 30, 40, 50, 60. i was almost 70 years of age. so then the ride, the long ride to the audition going to hollywood and areas that i had been in and driven a garbage truck and got down in this casting office on south labraia and saw a line of people, four or 500 guys, they all look like juan valdez, the coffee agent.

this sweet agent don't want me. they want a young latino. i didn't want to go. i called her. she said you'll never forgive yourself if you don't. don't run away from this. i wanted to run away. i felt helpless. and i said well, i've come so far, at least make them laugh. it was my turn. i went into an empty studio. there was a bank of audio equipment on a wall in the empty room. the director and client were back in new york and they said tell me about yourself. sitting outside, i said my god, what am i going to do? i'm from the bronx. i'm not a latino. i thought about my buddy who is is featured a lot in the book. greatest rock on tour charming . he had been dead ten years but i channelled him big time and it started coming.

tell me about yourself. what did you want to do when you were a kid? i did it in fernando's accent. i said, i was torn. i wasn't sure if i wanted to be a white hunter older and went into fifth grade, i wanted to be an ob/gyn and they kept laughing and i kept up this stream of b.s. how i met him and loaned him a motorcycle and of course, i had a tryst with his mistress, wife and two nieces. well, they are laughing and i just -- i don't know where i got it from. [ laughter ] >> anyway, afterwards they went to the big countries, to mexico and south america. three months later i got it. >> that's a lot of searching. they had to find the most interesting guy in the world.

and they went around the world to find him. >> they did. >> in retrospect, what do you believe or what did they tell you made the difference for you, jonathan? >> nobody told me what it was and i don't know what it was but i know i loved doing it and making people smile and i love the ladies and atmosphere and the charm of it. the campaign was so beautifully written and i get a lot of attention from it and they created it. i don't know, exactly. >> how does it feel when you have gone through the johnny you laid out for 45 years and then right place, right time right opportunity it hits and you're known around the world for one thing, how do you process it? >> wonderful. i love it.

there is a lot of great athletes and beautiful people. there is only one. there was only one. now there another one. the torch has been passed. i thoroughly enjoyed it. people said what was the nicest thing about it? two things. number one, the brought a smile to people's face and we need smiles these days. >> absolutely. >> do we ever? and number two, it was something everyone wanted to emulate. i was getting off a bus and an elderly gentleman with a gold cane did a double take and said driver, stop. madison avenue, stop the bus. he said he came over as if he was knighting me, he said sonny, when i come back, i want to be you. it was great. it was just great. >> how many times a day do people come up to you and want you to say something in the

voice? >> a lot. a lot. but now where i live, i live in the mountains in vermont,less and less. it's okay. >> yeah, yeah. does this ten-year run that you ha have, how do you situation that? did it make it worthwhile? >> oh my lord, yes, it did. you forget ever rapidly when you get so much. i'm a lucky guy. so much recognition and people appreciate you. the rest goes away. it goes away. yeah. it was worth it, trust me. people say what happened now? you're off that show. one door shuts, ten open. in my case, i've been very, very fortunate. i'm able to do things i care about like tequila, doing that now. it's a marvelous story behind

that and a great, great special taste. that's one thing i'm doing and something else i'm not too much in the digital world but i'm in luma. >> not getting too much into your business, can one do economically well with a commercial that big for ten years? >> oh, yeah. yes, indeed. >> you're not homeless. >> not anymore. not sleeping in the back of the truck. >> not in the back of the truck anymore. >> yeah. >> i think you're okay. this story, i don't have time to get into it now but you lived a pretty fascinating life in hollywood and you didn't just attract girls in the commercial. you had a fair share of experiences in this town. >> yeah, i had a good time. you have to do something when you're not working. when an actor is not working -- [ laughter ] >> and you need to have a hobby.

>> >> when i start going through the names, my goodness. you put your free time. >> you have to. it's just one time trip, not a dress rehearsal. >> and you're so hand some all these years later. >> i'm almost 80. i'm 78. i work out every day, every day but one. vain, vanity keeps me going. i don't want to get old. my father called me peter pan. >> that's good, though. >> yeah. >> i think it's good. i feel good. yeah. lots of kids, lots of grandchildren, eight great grandchildren. i started early. everybody needs a hobby, right? [ laughter ] >> it is an amazing story. obviously, you know the face. there is no way you could have not seen the commerial for ten years. i saw the back story almost 70 years of age and i got

interested in the back story and quite a back story. the book is called, what else "stay interesting." i don't always tell stories about my life but when i do, that's true and amazing. jonathan goldsmith. good to have you on. all the best. >> thank you. up next, actress regina king. stay with us. >> regina king appeared in many intelligent projects and most recently starred in the acclaimed "american crime" which had gone to two back to back emmy awards as well as the first golden globe nomination. before we start our conversation tonight. a look back at some of her brilliant work. >> why every time you talk about a female you got to say a ho, a

hoochie. >> you are. >> i don't know what you do for your 4%, but this man has an image and when you put him in a water bed warehouse commercial, you making him common. shoes, car, clothing line, soft drinks, i know about the four jewels of the sell ecelebrity endorsement. i want you to leave her and be with our baby. >> you out the dang mind. you know i ain't going to leave my family. >> leave your family? you a fool. between the dope and the music and me, you already left your family. you see the way jason smiles at you? no one, no one else will ever love you like that ever. no one will know what that feels like, reggie. i want to hold that love in my

arms. i want to look in my child's eyes and see someone i care for. [ laughter ] >> i'm laughing because it's impressive to look at that because there are so many child actors that don't make it and even those who do make it don't make it in a way you have. you have a serious body of work he here. >> i am blessed. when you watch it like that, your always live in the moment so you don't think about the places that you've been before this moment right now and very cool. >> you're very modest. it's more than cool. >> it is. >> how do you reach -- this is what an actress' job is.

how do you reach the emotional places that you -- you're so good at that. >> thank you. well, i don't know. i think part of it is just my art and when a painter paints and a writer writes or musician plays, whatever space they go into to express their ye creativity, it would be equivalent to that. i've been training all my life. they are, i guess, certain buttons inside that i push to make things happen but for the most part i'm in the moment of the character i'm playing. i'm really channelling or trying to embody whatever that woman is in that piece. >> yeah. >> when you were a kid getting started, is this what you wanted?

just having a good time and not really processing it. >> it started out as having a good time. i wanted to be a dentist. >> a realization of having to be in people's mouths, let that being a fleeting thing. i love my den 'tis growing up. i talked about kids hated their dentist but i loved dr. rubel and i think that's what made me want to be a dentist. it was a hobby. i went to acting closes and enjoyed it and my sister and i enjoyed it together and 227 came and just kept going and i went to college and decided that i didn't want to stay in college. i wanted to really approach it as a career as opposed to a hobby. >> yeah. you were blessed, my word and you'll choose your word.

>> i like that word. >> you like that? >> yeah. >> seeps like you were blessed in that you were around some veterans, some veteran black women. that had to be -- >> i remind people all the time about marla being one of the first with a trailblazer like people forget, marla was the executive producer of 227 and had her own marla's memory lane and acting. it wasn't an acting school. it was an acting shrine. marla, i got to get a front row seat to see a woman whose a bos

operates and i didn't realize i was getting that as i was absorbing it because i'm making similar moves now so marla, gosh, that's my other mommy. >> yeah. >> speaking of similar moves. you're not just acting but producing and writing and directing. this is like -- >> it's a natural progression or expansion because i'm never leaving the one in the dust and to do it together, we observe. that's what we do. we take it in, we're students of life. just that you do this all the ti time. i would do this or this. i think because i'm taking it

all in all the time, i'm able to employ these gifts that come along the way. >> yeah. how has the directing aided your acting? >> in a huge way. i think because one aids the other as an actor, i immediately respected the director more. i was more willing -- tell me where you need me. we won't talk about it. i'll try it your way. i guess it opened me up more in a lot of ways and as a director, helps my communication with

other actors. >> this might not be the word you choose but seems if american crime did nothing else for you, it stretched you. >> yeah. >> those three seasons, i hate to see it go. not too long ago. many wonderful things about you. he loves you and adores you. tell me about the experience of doing "american crime" those seasons. >> it's hard to put in words because we dream to be part of a situation like that. situation for lack of a better word to come to mind quickly. situation, minimize it because it's a beautiful -- as actors, the perfect world is feeling and get paid like you get paid on tv or movies but not broadway money. >> yeah. >> so we had -- we have that feeling. so at the end of one season, it

was just the excitement to find out what story will we tell this season? are we coming back to do? john was filling us in a bit and we would have a long -- john is not short on words. so -- >> we know this. >> yes, yes. >> so we would converse about the roles that he was thinking about for us to play for the next seasons and, you know, speak for hours and he would take that and they would put -- go to the writer's room and come back with these gems. >> what's your end gail to tme extend there is one? are you hoping to do with the stuff you are doing? >> i think -- i don't think there is an end game. you know, i just -- i'm -- you know, i got the battery in my back, you know.

[ laughter ] >> i'll keep going and keep going. did you expect to be here? i can't say i thought it was. i can't say i thought it wasn't. i feel like i've listened to the universe. i kind of just let the universe guide me. there is no end game. who is to say where when i come back and sit in this chair or what i'll be talking about, you know, or what i'll be doing, it's -- >> it's been fascinating to watch and this is clearly a legitimate issue and you've talked about this to speak publicly about the lack of opportunity for people of color and yet, while that is the reality, it's empowering to watch you keep moving anyway. >> yeah, you know, i have had so many people that have been so supportive of whatever i want to

do and i was making the move to direct just all of the men that embrace me in our industry from paris barkley to john wells to christopher to john singleton and i can just name so many that, you know, didn't allow me to doubt myself. you know, they saw some things that i didn't even know existed, you know, like when i came over and said to john, i want to direct and he was like, of course you can. that is not the response i thought i would get. it's a ranty thi tyvanity thing. she wants to do this like so many actors before that want a thrash. he knew i really wanted to tell stories and paris barkley asked me a few questions and he gave

me so much information and pushed me in the direction of it. they said if you do this, people will not it not vanity and you're willing to do the work and fall back behind the scenes and they will really believe that and he is right. >> i read about abc you got a big deal. >> yeah, yeah, abc is family. >> they have been good to you. [ laughter ] >> i don't want to sound -- i'm so proud of you. >> anybody says that they don't appreciate when someone genuinely expresses that, pays that forward, they are lying. >> just to watch the way you have grown is beautiful. >> thank you. still growing, still growing. >> we all are. good to see you. >> good to see you. >> that's our show tonight. thanks for watching and as

always, keep the faith. >> for more information on today's show, visit tv vaavis sy at pbs.org. >> join me next time for a conversation with the creator ex executive producer of "blacklist." that's next time. see you then. and by contributions from your pbs station from viewers like you.

your pbs station from viewers like you. thank you.

♪ - today on america's test kitchen, dan shows us how to make simple pot-au-feu, chris answers viewer questions in letters to the editor, and bridget prepares the ultimate raspberry charlotte, right here on america's test kitchen. america's test kitchen is brought to you by dcs. dcs: manufacturers of professionally styled indoor and outdoor kitchen equipment.