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Television has been very good to serious actor Lance Reddick.
The Baltimore native has been the go-to guy to portray law enforcement characters on HBO's critically-acclaimed series 'The Wire,' 'Lost,' and 'Fringe' and even on the big screen in the independent film 'Tennessee,' which starred music diva Mariah Carey.
Now, he's venturing out of the world of television good cops and bad cops with the release of his debut album, 'Contemplations & Remembrances,' a compilation of jazz influenced tunes all of which he wrote and produced.
"Growing up I never thought I'd do acting for a living. In college, I did it for fun, but I went to a Conservatory to be a rock star and I started acting because I thought it would help my music career and [acting]really took over my life," he revealed to BlackVoices.com.
Having a self-proclaimed obsession with Sting and Miles Davis, it was an easy fit for Reddick's music to have a heavy jazz feel. "It felt like jazz as a genre gave me more freedom creatively to do what I wanted to do over rock or pop," he added.
His current shooting schedule for FOX's 'Fringe' prohibits him from having a full-fledged tour, but he's been thinking about ways to fit performing in with his schedule.
Still, he knows that his roles on the small screen continue to pay the bills.
"My main focus is still my acting, but this is something that I felt like I had to get out and it was important to share," Reddick said.
Where his most notable role on HBO's 'The Wire' is concerned, the Yale Drama School alum says he misses the camaraderie and artistry between the actors on what remains the largest African-American cast on a dramatic television series in history.
"I don't wish it had gone on and on and that I was still doing it, but I miss being part of something that was gritty and for me it was fun and I would love to do something like that again," he shared.
But he's quit to point that out "to go straight from 'The Wire,' to 'Lost' to 'Fringe' has been pretty incredible."
Oddly enough, his favorite role thus far was a small one.
"I think the performance that I'm most proud of is pretty obscure. It's a character I played on an episode of 'Law & Order,'" Reddick continued. "I played an Army Captain from Sierra Leone in 2001 before I was cast in 'The Wire' and I had to learn the Sierra Leone accent. To this day, that's my favorite character, the character I'm most proud of."
During his down time, Reddick tunes into 'Breaking Bad,' and '30 Rock,' and he's hoping that he can get some of his dream roles in the near future.
"I really want to do another film version of 'Othello' the last one was done about 15 years go."
In addition to that role, he said, he would love to play "Mister' if they ever did another version of 'The Color Purple.' He even tried for the Broadway musiclal version, which was produced by Scott Sanders, Quincy Jones and Oprah Winfrey.
Reddick said he didn't make the grade because the decision makers thought his voice wasn't strong enough. So he'll settle for a new reworking of the movie.
Meanwhile, he'll continue to bring the heat on 'Fringe' and deliver smooth jazz with 'Contemplations & Remembrances,' which is available digitally now at his website, LanceReddick.com.
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