Hisham Tawfiq is known to fans of NBC’s adventure drama “The Blacklist” as an FBI special agent. But, like countless New Yorkers aspiring to make it in a creative field, he held down plenty of other jobs before that one to make ends meet. He spent 20 years as a New York City firefighter, continuing through his first two seasons on the show. Tawfiq, 52, has portrayed Dembe Zuma on “The Blacklist” since 2013. He says keeping a day job even after landing what would become a major role reflected his instinct for survival.
“Losing my parents at an early age and being the oldest of five, I always had to have a job,” Tawfiq said. “There was nobody giving us money. So a job was like waking up and brushing your teeth: It was just one of those things I had to do.” But "The Blacklist," now in its 10th and final season, hasn’t been just the latest in a series of jobs. The role has also provided a way for Tawfiq the son of a Harlem imam, or a spiritual leader in the Muslim community to address the way Muslims are represented on television and viewed in popular culture.
That opportunity is vital, he says, because Islam has been at the center of his life since childhood. Tawfiq was born in Harlem in 1970. His mother died when he was just 4. His father kept the family close, and signed his children up for a variety of athletic programs. “My father put me in karate and swimming very early, so I did a lot of physical activities,” Tawfiq said. “I was attracted to soccer … he didn't allow us to play basketball. But acting and the arts were far from anything I was attracted to at that time.”
Tawfiq remained an athlete until his senior year of high school in 1988, when multiple injuries cut his football dreams short. His father’s death that same year left him feeling directionless. He found his way to the arts slowly, after a friend dared him to sign up for a West African dance class. That led to spending the summer after his high school graduation dancing with a company in Paris. “When I came back, I was still kind of finding my way,” Tawfiq said. “I worked a lot of jobs here and there, continuing to dance with the dance company. But then I joined the Marine Corps.”
His military service in 1990 included deployment during Operation Desert Storm. Tawfiq said his time in the Marine Corps was mentally and physically draining, and was made worse by how he was treated for his religious beliefs. “I was removed from my position as squad leader because of it,” he said.
After his stint, he worked for two years as a corrections officer at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility in Ossining. Then, in 1996, Tawfiq joined the FDNY, serving at a station in Harlem. He says he loved his role as a community leader and being a hero to young kids.
0 Comments