Dennis Haysbert's big break came when he was chosen to star opposite Michelle Pfeiffer in the civil rights road picture-cum-romance "Love Field" (filmed in 1990; released in 1992). Yet, like so many other Hollywood stories, "Love Field" was not a part that came knocking for the tall, physically intimidating but warm-smiling Haysbert. Denzel Washington was originally attached to the role, and when Washington dropped out of the production, Eriq La Salle was hired, then fired. Only then did Haysbert get the call, and it was a break that put him on casting lists all over Hollywood.

Haysbert's early