We were delighted at the chance to speak to Keith Burke (Derrick David, The Have and The Have Nots). He’s one of our newest favorite leading men and Derrick and Hanna are one of our new favorite ships. And we kinda like that he’s very easy on the eyes as well! We looked so forward to chatting and getting to know him. And oh boy, we loved every second of it. Keith was warm, open, intuitive and left us with much to think about. We could have talked to him forever. Keith dropped nugget after nugget after nugget. You will need to read this one at least twice to absorb it all.
Let’s start by mentioning that if Mr. Burke would have had his way, we would have been seeing him on our TV on Sunday’s and not Monday nights. Keith had dreams of playing in the NFL and winning the Super Bowl. Now that is not to say that Keith didn’t grow up with the entertainment bug. He grew up performing his favorite commercials, in theater and he was in the Philadelphia Boys Choir. Although according to Keith, “I was in theater to have fun and to appease my mom but I never thought of it as a career. My mother would say you are going to be an actor. I would say no I’m not. I’m going to be a football player, be in the NFL and go to the Super Bowl. I had all these plans but the universe had different plans.”
Yes, it did. Keith suffered a career/dream ending injury in a freak accident in a high school football game. His knee was severely injured when he was tackled. His knee was pushed around to the other side. Goodness. Keith’s knee was totally torn apart. He had to have a complete reconstruction. As you would imagine Keith felt like his world had crashed around him. He resisted the idea that his football career was over. “The doctor who treated me for my knee asked me if I had other interests. I told him about being in the choir and theater. He said well, it is time to start thinking about that entertainment career. I promise you that didn’t push me toward an entertainment career. It pushed me further away from it. I was like I’m going to rehab this knee. But I knew deep down it was over. I knew there was no way in the world I’d ever play football again.” Brutal. There is nothing more crushing than when our dreams die a death right before our eyes. But the great news for Keith (and us) was dreams may die but fate remains undefeated.
His mom, his doctor tried to nudge Keith toward his destiny but he wasn’t quite sold. Guess what or rather who did? Spike Lee and his films, like School Daze, captured Keith’s imagination. “It really made it feel like this was really possible. Spike was talking about things I could relate to. I thought I would love to be a part of something like that.”
Keith joined the Freedom Theater in Philadelphia to gauge where he was in pursuit of his new dream of being an actor. It was there that one of his coaches suggested he move to Los Angeles. Keith needed a bit more convincing. It was the combination of the coach, a friend of Keith’s from high school, who was working with Will Smith, (Keith also knew Will Smith from high school) and Keith’s visit to the set of the TV show Martin that convinced Keith he could do it. Then Keith was L.A. bound.
In L.A. Keith scored spots on Cold Case, Criminal Minds, Ghost Whisperer. At first, he landed mostly cop and law enforcement roles. Keith was grateful for the start but was chomping at the bit for his career to expand beyond those roles. It did. Keith then starred in several Indie projects, and in a web series called Power Couple Struggle and Almost Perfect (now streaming on Amazon Prime). Another high point for Keith was Preacher where he played the psychotic Tulip O’Hare. “It was very exciting to play this character. It was the first time I got to play someone totally different, especially coming off playing Derrick.”
Like we said, Derrick has stolen our hearts. And we just loved finding out that Keith loves him just as much as we do. Derrick was Keith’s first time playing a leading role. We are watching Keith’s third season with the show. But you wouldn’t know it. He still sounded like a kid with his first Christmas with Santa. “I had just gotten a new agent, a new manager and this was only my second audition. It took my breath away. I was shocked. I was initially contracted for 12 episodes and that blew my mind because I had never done more than 1-2 episodes of anything. Then suddenly to be doing 12, that’s like half a season. Now, I’m on my third season with the show. I’ve done 36 episodes and I’m still just like wow. It’s truly a testament to never giving up on your dreams.”
We just had to ask if Derrick and Hanna was gonna “hit the sheets” anytime soon. Keith couldn’t give us a definitive timeline but he like us, has been looking at the scripts to find out! “I get my scripts and I’m like um, still? (nothing) You get more pages, I’m like still? But I always tell the fans at the end of the day I’m saying the words that Mr. Perry wrote.” We know. But can you ask Mr. Perry to hurry up, please? LOL.
Derrick and Hanna’s chemistry is off the charts. That isn’t by accident nor did it just happen. Keith and Crystal take their craft seriously and have put work into their individual characters and the couple. “For me, it is such a blessing to work with Crystal. We want the people who are watching to see people they can relate to. It is such an honor and a privilege to work with someone who brings so much to her role. So, I made sure to do my due diligence because she is so generous in the way she works with actors. She is so giving with her energy in terms of working on scenes that we were able to get the chemistry right. I definitely credit her generosity as an actress, as a human being first, for much of our success and having that connection. It’s an awesome experience working with her every single day.”
Keith also has an awesome experience to work with Tyler Perry. Keith praised Mr. Perry and told us what it’s like to work at what he has aptly designated Wakanda South. “I will forever be in that man’s debt. This show has elevated my career. He has given me this platform and this opportunity. My nickname for Tyler Perry’s Studio is Wakanda South because he has created an environment of black excellence. To me, it is what you dream about. Working in Los Angeles sometimes, most of the time, when you walk on a sound stage you are a minority. You are always a minority. It’s just a part of our American experience, Yet, I go work at a studio that is owned by someone who looks like me. And the majority of the people, even though it is a diverse work environment, the majority looks like me. After being in this industry for 20 years and to be a part of this literally took my breath away. Whenever I go to the studio, I just take in the air because I never want to forget this feeling, forget this moment in my life or this moment in time.”
Our favorite part of the interview was Keith’s in-depth character analysis for the show. “Veronica even though she’s crazy, she’s in a lot of pain. She’s suffered and she’s lashing out. Candace, she wasn’t just born hateful. There is a reason for that. We all know people like them. We all have had to get from point A to point B. And to get to point B you might have had to do some things you aren’t proud of. But that does not define you as a human being. It defines where you were at a moment in your life. Before we judge them or throw them out, there is a backstory there. There is a person there. There is a life. There were heartache, pain and disappointment. There were all of these things that happened to this individual that brought them to this place where you find them dealing with that broken part of themselves. Wow! Great stuff.
It’s this profound perspective that Keith says is embedded in and what he loves most about Tyler Perry’s writing. “There is dramatic effect put on things. It’s entertainment at the end of the day. But what he (Mr. Perry) is showing you is how damaged and broken many of us human beings are. For that reason, before people throw out the baby with the bathwater, he challenges you, your humanity, and your compassion to realize sometimes someone is just stuck in the place where they are hurting. I think that is the brilliance of his writing.”
Whew. We warned you he left us with much to ponder. Then Keith broke down Derrick and Hanna’s relationship and we were like yes; Keith gets it. “Here is Derrick and Hanna. He really wants to be there for her. He sees a good person who has had so much on her. He wants to help carry that. And in order to do that, sometimes you have to sacrifice. Okay, if she just wants me to lay down and hold her, then that’s what we will do. But you also have to be very transparent. Derrick lets Hanna know what’s on his mind. ‘I’m a man.’ It’s going to be difficult but because I love and respect you, I will do it. I will at least try. That’s all I can do.’ The honesty of it.”
Keith is so in tuned with the show, the characters and with Derrick himself. Just like with Derrick and Hanna, Derrick wants men to see a real person in Derrick. “I’m very honored to play a good man. I feel many of his qualities, I resonate with. And I try to bring as much as I know about life to that character. I know what it is to be a man and want to do the best you can.”
Keith has just come off filming season seven of The Have and the Have Nots. He has new reps and is gearing up for pilot season. He will never close the door on theater as that’s where he started. But he’s definitely focused on building his television and film career. We are here rooting for you, Keith!
We can’t say enough how much we enjoyed talking with Keith. Awesome.
****We did ask Keith to give Mr. Perry a wink and a nod, that if it’s not already in the works, we want that Derrick Hanna wedding.****
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