Terrence Howard: Hollywood's 'hottest' heartthrob

WHEN they happen, they are called "breakthrough" roles. They are often sought-after but rarely come. Some actors toil in their chosen profession and never reach that miraculous plateau. But, Terrence Howard has already done so.

He had been acting for more than a decade when Hollywood took major notice of his talents. As part of the ensemble cast of the hit film, The Best Man, his sly, sexy and wicked humor was an instant magnet for critics and fans, especially female fans.

Women loved his eyes and general naughtiness. Men appreciated his slick techniques. Women loved his bad-boy edginess, and some men wanted to imitate it.

Breakthrough roles can produce such benefits, and he has developed into one of Hollywood's "hottest" heartthrobs, both as it relates to his appeal to women and as it relates to the number of movie roles he gets.

Howard, 36, is on the precipice of yet another "breakthrough" moment. Earlier this winter, the Chicago native was the toast of the Sundance Film Festival in Utah, a marketplace for independent films seeking distribution arrangements.

Critics fawned over his gritty performance in the upcoming film Hustle and Flow. In that film, Howard plays an aging Memphis pimp who experiences a mid-life crisis and decides he wants to become a rapper. The film is produced by John Singleton and features Isaac Hayes and rap sensation Ludacris.

Howard says he actually wishes there hadn't been so much press for his first leading role. "I kind of wish it didn't happen like that," he says. "Now there are so many expectations of it. It's rough for the first film you're starring in to get so much attention. I would prefer a little slower process. This is how they talked about Saturday Night Fever and Taxi Driver. You're being blown into that place before you arrive."

He might not think he has arrived. But the modest Howard acknowledges that in the last few years he's been one of the busiest actors in Hollywood. He was in Big Momma's House, Angel Eyes, Hart' s War, Biker Boyz, Crash, Ray and The Salon. He recently was seen by television viewers in Oprah Winfrey's Their Eyes Were Watching God and the HBO drama Lackawanna Blues.

Howard explains his recent, successful run as simply "fine-tuning the hustle." All actors, he believes, "hustle" for work. In his case, however, his hustle has been ratcheted up, but not so much because of a sole desire to grab as many roles as possible.

It's about family.

Howard, one of 11 children, works at a torrid pace, he says, in order to assist his family. "I can't have the rest of my family not have," he explains. "Realizing the gift that I do have, I have to share with my family. So I wanted to work more. That's why the drive. I recognized there were more people than my wife and three kids. My mom needed a house a long time ago. My grandmother needed extra care a long time ago. I share what I've had. My dad is exhausted. He's exhausted from a hard life trying to raise me and my brothers and sisters. His health isn't good, and I want to put him in a house. I just want to make some of their dreams come true. So that's the thing that drives me."

Howard's roles have been extremely diverse, ranging from comedy to extreme, searing drama. Eventually, he wants to play a completely insane character. "I want to be a lunatic! Just let me be crazy," he says. "Let me go mad just so I can get it out like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Surprisingly, perhaps, Howard is probably one of Hollywood's more reluctant sex symbols. He admits that he does get letters from adoring female fans. However, he jokingly says "those are dirty old women." Then he deflects talk of his image with women by saying "I'm probably a lot shyer than people realize."

That shyness was apparent during the Sundance Film Festival, even though the pace at the festival is much more hectic and is a marked difference from the quiet life he enjoys in Philadelphia, where Howard moved in 1995 after becoming disillusioned with Hollywood many years ago.

"I tried to live in Los Angeles, but I just existed there. I'm a simple man. I need the change of seasons in order to remember names and places and people," he says. "I need to know that I met them in the fall. I don't remember my life without the landmarks of time. And Los Angeles does not afford you the landmarks of time."

Philadelphia, he says, appealed to him because "it's living history." He loves the greenery and centuries-old cobblestone streets.

The actor's hectic work schedule hasn't allowed him to enjoy Philadelphia as much recently as he would like. Howard is in talks to play legendary boxer Joe Louis, and he can hardly wait to immerse himself into such a major undertaking, he says.

If he lands that role, he'll prepare for it like he does all others--learning everything he can, studying the period of time and acquainting himself with that person's thought processes.