If this handsome young fella looks familiar to you, it’s because he’s the funny guy in all of the Old Spice commericials. Isaiah Mustafa’s favorite mantra is “smell like a man” or “smell like a man’s man.” He’s definitely the man you want your man to smell like.
He’s starring in Tyler Perry’s new movie “Madea’s Big Happy Family” which just hit theaters this past Friday. Hyla, host of the nationally syndicated “The Hollywood 5,” reported for GlobalGrind at the Tribeca Film Festival and spoke to Isaiah about smelling like a man, his new role in “Madea’s Big Happy Family” and his NFL career.
Check out the exclusive interview below and on the next few pages!
GlobalGrind: Looks like all the Old Spice commercials are starting to pay off, congrats!
Isaiah Mustafa: Thank you I appreciate that. It seems that way, let’s just hope it keeps going.
I grew up in the social media age, so its completely acceptable for my generation but do you feel like you have to prove yourself when walking onto a movie set?
It’s not that I don’t have anything to prove, I just think you have to shift people’s perspective. You have to create a paradigm shift so that people see you in a different light. That’s all. But it’s not so much proving anything different because if you look at the commercials and if you like the commercials, then you can see that, without being too braggadocios, that I’m good.
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Brag all you want, dude, you’re not just good you’re killer.
No, I will not do that!
Not everyone knows you were a professional athlete and you jumped around to a bunch of different teams for awhile. Now that you’re starting to find success in entertainment, looking back, would you have rather been a full time athlete or do you prefer the Hollywood life you created for yourself?
No, I would have been a terrible full time athlete. I was young back then 24, 25 and didn’t have a good head on my shoulders. I was completely out of control (Laughter).
Do any of your old teammates reach out to you and say, “Man you got the good life, kicking it with Tyler Perry, Jennifer Aniston and Ellen”?
I played football so long ago that every teammate or friend that I know are fat now. [Laughter] None of them play anymore, they are all doing something other than playing. They have taken their money and started some nightclub or some sort of company.
I saw you on Ellen the other day, what’s it like being BFF with her?
BFF, wow. I wouldn’t call it BFF, because I have never been to her house or anything, but as far as her show, BFF sure.
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With this new fame comes an obsession with your personal life, how have you been dealing with becoming a tabloid figure?
You just take it day by day. I don’t buy into it too much. As long as I know what’s going on, doesn’t really make too much difference.
Tell me a little about your character in “Madea.”
It’s a character that, it’s just something you haven’t seen me do before, it’s a different look. I don’t want to say the wrong thing and have people not want to go see it, but it’s me in a completely different light. The movie is funny, you are going to laugh even if you don’t want to, you have no choice.
That’s a great tag line. You are an expert on manliness and the man of the hour is Prince William. What advice do you have for him as he gets ready to walk down the aisle?
Breathe deeply.
What does he need to smell like?
Like a man.
Is that the ultimate man smell? Is there a greater man smell than that of a prince?
That of a king.
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Star of the Old Spice commericials Isaiah Mustafa.
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Star of the Old Spice commericials Isaiah Mustafa.
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Star of the Old Spice commericials Isaiah Mustafa.
