He's the strapping 6ft 3ins star of one of America's most highly- rated cop shows, but when the imposing Gary Dourdan came face-to-face with a gun-wielding thug on the streets of Miami, he realised that this was no time to act the tough guy. It could have been straight out of Crime Scene Investigation in which Gary stars, but this time it was for real as the deranged robber waved a pistol at him and demanded he hand over his money.
"That was one big gun he was shaking at me," remembers Gary, 34, who has starred alongside Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder and once appeared in a Janet Jackson video. "This guy was obviously under the influence of something and he meant business. I wasn't going to risk my life by arguing so I gave him the $40 in my wallet. "I'm a big guy, but one thing I've learned is that no matter how big and tough you are, there's always someone bigger and tougher. Since that incident a few years ago, I've learned that if you hang around in a bad area, you're asking for trouble. And if you walk with a purpose, you're less likely to find yourself in a bad situation."
Crime Scene Investigation, or CSI as it is more commonly known, is huge in the US, beaten in the ratings only by ER and Survivor. Set in Las Vegas, the forensic drama features racy storylines and sexy stars. Gary - who was recently voted one of the 50 sexiest men in the world by People Magazine - plays talented, headstrong investigator Warrick Brown, a wild card who has a weakness for gambling. In the past, Gary had trained with police departments while researching various other detective roles and was able to bring this often gruesome experience to bear when he joined CSI. "I had to learn how to handle and use many different firearms. I also drove around with police units to pick up tips on how to deal with certain situations," he says. "Running around with the New York City cops, I witnessed my share of unpleasant situations. The worst was finding murder victims and suicides. My first dead body was an older man who'd drowned. By the time we got to the scene, he'd already been pulled out of the Hudson River. "The ones that are hardest to deal with are the people who jump off buildings. I'll never forget seeing this guy leap off a skyscraper in New York. Although I'm highly adaptable, I know I couldn't spend every day doing a cop's job, but I have a deep respect for the people who do it because they witness that stuff all the time and have to take it home with them.
"What freaked me out about filming CSI was that many of the stories in the series are based on incidents which have happened in real life. It made me feel more fragile to know that people actually do these dreadful things to each other. But my experience with police units also tuned up my senses and made it easier for me to recognise dangerous situations. Cops develop this on the job, too, and boy, do they need it." As well as making guest appearances in TV series such as Cold Feet and NY Undercover, Gary was cast as a space pirate alongside Sigourney Weaver and Winona Ryder in the movie Alien Resurrection, and as Malcolm X in the TV film, Muhammad Ali: King of the World. "I did a lot of research into that part and have tremendous respect for Malcolm's strength," he says. "He changed the political climate around the world, for which he gained enormous admiration but also hatred."
Before CSI, Gary was often cast on the wrong side of the law, playing bad guys, drug dealers and pimps. "It was purely and simply because of the way I looked," he says. "I used to have dreadlocks which took me 11 years to grow and narrow-minded people in Hollywood have a limited outlook on different cultures. "They tend to sit in their plush apartments in Santa Monica writing from imagination about stereotypical characters. It was a double-edged sword for me because, although I had plenty of work, I was tired of playing people who lacked other dimensions."
Five years ago, Gary impulsively cut off his dreadlocks, to the detriment of his career. "Nobody in showbusiness could recognise me any more," he recalls.
"Because casting directors couldn't figure out where I fitted in, my work dried up. So, for the next nine months I indulged in my other passion, music. I play guitar and flute, and I'm in a jazz band which plays around the clubs in New York. Eventually, different kinds of roles came flooding in again." Born in Philadelphia, Gary was encouraged to become an actor from an early age by his father Robert, a jazz musician, and mother Sandy, a clothes designer. During his mid-twenties, long before his career took off, he got married and divorced in the space of two years. "We were both too young for the commitment," says Gary. "I just woke up one day and thought, `I don't really know this person'."
Although he is still single, Gary has a two-year-old daughter, Nyla, whom he adores. Home is a studio apartment in LA's Venice Beach and, to keep in shape, he practices boxing and yoga. "I believe in keeping my instrument well-oiled,"he says. So, perhaps it's no wonder he's one of America's Top 50 heartthrobs. "I'm not as vain as some people might think," he says. "If everyone knew what a dork I really am, they would probably have voted me the world's greatest ham actor instead. Oddly enough, though, I can't shake off this raunchy image. Perhaps it has something to do with the Janet Jackson video, Again, which I appeared in ten years ago. In it, I had to be particularly intimate with her and even now people still ask what it was like."
