“I Worked with Harvey Dent/Two-Face”: Actor/Comedian Jason Dixie Has Got a Resume on Him

Header: Actors Aaron Eckhart and Jason Dixie [PHOTOS: COURTESY]

Written by William Bryant Rozier

You hang out with Jason Dixie and there will be impressions.  It’s all good.  When he explains the how of acting with Aaron Eckhart (Harvey Dent/Two-Face from “The Dark Knight”), in 1997’s “In the Company of Men,” he’s going to embody the film’s producer Mark Archer.  The half-robot, all-love Archer performance is on point.

Dixie did his not-yet-a-man impression of 15-year-old Usher, when he asked the singer about how to make it. The comedian, age 18-ish, opened for the headlining singer at the Memorial Coliseum.  “Hey, just keep it original, man.  The business loves people who are original, man,” he acted.

No impression for his assistant vice-principal story.  Dixie did a version of him for his sophomore English class, at Harding High School, that won him his first laughs.  Student teacher Kelly Marlett asked Jason what he wanted to do.  He thought maybe comedy.  She power-upped.  She could see Jason doing comedy, acting, and producing. “I will never forget [it],” Dixie said.  “It went over my head, at first.  [I thought] well maybe she’s right.”

Some knucklehead called his bluff about his comedy and gave him a newspaper advert; local producer Clark Woods wanted comedians.  This was pre-email, pre-video upload, so he made a video audition to send.  In the return letter, Woods noted Dixie’s raw talent; he was bringing some Def Jam comics to Link’s Wonderland.  That’s like…the second-string Golden State Warriors coming in.  The second string can still blow you out.  The heft of the stage would’ve been real for anyone.  Dixie was a stand-up comic at age 16.

During his set, our boy with no act repeated what he heard on TV.  The Def Jam material hit the hardest, he got hit with the bug, and dove deeper.  Dixie has worked with the who’s who of (black) comedy.  The late great Bernie Mac broke down comedy to the atom for Jason during a gig: “If it makes me laugh, it must be funny.”  He worked with Ralph Harris. Mike Epps. Joe Torry.  More.

“Most actors want to be comedians, and most comedians want to be actors,” Dixie said, speaking more about himself.  He wrote all of his career dreams on a sticky note; all of those early wants were crossed off pretty quick.  He wanted to act in a movie and did so at age 18.

Dixie shot a commercial with Archer for the Stop the Madness anti-violence campaign to benefit Reverend Ternae Jordan Jr.’s son, T.J., who was shot while sitting in a YMCA lobby.  The spot also ran in theaters, which is where “Company” director Neil LaBute watched it.  He wanted everyone involved with the commercial for his first film.

Shot in Fort Wayne, “In the Company of Men,” is a black comedy about (yep) toxic masculinity. Eckhart’s Chad and Matt Malloy’s Howard are flown in to jumpstart a new satellite office. When the part of Keith the Intern wasn’t cast, Dixie asked line producer Lisa Bartels to put his name down for it; LaBute assigned him without an audition.

The scene between Chad and Keith showed the boss’ “hurt somebody” wasn’t contained to women but crossed racial and gender boundaries.  And Dixie played the scene like every confused young black kid challenged by a white man in power, who’s protected by the anonymity of a closed door.  “I was nervous.  I wanted the job,” he said.  

Chad wondered if Keith had big enough “balls” for the job so he asked the intern to pull down his underwear for proof.  (Dixie is wearing two pairs of underwear in the scene, with an Orlando Magic pair on bottom.) 

After screenings at the vaunted Sundance Film Festival, everyone asked the same three questions: about the budget, the length of production, and the actor’s name who played Keith.  Dixie couldn’t attend because “of financials,” and the newbie didn’t know what Sundance was; his uncle had to explain it to him.  “Company” was screened internationally.

At a critics’ award screening in Chicago that Dixie did attend, the Roger Ebert lauded his performance; he couldn’t wait to see him in his next movie.  It would have been “American Reel” with David Carradine, but his performance was cut.  They kept his name in the credits, which qualified Dixie for his Screen Actors’ Guild (SAG) card.

“Keith” got Jason an audition for 2002’s “Barbershop,” from director Tim Story himself, but he didn’t get the part.  The newbie thought the phone was going to keep ringing for parts, but no.  So Dixie hustled some more.

He tried out for the reality show “Last Comic Standing,” but didn’t get on.  He did a Beats by Dre commercial and a McDonalds one viewed at Ohio State University.  His Lutheran Hospital spot ran in theaters too.  You may have seen him on a FWCS billboard; school bus driver is his day job.

He had smaller parts in 2013’s “Proxy” and “Sand Castles,” the following year.  He has a larger role in “The Shade Shepard,” currently in post-production and slated for a 2020 release. 

“I’ve forgotten more than most people know about me,” Dixie said. That’s not a bad thing.  You do a job, do it well and on to the next one. A friend of his, comedian Keith Bender, hooked him up with a sweet gig as an onsite comedian for Norwegian Cruise Ships.  He’ll be performing for 4,000 to 6,000 people a night.  “It will be the biggest platform I’ve ever worked on.”  It’s been 22 years since “Company.”

 JasonDixie.com is where to find him.

Dixie, working for Norwegian Cruise Ships [PHOTO: WARREN B. HALL]