Interview by Paul Salfen, Text by Christine Thompson for AMFM Magazine
Dennis Haysbert has built a career on that unmistakable voice and commanding presence—from the thrifty commercial that first put him on casting directors’ radar, to Major League, the high-stakes intensity of 24, and now a chilling new turn in the horror-thriller Time of Death.
Released in select theaters and on digital VOD on June 12, 2026, the 1-hour-47-minute film from director Will Wernick follows a detective (Michael Kelly) investigating a disappearance inside a decaying, long-shuttered prison. Haysbert joined Paul Salfen of AMFM Magazine to talk about the production, and the conversation quickly centered on the location itself.
“We shot in an actual old prison that was definitely haunted,” Haysbert said. “On the creepy meter, 1 to 10, ten being the creepiest—it was a 12.” Walking certain corridors, the hair stood up on the back of his neck. Right across the street sat what looked like a simple hill but was, in fact, a sacred indigenous burial mound. “Very intense,” he added. The entire production lived inside those walls, and the authenticity fed the story: a place that had been closed down, now reopened on screen with whatever residual energy still lingered.
Haysbert described the cast—Kevin Pollak, Mena Suvari, Michael Kelly and others—as “just great,” noting the fun that happened between takes even as Kelly stepped into a rare leading role. His own advice for actors chasing the same path is characteristically straightforward: “Study. Develop your voice. Don’t try to sound like anyone else but you. And then just go full force right into it.”
Looking back on his own career, Haysbert pointed to a pair of early “Hail Mary” moments: that regional commercial that somehow aired in Los Angeles and caught the right eyes, and Major League, his first feature. 24 became another. Through it all, his mantra has remained constant: “It has always been and will always be about the work. As long as you take the work seriously and don’t take it for granted, you’re going to be all right. Every job is a gift.”
The conversation briefly touched on the real-world prison system—Haysbert called mass incarceration a form of modern slavery and argued for rehabilitation over expansion—before circling back to the need for entertainment in uneasy times. He also teased his upcoming appearance in The Gilded Age, describing it as America’s grander, more dramatic answer to Downton Abbey.
Time of Death arrives at a moment when audiences are hungry for something atmospheric and unsettling. Haysbert’s performance, grounded in that unforgettable voice and shaped by a genuinely eerie location, should give them exactly that.
