Greg Tarzan Davis has quickly established himself as one of Hollywood’s rising stars, appearing in billion-dollar franchises alongside industry titans. The New Orleans native, who made his film debut in 2019’s The Call of the Wild, starring Harrison Ford, has since appeared in Top Gun: Maverick and the Mission: Impossible franchise opposite Tom Cruise. Before his acting career took off, Davis was a teacher who decided to pursue his own dreams in order to be an authentic example for his students. His grandmother introduced him to theater at a young age, and a high school teacher encouraged his passion for acting. When not on set, the Los Angeles-based actor enjoys creating baked goods.
What’s it like knowing that you’ve nurtured young souls as a teacher before transitioning to Hollywood?
I’ve always been, and this has been an example that my mom always said, words don’t mean anything. It’s about setting an example through your actions. And that’s kind of the reason why I say, let me go after my dream of becoming an actor because I was telling my kids, you can be whatever you want. We always tell kids that, but do we really mean that? Because as adults, we always say, y’all go ahead and dream big, but we don’t follow our own dreams. I didn’t want to be that hypocrite, saying one thing and not doing it.
So I gave it a shot, and now, I think seven, eight years later, I’ve done three blockbuster films, which is really crazy to me, because my doing it big was like, hey, I’m going to give my first co-stars. I was happy to tell my students, look, check me out at “Chicago P.D.” And then, a year later, I was able to say, check me out at the Top Gun. And then another year after that, it was like, check me out at Mission: Impossible. Then another year after that, it was like, check me out at another Mission: Impossible.
This all coming together, I’m glad that I’m able to use myself as an example for the young people that I communicate with, not just with my former students, but with different youth groups that I work with, just to say, I was in your position at one point in time, and my life changed simply because I decided to take the leap of faith, and take my life into my own hands and make stuff happen.
What is it like to really set goals as an actor and to study the game of acting?
I think a person who doesn’t have goals is aimlessly walking in life, because you need something to motivate you, to get you up. Set them huge, ones that scare you, and it’s not something that you’re necessarily going to accomplish tomorrow, but it’s going to come, you’re going to accomplish it down the line. If you keep that goal somewhere in your mind, one day you’re going to look up and you’re going to be like, oh, damn, I’m here! Wow! You don’t even realize that it’s happening, but as long as you keep it in your sub-conscious, it’s there.
How has your discipline and martial arts background influenced your acting career?
I think I have an advantage over a lot of my peers in this acting industry, I’m hella competitive. I have a sports background, I love to win. You got a lot of actors around here, they wanna be humble and stuff, and they are scared to say that they want to win six Oscars. They are scared to say they want to be the biggest movie star ever. They are scared to say a lot of things because it’s frowned upon, you have to be humble.
And I’m here to say, “I don’t give a damn, I’m a competitor, I want to be the very best.” I want to be the biggest and brightest movie star, and that’s what carries me through. Like I said, it goes back to the goals and it’s something that keeps me disciplined. My martial arts background, my sports background, and that’s when I said I have the edge over them because it’s me saying, “I know if I continue to do this drill over and over and over and over again, I might suck at it now, but eventually I will become great at it.”
That’s the same thing with my speech, I had a heavy New Orleans accent, and I was like, all right, let me just show up every day, work on it for two hours a day, and eventually people won’t even know I’m from New Orleans. Sure enough, boom! It’s not gone, but people are wondering, where you from? That’s the discipline aspect of it.
How has being from New Orleans influenced you?
I think New Orleans is so unique. I say it’s its own country. So when people get like, “Oh, you from Louisiana?” I’m like, “No, I’m from New Orleans.” That’s something different, because it’s so unique, and because we raise unique individuals who think different, who speak different, I think that sets me apart in this industry.
What’s it like to walk into a room with confidence as a leading man?
The goal is to be the leading man, and I was trying to find my foot in all, like, what is that? What does that look like? And then you deal with so much rejection, and you, like me, start questioning that, that’s what we all do. It don’t matter how confident you are, you start questioning that, is this for me? Am I going to be that lead man? But then you shake it all off, and you like, nah, this is me.
When you tell yourself that you are that leading man, walking into the room, you walk with a certain aura, you walk with a certain confidence and there’s nobody that can tell you otherwise, you don’t have that sense of doubt. And I think that shines on anybody, that’s why we love the great. That’s why we love Tom Brady. That’s why we love Michael Jordan. That’s why we love Tiger Woods. They walk with a certain type of aura, like, “I am him,” and I study these greats. They know how hard they work. It’s not like, they just like, oh, I’m great. Understand how hard they work.
What has been the best part about being in billion-dollar franchises that are seen worldwide?
Before I started filming these Mission films. I had never been out the country like that. I’ve been in Mexico, I’ve been in the surrounding areas where North America is, but I’ve never been across the water. I’ve never been to London or any of these other places. I’ve been fortunate enough to travel the world just filming these projects, and then because we’re promoting, I’ve been able to travel like that. And that’s been one hell of an experience, but to be a part of this billion-dollar franchise, I get to see something that I had never seen before. There’s so many layers to this stuff, somebody would say, you need to be happy with this. This is great, you are there. And I’m like, but there’s more, I see it all.
Who inspires you in the industry?
When I watch people like Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler I want to be what they are to me. I want to be that to other young Black folks, because they motivate me. I sit there and I see them, I’m like, yo, this is outstanding. Michael B. Jordan is not only acting, but he is the movie star. I don’t want to just categorize him. Oh, he’s the Black movie star. No, he is a movie star, but he represents all of us as a collective.
I want to say he’s probably the only one that looks like me that’s movie star, but he shows me that it is possible to be there. Then you have Ryan Coogler, who’s a genius at a young age, when you think of great directors, you name them, Mark Scorsese, you name a Christopher Corey, you name a Christopher Nolan, you name these people, but none of them are Black. But Ryan Coogler is the one who’s doing it. Now we’re putting his name in that same category. It’s like if he could do it, I could do it as well.
How does it feel to live your dream versus dreaming the dream?
It makes me more hungry because I sit there and I’m like, man, I was able to do that, I was able to manifest that, what else can I manifest? With my movie, so far done three, Top Gun and both Missions, I like to take it back to New Orleans. Just do a little screening and stuff. And I want the screenings to be bigger.
I want to have proper premieres, but I take it back to New Orleans and I have the different schools that I’ve been involved with, different youth organizations, different young acting classes. And I show them and I’m like, man, look at this, I’m on screen. The other day I wasn’t there. The other day I was in classes with some other people, trying to get to that point and I’m here. What that’s like for me is it keeps me hungry.
What was it like working with Angela Bassett?
On this press run, we actually got a chance to really sit down and talk and get to know each other, and she is what you would expect, a queen, a beautiful queen that is very supportive of me, but not just me, of other actors that are just like me, and I’m very grateful for that.
I got a chance to tell her, “I saw you in Number One on the Call Sheet,” the thing that came out on Apple TV. We don’t really know what they went through to open the doors for us. We just sit there and we’re like, oh, we here, we think we did it, but no, they had to take the licks in order to open the doors for us, and I just have to thank her for that. Her and her husband, they champion actors like myself, and it’s because I know I have that type of support. It’s reassuring that I am walking on the right path and that people are watching.
One thing she told me, she was like, “Just know people are always watching. So, whatever you do, there are eyes on you.” She said, “I’ve been watching you, my husband has been watching you.” She was like, “Just know that. So hold yourself at the highest standards because people above you are watching and people below you are watching.” So, you wanna keep that same energy at all times, which is the positive, loving, caring, hardworking energy. That’s why people love her so much, that’s why she is so revered because she has that in her own mind.
