Mr. T Looks Back — and He Has Plenty to Say
The truly one-of-one Mr. T sat down with NBC’s TODAY for a wide-ranging conversation about the extraordinary road that took him from Chicago to becoming one of the most instantly recognizable entertainers of the 1980s.
The conversation arrives just ahead of Netflix’s Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool, which premieres September 8 and traces the life of the man born Laurence Tureaud before the mohawk, gold chains, Rocky III and The A-Team turned him into a pop-culture fixture.
But this isn’t your standard celebrity press-tour lovefest. Mr. T has made it very clear that he has serious problems with the documentary’s portrayal of his life, arguing that it puts too much attention on material he considers unimportant while overlooking the faith, service, charity and personal values he believes better define him.
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That tension makes the interview far more interesting than a routine documentary plug. At 74, Mr. T sounds less interested in polishing the legend than in making sure people understand what he believes the legend actually means.
His career has always been larger than the catchphrases. Before Hollywood, he worked as a bouncer and bodyguard; then came his breakthrough as Clubber Lang in Rocky III, followed by the role that made him a television icon: B.A. Baracus on The A-Team.
Decades later, the look, voice and attitude are still unmistakable. Yet the man behind them continues to insist that fame was never the whole point. His recent interviews have repeatedly returned to faith, respect, family, helping others and the values he says guided his choices long after the height of his celebrity.
Mr. T Reflects on His Career During His TODAY Interview
Both images below come from the same TODAY conversation featured in the embedded NBC News video.
Whatever viewers ultimately make of the documentary, Mr. T remains refreshingly Mr. T about all of it: direct, deeply certain of what matters to him and completely uninterested in letting somebody else have the final word on his own story.
Watch Mr. T Talk About His Career and Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool on TODAY
In the NBC News interview, Mr. T reflects on his long career and discusses the Netflix documentary Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool, which premieres September 8.
Source: TODAY / NBC News; Netflix.
