If you've seen "the man your man could smell like," you may have wondered who he is (while trying not to hate a fictional character for talking to your woman like that). His name is Isaiah Mustafa.

We're talking, of course, about the guy on a horse from that pair of Old Spice commercials, the first and most popular of which already has almost 9 million views on YouTube.

A working actor living in Los Angeles for several years, 36-year-old Mustafa's breakout performance -- the 30-second spot on TV -- was an unusual launching point. Asylum spoke with him to see how the arrogant yet likable character came to exist and to see what life is like for Mustafa now.

"When I first read the script, it seemed kind of long and wordy," Mustafa says. "I thought it was a lot of words for 30 seconds, and I was curious how it would all fit in. As soon as I read it, I started in with that voice."

"Look back at your man, now back to me," Mustafa says, breaking back into character briefly with that now-familiar crisp and booming voice. "In the final version they cut some words out. What you're seeing is edited, and it actually worked better. 'Old Spice' was in the original more."

Asked how much of the voice and the character was Mustafa's own design, he says, "All of it. The only thing there was the words. But after I read it, [the directors and producers] told me that's exactly what they were after."



Acting is actually Mustafa's second career, by the way. He spent four seasons as a journeyman in the NFL and NFL Europe between 1997 and 2000.

"I always wanted to act, but I just didn't have the time as an athlete," he says. "As soon as football wasn't going any further, I decided it was time."

And it's taken a while, but his acting career has officially taken off. He recently got a role in Tyler Perry's next film, an adaptation of the play "For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf." He also has some other roles lined up which he can't talk about until details get finalized.

"I can't say enough about the response the commercial has gotten," Mustafa says. "It has tremendously helped me out. And the guys who wrote it are doing great, too. They are very funny guys."

Old Spice commercials have been a boon for others, too; the creators of "Tim and Eric Awesome Show, Great Job!" recently directed the popular series of spots with the odor-blocking man.

As for the man on the horse, Mustafa presumably would like to be defined by successes yet to come, yet he's not tired of talking about the Old Spice ads.

"No, not at all," he says. "It's the thing that launched me. That would be like Harrison Ford not wanting to talk about 'Star Wars.' In no way am I comparing myself to Harrison Ford, but you know what I mean."

We do know what you mean, Isaiah -- Harrison Ford's delivery can't compare.