The only black man on board the Titanic was a Haitian so who better to portray him than Haitian actor Max Desir in Titanic the Musical, which opened in Nashville last April. In the play, Desir plays Joseph Laroche.

“Once [the producer] said he was Haitian, I was on board,” Desir said. “I was just so intrigued! I had no idea that there was a Haitian on board.” After seeing Desir’s previous work, producer LaTonya Turner offered Desir the role, sensing he was the right fit for the character.

Desir dived into research and felt a close connection to Laroche, who left Haiti at the age of 15 in hopes of getting an education in France to become an engineer. Like Laroche, Desir left Haiti at the age of 16 to unite with his mother in New York where he attended Prospect Heights High School before continuing to CUNY York College and receiving his bachelor’s degree in psychology.

“It was one of the best decisions for my acting career,” Desir said about his role in the Titanic the Musical. “It really buzzed a lot of lights around me…it’s interesting I’ve been in the game for six years now and people know me as the Titanic guy.”

Desir got his first acting gig in Coconut and Collard Greens, an independent movie with award-winning actor Danny Glover. He then later tried out for a mass casting call titled “Talent Rock,” where actors from each state competed against each other in the hopes of finding an agent. Desir won the sophisticated adult division and got the attention of agents from New York to Nashville.

“Someone said ‘success doesn’t happen until opportunity meets preparation,’” Desir said. “There are some things about being Haitian that I hold dear that I would not let go of … the way we choose to raise our kids…our [belief] in education as a people and that [there’s] a higher force behind us and that is God.”