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Omar Epps
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Omar Epps | |
| Birth name | Omar Hashim Epps |
| Born | July 23, 1973 (age 33) |
| Notable roles | Eric Foreman on House Malik Williams in Higher Learning Jeff Cole/J. Reid in In Too Deep |
Omar Hashim Epps (born July 20, 1973) is an African American actor and musician. Since 2004, he has played the role of Dr. Eric Foreman on the Fox medical drama series House.
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Epps was born in Brooklyn, New York. Before he started acting, he belonged to a rap group called Wolfpak which he formed with his brother in 1991. He began writing screenplays at the age of ten and attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts.
Epps was frequently cast as sports heroes and troubled teenagers early in his career, but as he amassed more credits and demonstrated his range, he moved on to more substantial dramatic fare. Epps made a promising film debut as star of Juice, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson's directorial debut, a violent and tragic take on four young men growing up in Harlem. Co-starring the late rapper Tupac Shakur, Juice showcased Epps' developed emotional range with his nuanced performance that maintained the appropriate restraint. He followed as a running back in the college football drama The Program.
The following year, he switched to baseball as co-star of Major League II, taking over the role of Willie Mays Hayes from originator Wesley Snipes. His next athletic endeavor was playing a runner in John Singleton's Higher Learning, an unflinching look at the brutal politics of college life. Epps' character, a track star on a sports scholarship, quickly finds that his academic performance matters little to an administration that sees him merely as an athletic advantage.
For several episodes Epps portrayed Dr. Dennis Gant, a troubled surgical intern on the television drama ER. After his television work on ER, Epps returned to the big screen in 1997 with a brief turn as a giddy moviegoer who ends up an early victim of a psycho slasher in the blockbuster sequel Scream 2. Also in 1997 Epps was the star of the fact-based HBO movie First Time Felon a movie he produced. Epps played a small-time criminal who goes through Chicago's boot camp reform system and undertakes a heroic flood rescue, only to then be faced with the adjustment of re-entering society with the mark of ex-con. In 1999 Epps was cast as Linc in The Mod Squad, the feature adaptation of the dated TV series most memorable for placing Epps in attractive but uncomfortable and decidedly unfashionable tight pants, a subject frequently raised by the actor in interviews promoting the film.
While "The Mod Squad" proved a critical and box office bust, Epps later 1999 effort The Wood offered him a serious and multi-dimensional role. Following a group of middle-class African-Americans from youth to adulthood, The Wood, the debut effort from director-screenwriter Rick Fumuyiwa, co-starred Richard T. Jones [[1]] and Taye Diggs and received a push from co-producers MTV Films that ensured turnout of a sizable youth audience. Also in 1999, Epps was featured alongside Stanley Tucci and LL Cool J, playing an undercover detective who finds himself dangerously caught up in the illegal goings-on he is investigating in In Too Deep. A busy year for the young actor, 1999 saw him lens the 1950s set murder mystery When Willows Touch, with James Earl Jones and Jada Pinkett Smith.
In 2000 Epps starred in Love and Basketball, featuring Alfre Woodard & Sanaa Lathan. He portrayed Quincy, the NBA hopeful who has a stormy relationship with an equally adept female basketball star Monica (Sanaa Lathan). The actor kept busy in supporting roles in a series of films including Dracula 2000, Big Trouble, and the telepic Conviction. In 2004, Epps landed the role of drug-dealer-turned-prizefighter Luther Shaw who falls under the tutelage of boxing promoter Jackie Kallen (Meg Ryan) in the biopic Against the Ropes. Besides being a versatile actor, he's also directed videos for such artists as Heather B. and Special Ed.
Epps is currently playing a role as Dr. Eric Foreman on the American medical drama House alongside Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard, Jennifer Morrison & Jesse Spencer. House first aired in 2004. The third season premiered on September 5, 2006 on FOX. Also in 2004, Epps was a character in the video game Def Jam Fight for NY.
Epps dated Sanaa Lathan from 2000 to approximately March 2003. Epps became engaged to Keisha Spivey, a former member of the R&B group Total, in July 2004. They have since had a daughter named K'mari Mae.
Omar Epps is the cousin of actor/comedian Mike Epps, who has mainly starred in movie roles, including The Fighting Temptations, with Cuba Gooding Jr.
"I'm going to be the first black President of the United States. If Reagan can do it, I know I can." Newsday, 1999
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | Juice | Quincy |
| 1993 | Daybreak | |
| The Program | Darnell Jefferson | |
| 1994 | Major League II | Willie Mays Hayes |
| 1995 | Higher Learning | Malik Williams |
| 1996 | Deadly Voyage | |
| Don't Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood | Malik | |
| 1997 | Blossoms and Veils | |
| First Time Felon | ||
| Scream 2 | Phil Stevens | |
| 1999 | In Too Deep | Jeff Cole--J Reid |
| The Wood | Mike | |
| The Mod Squad | Linc Hayes | |
| Breakfast of Champions | Wayne Hoobler | |
| 2000 | Brother | Denny |
| Love & Basketball | Quincy McCall | |
| Wes Craven Presents: Dracula 2000 | Marcus | |
| 2002 | Big Trouble | Seitz |
| Conviction | ||
| Perfume | J B | |
| 2004 | House (TV series) (2004 - present) | Dr. Eric Foreman |
| Against the Ropes | Luther Shaw | |
| Alfie | Marlon | |
| 2005 | Cursed |