The bestOmar Eppsmovies and TV shows include long-running medical, crime, and fantasy genres, and he also has some great work on the big screen as well. Epps was born in Brooklyn and attended a high school that specialized in performing arts before he started working in both music and acting. He then had a huge opportunity when he made his film debut inJuice,which got a lot of attention since it was also the film acting debut of rap legend Tupac Shakur. That was just the start.
Epps had a lot of success on the big screen, but he became a star thanks to his work on television. After a small recurring role in the medical dramaER, he exploded in popularity when he was cast as Dr. Eric Foremanin the medical drama seriesHouse. The actor earned several awards nominations for this role and thenused it to catapult himself into a regular series of TV show rolesalmost every year since he ended his time onHouse. While he didn’t stop acting in movies, Epps proved his value on the small screen.
Scream 2
Cast
Scream 2 continues the saga of Sidney Prescott, who faces a new series of murders while adjusting to college life. Released in 1997, the film follows her as a masked killer, donning the infamous Ghostface costume, resurfaces, reigniting fear and chaos among her and her friends.
The firstScreammovie became known for its opening when Drew Barrymore was killed before the story really got started. It pulled out an old Alfred Hitchcock trick, similar to when he killed Janet Leigh at the midpoint ofPsycho. The secondScreammovie did a similar trick but with a much smaller star than Barrymore. This time around, it was Jada Pinkett, fresh off her breakout onA Different WorldandMenace II Society.However, some people might not remember her boyfriend in the movie, played by Omar Epps.
The scene was heavily parodied, withPinkett as a college student at the movies with her boyfriend, watchingStab, a movie based on the events from the first film. She and Epps' Phil Stevens were killed in front of everyone who thought it was a promotional trick. It was a small role for Epps, as he died early on in the movie, but just like the original film, it was one of the more memorable moments inScream 2and helped Epps gain an even bigger audience for his talents.
This Is Us
This Is Us chronicles the Pearson family across the decades: from Jack (Milo Ventimiglia) and Rebecca (Mandy Moore) as young parents in the 1980s to their 37-year-old kids, Kevin (Justin Hartley), Kate (Chrissy Metz) and Randall (Sterling K. Brown) searching for love and fulfillment in the present day. This grounded, life-affirming dramedy reveals how the tiniest events in our lives impact who people become and how the connections people share with each other can transcend time, distance, and even death.
This Is Usmostly revolved around the “triplets” of the story, played by Justin Hartley, Chrissy Metz, and Sterling K. Brown. Hartley and Metz were twins born to Jack and Rebecca Pearson, while Brown was born the same day and adopted by the couple. The series flips between the future, after Jack dies, and their childhood, where Jack and Rebecca raise them to become the people they will grow into.Omar Epps signed onto the series in the fourth season as Darnell Hodges.
Malik Hodges is a teenage father living with his parents. He begins to date Deja, Randall’s (Brown) adopted daughter. Darnell Hodges is Malik’s (Asante Blackk) father. His role is small, and he only appears in three episodes, but this remains one of the most popular and successful shows of Epps' career, and he delivers a solid role as a father trying to do what is best for his son. He delivers one of the best speeches of that season when he stands up for who is son is, not who people see him as.
In 2016, USA Network took the Mark Wahlberg movieShooterand repurposed it as a television series. It also chose to add some bigger names to the cast in the main roles. Ryan Phillippe (I Know What You Did Last Summer) took the lead role as Bob Lee Swagger and Omar Epps joined the cast as a Secret Service Agent Isaac Johnson,Swagger’s former commanding officer in the Marines and the man who called him back into actionto help protect a visiting dignitary.
The plot was similar to the movie, with a former sniper asked to help protect the visiting Ukrainian p[resident from an assassination attempt, only to be framed for the murder when it happens. Epps plays the role of the man that Bob Lee thought set him up, only to be revealed to be someone as blind to the situation as he was. Epps remains a main character in the cast throughout all three seasons of the series, allowing him a little more action than he was used to over the years.
In 2002, Omar Epps took on a lead role in a made-for-TV biopic of Carl Upchurch. The film is calledConvictionand is about a man who educates himself and turns his life around while serving a prison sentence. In real life,Upchurch was a former gang member who served several stints in prison and finally found a spiritual awakening,during which he began to work to improve not only his own life but also that of others. He created a group that brokered peaces in Columbus, Ohio, between the Crips and the Bloods.
Convictiontells his life story and shows how he started his mission by providing help by mediating problems between inmates and later between street gangs. The film was based on Upchurch’s own autobiography, and it aired initially on Showtime. Epps earned a nomination for hire performance from the NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series, or Dramatic Special.
Higher Learning
Higher Learning (1995) explores the complex social and racial dynamics at a fictional university, where students from diverse backgrounds confront their prejudices and personal struggles. Directed by John Singleton, the film addresses themes of identity, inclusion, and societal pressures through intertwining narratives that challenge students' beliefs and decisions. The film provides a thought-provoking examination of the challenges faced in a multicultural educational environment.
In 1995, iconic filmmaker John Singleton directed the dramaHigher Learning, a film about incoming freshmen at a fictional university and their struggles. The threefreshmen are played by Omar Epps (track star Malik Williams), Kristy Swanson (shy and naive Kristen Conner), and Michael Rapaport (lonely Remy). While they were all in the lead, there were other iconic appearances, as it featured Tyra Banks' first movie role, and both Laurence Fishburne and Ice Cube earned NAACP Image Award nominations.
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However, it was Epps, Swanson, and Rapaport who really carried the movie, with Rappaport’s Remy finding acceptance in a white supremacist group and Epps' Malik realizing that he has to do twice as much as a white student just to make people notice his work. The film received mixed reviews, with Roger Ebert writing that Singleton “uses familiar kinds of characters and then asks hard questions about them.” That is on full display with Epps' character and his nuanced performance.
Most of Omar Epp’s television shows are set in realistic worlds, whether medical dramas, action thrillers, or crime dramas. In 2014, he did something completely different. Two years after his breakout role inHouse, Epps signed on for the fantasy drama seriesResurrection. This show starts out with a shocking moment when the loved ones of the small town of Arcadia, Missouri, come back from the dead, unaged since they died. This lack of aging doesn’t change no matter how long ago they passed away.
It includes an eight-year-old who died in 1982, who was found alive and in China.He is brought back home by an immigration agent named Marty Bellamy, played by Omar Epps. Soon, another dead resident returns, and they warn more are coming. Epps has a tough role as an outsider who sees the unexplained happening and has to figure out how to deal with the phenomenon. The actor was a major player in both seasons and received an NAACP Image Award nomination for his performance.
Juice
Juice, directed by Ernest R. Dickerson, follows four Harlem friends—Bishop, Q, Steel, and Raheem—as they get entangled in crime, culminating in a plan to rob a convenience store. The dynamic intensifies as Bishop wields increasing influence over the group, while Q dreams of becoming a DJ.
Omar Epps made his feature film debut in the same movie thatrap icon Tupac Shakur also made his debut. The film is calledJuice,a crime thriller about a group of four Black youths in Harlem who struggle with police harassment and rival neighborhood gangs.The four leads are Epps as Q, Tupac as Roland Bishop, Khalil Kain as Raheem Porter, and Jermaine Hopkins as Steel Thurman. They are high schoolers who often skip school, steal records for Q’s DJ dreams, and get harassed by the police and a Puerto Rican gang.
When Bishop thinks they need to rob a local convenience store, Q starts to have second thoughts about their lifestyle.Juicereceived mostly positive reviews, receiving 81% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising its ability to tell the story of angry youth trying to find a way to gain self-control over their lives. Epps has the main protagonist role, with him falling out with Tupac’s Bishop, and fighting for his own survival. It made Epps a star and proved Tupac had a possible future in movies.
Power Book III: Raising Kanan
Power Book III: Raising Kanan is a prequel to the crime drama series and explores the life of Kanan before his entrance into the drug dealing world. As the young Kanan begins to make a name for himself, he discovers playing the game means stepping in the path of competitors and corrupt detectives who seek to destabilize the lives of his community.
Thethird series in thePowerfranchise,Power Book III: Raising Kanan, takes place in the 1990s and focuses on Kanan Stark’s early years. While 50 Cent played Kanan in the original series, Mekai Curtis portrays him here as a younger man who gets into bad business to help his mother, who runs her own growing drug business. The series has continued the success of the franchise, with three seasons and a total of five planned out to finish this story.
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Omar Epps plays a very complicated role here. He signed on to playMalcolm Howard, an NYPD Detective and Kanan’s biological father.While he is a police officer, he is also one of the main antagonists of the series. He does some very despicable things to achieve his goal of cleaning up the streets. He also works to win over Kanan as his father, while also trying to shut down Kanan’s mother’s drug empire. Epps left the show after season 3, but Howard played a hugely important role before he finally fell.
Love & Basketball
Love & Basketball follows childhood friends Monica Wright and Quincy McCall as they navigate their intertwined passions for each other and basketball. As they grow, their relationship is tested while pursuing separate careers in high school and college, with hopes of reaching professional stardom.
In 2000, Omar Epps enjoyed his first major awards recognition for his role in the romantic sports dramaLove & Basketball. Produced by Spike Lee and directed by Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Old Guard),Epps stars as basketball star Quincy McCall, a young man who falls in love with another basketball starnamed Monica (played by Sanaa Lathan). The movie follows the characters through four different years of their lives, as kids, high schoolers, college students, and finally adults, when they make it to the pros.
Love & Basketballplays as a romance with basketball as the backdrop, and critics loved it. It has an 85% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics praising the chemistry and acting skills of both Epps and Lathan. Both received nominations at the BET Awards, with Lathan winning. It also swept the Black Reel Awards, winning for Best Film, Best Director, and Best Actress for Lathan. Epps also received an NAACP Image Award nomination for his performance, while Lathan won for her role.
House
House is a medical mystery drama in which the villain is typically a difficult-to-diagnose medical malady. It follows Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie), a world-renowned disabled diagnostician with a notorious substance abuse issue. With his team of world-class doctors, House has built a reputation as one of the most brilliant doctors in the world - an especially impressive feat when taking into account that he rarely actually sees his patients.
Arguably, the most important role of Omar Epps' career came when he signed on to the medical drama series,House. The series was mostly a case-of-the-week drama series with a brilliant doctor and his handpicked team of experts.Epps plays one of those experts, Dr. Eric Foreman. House chose Foreman because he knew that this was a man who would question every decision he made, and he knew that would only make them all a better team in the long run.
House’s team imploded as the series wore on, but Dr. Foreman thrived after the fact and ended up given complete authority over the hospital by the time the series ended. Foreman, as much as House, was a major player in the show for the entire series run and Epps proved he could be a major television star in this role.Houseis a big reason thatOmar Eppshas remained one of the most in-demand TV actors of the 21st century.
