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Omar Hashim Epps (born July 23, 1973) is an American actor and musician. Since 2004, he has played the role of Dr. Eric Foreman on the Fox medical drama series House. With his athletic build, heavy-lidded expressive eyes and attractive good looks, Omar Epps frequently was 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. The young actor made a promising film debut as star of "Juice" (1992), 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" (1993). Remembered more for the copycat incidents of young men imitating a scene in the film in which players lie in traffic to prove their toughness, the film featured a sympathetic but often overlooked performance by Epps. 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" (1995), 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. Epps was born in Brooklyn, New York to a single mother who was a school principal. 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. Early in Omar's career, he was most often cast in the roles of troubled teen and/or athlete. Epps made his film debut with rapper Tupac Shakur as the star of Juice, cinematographer Ernest Dickerson's directorial debut, a violent and tragic story of four young men growing up in Harlem. He followed up his performance in Juice as a running back in the college football drama The Program alongside James Caan. 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, a look at the politics and racial tensions of college life. While his film work has been substantial, Epps got his start on television, and has chosen his small screen projects wisely, racking up numerous credits in acclaimed productions. The actor was featured (credited as Omar Hashim Epps) in the especially topical "ABC Afterschool Special" (and PBS co-production) "In the Shadow of Love: A Teen AIDS Story" (1991). The following year he had a two episode guest stint as a neighborhood tough whose girlfriend (future hip hop sensation Lauryn Hill) has been spending time with the at first unknowing and later terrified 'T' (Daryl 'Chill' Mitchell) on the short-lived Malcolm Jamal-Warner comedy "Here and Now" (NBC). He made his first acclaimed HBO original film in 1993, with a co-starring role in "Daybreak", a fatalistic look at a future America, marked by invasive government, domestic warfare and a deadly epidemic. He was next featured as Kingsley Osofu, the sole survivor of "Deadly Voyage" (HBO, 1996), the shocking true tale of the senseless slaughter of eight of nine African stowaways on a Ukrainian ship bound for the United States in 1992. Remarkably assured and centered for a person of his relative youth and inexperience, Epps nevertheless capably pulled off portrayals of shaky and confused characters, notably as a featured cast member for the 1996-1997 season of the hospital drama "ER", in which he played a newly arrived surgical resident for whom the pressures of the emergency room and the various personal dramas and secrets of the staff prove too much to handle. His troubled, but highly sympathetic character came to a shocking and heartbreaking end in one of the series' more compelling sequences. Epps returned to HBO in 1997 as star of the fact-based "First Time Felon", playing 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. Omar landed a role on the hit TV drama ER for several episodes portraying Dr. Dennis Gant, a troubled surgical intern on the television drama . After his television work on ER, Epps returned to the big screen in 1997 with a brief turn as a giddy moviegoer on a date with a woman played by Jada Pinkett, 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 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. 1999 also 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 held 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. Epps returned to television medical drama with his role as Dr. Eric Foreman on the American television series House alongside Hugh Laurie, Lisa Edelstein, Robert Sean Leonard, Jennifer Morrison & Jesse Spencer. House first aired in 2004. The role earned him a NAACP Image Award in 2007 for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. Also in 2004, Epps was a character in the video game Def Jam Fight for NY. Belongs to a rap group called Wolfpak that he formed with his brother in 1991. Began writing screenplays at age ten. Attended Fiorello H LaGuardia High School of Music, Art, and the Performing Arts in New York, NY, the school which the movie and TV show Fame (1980) was based on. He and actor Marlon Wayans have been friends since childhood. July 2004: Daughter K'mari Mae born. Mother is fiancé Keisha Spivey. Was a back-up dancer for Queen Latifah. Appeared in Vibe magazine for the article "Can't A Brother Get No Love". Epps is often noted for his strong resemblance to Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. Epps has directed videos for artists including Heather B. and Special Ed. Epps is married to Keisha from the R&B group Total. He was previously involved with actress Sanaa Lathan. |
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