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Omar Epps

Omar Epps will be seen next in Cursed, directed by Wes Craven, and is in post-production for Paramount's Untitled Charles Shyer Project, in which he co-stars with Jude Law and Susan Sarandon.

Epps was nominated for an NAACP Award for Best Actor for his performance in the December 2002 Showtime Original movie Conviction, in which he portrayed Carl Upchurch, a hardened criminal from South Philadelphia who spent most of his adult life in prison. It is the story of one man's journey from prisoner to peacemaker.

In addition, Epps recently formed his' own entertainment company for film and music called BKNY. BKNY will co-produce, with No Limit and Patriot Films, the script Epps co-wrote entitled Who Stole the Soul.

Omar has starred in two HBO Original movies, First-Time Felon, directed by Charles Roc Dutton, and Deadly Voyage, produced by Danny Glover. In First-Time Felon, Omar plays Greg Yance, a street-wise drug dealer and gang member in Chicago. Following his conviction, Yance is given the choice to remain in prison or finish his time in boot camp. Choosing boot camp, he quickly realizes that his sense of courage and desire to succeed will allow him to triumph. In Deadly Voyage, Epps stars as Kingsley Ofusu, the sole survivor of a group of nine African stowaways who fled Ghana on a Ukraine cargo ship. John J. O'Connor of The New York Times noted that Epps played superbly in the lead role as Ofusu, whom he was honored to meet prior to filming. Both are based on true stories.

Epps also portrayed Dr. Dennis Gant on the Emmy Award-winning drama ER As a surgical resident, he teamed up with Dr. Carter (Noah Wyle) and Dr. Benton (Eriq La Salle). In one of the most talked-about departures, Omar left audiences wondering whether his character committed suicide or not.

No stranger to the big screen, Epps has appeared in lead roles in feature films such as The Wood, In Too Deep, John Singleton's Higher Learning, Juice and Daybreak. His supporting roles include Breakfast of Champions, opposite Bruce Willis and Nick Nolte, Major League 2, opposite Charlie Sheen, and The Program, with Craig Sheffer. Omar was also seen in Hollywood's best-kept secret, Scream 2, The Mod Squad, with Claire Danes, DK2 and Love and Basketball. He was also seen in Takeshi Kitano's Brother, the story of a displaced Yakuza gangster (Kitano) who strikes up an unlikely friendship with a black hustler (Epps). Together they embark on a violent struggle to take over the drug turf of East LA. He was recently seen in Barry Sonnenfeld's Big Trouble, in which he played an FBI agent, starring alongside Tim Allen, Rene Russo, Tom Sizemore and Jason Lee.


Note: This profile was written in or before 2004.
Read earlier biographies on this page.

Omar Epps Facts

Birth Name Omar Hashim Epps
OccupationActor
BirthdayJuly 23, 1973 (50)
SignLeo
BirthplaceBrooklyn, New York, USA
Height5' 10" (1m78)  How tall is Omar Epps compared to you?
Social Media omarepps

Selected Filmography

Not available.