Michael E. "Mike" Epps
(born November 18, 1970) is an American comedian, actor and rapper.
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Biography
Born in Indianapolis, Indiana, into a large family, Epps' natural comedic ability was encouraged at an early age, and he began performing standup as a teenager. He moved to Atlanta where he worked at the Comedy Act Theater, before moving to New York City to star in Def Comedy Jam in 1995. His first major film role came just two years later when he starred in Vin Diesel's Strays, a dramatic portrayal of relationships and drugs. In 1999, he made an appearance on the HBO mafia series The Sopranos.
In addition to his aforementioned film work with Ice Cube, Epps had several other feature-film appearances. In 2000, he was featured in Bait, starring Jamie Foxx and David Morse, and in the jail-comedy 3 Strikes. He performed the voice of Sonny in Dr. Dolittle 2, starring Eddie Murphy, in 2001. As he gained more recognition, his comedic talent began to blossom, as demonstrated in his two 2002 features: Kevin Bray's All About the Benjamins, an action-packed comedy, and the sequel-to-the-sequel, Friday After Next, in which he starred as Day-Day.
Personal life
He married Michelle McCain in 2006.
Career
By 1995, Mike Epps ended up on the Def Comedy Jam tour and starred in two of HBO's Def Comedy Jam broadcasts. With a stop along the way to appear in actor Vin Diesel's directorial debut
Strays
(1997), Mike Epps was well on his way to becoming one of the bigger names in stand-up.
He appeared in an episode of
The Sopranos
in 1999, the same year the comedian was cast as
Ice Cube's co-star (effectively,
Chris Tucker's replacement) in the
Friday
sequel
Next Friday. Epps headed for Los Angeles, where he invited Ice Cube to catch his stand-up set. Impressed, the rapper-actor-producer asked Epps to try out for the part of Day-Day, which he landed after weeks of auditions.
Opening at Number One on the box-office charts,
Next Friday
was a breakthrough for the new actor, who was already familiar to much of the audience from his stand-up work. Epps played the ineffectual Day-Day, a timid, stressed-out character stalked by his obsessive ex-girlfriend (
Tamala Jones) and her brutish younger sister Baby D (
Lady of Rage). Day-Day also smoked a lot with his co-worker (
Justin Pierce). Later that year, he had a cameo in
DJ Pooh's
3 Strikes
and supported
Jamie Foxx in the action comedy
Bait
.
Epps began 2001 with a voice role in the family comedy
Dr. Dolittle 2
and finished the year with a featured role as comical pimp Baby Powder in
How High
, starring hip-hop artists
Redman and
Method Man. Epps played the bumbling thief to Ice Cube's bounty hunter in the action comedy
All About The Benjamins
in 2002 and again re-teamed with the rapper/actor/filmmaker in the continuing
Friday
saga's latest entry
Friday After Next
(2002).
Other notable movie roles include
The Fighting Temptations
with
Cuba Gooding, Jr.,
Guess Who
(the 2005 remake of
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
with
Bernie Mac),
Resident Evil: Apocalypse
, its sequel
Resident Evil: Extinction
(2007), the 2005 remake of
The Honeymooners
with
Cedric the Entertainer, and
Roll Bounce
(playing one of two garbage men along with
Charlie Murphy). Mike Epps recently had a small part in the song
A Bay Bay by Hurricane Chris doing the Rick James move. He also hosted a
Jim Jones and
Skull Gang album entitled
Jim Jones & Skull Gang Present A Tribute To Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps
. He has also made a song called "trying to be a gangster" with Pooh Bear.
He also has a song entitled "Big Girls" which came out in 2008. It was originally recorded by rapper
Bow Wow and featuring
Yung Joc. The song is currently on
iTunes.
Filmography
Year
| Film
| Role
| Notes
|
2000
| Next Friday
| Day-Day
|
|
2001
| Dr. Dolittle 2
| Sonny
| Voice
|
How High
| Baby Powder
|
|
2002
| All About The Benjamins
| Reggie
|
|
Friday After Next: Xmas in the Hood
| Day-Day/Old Man
|
|
2003
| Malibu's Most Wanted
| Rap-Battle Host
| Uncredited
|
The Fighting Temptations
| Lucius
|
|
2004
| Resident Evil: Apocalypse
| L.J.
|
|
Still 'Bout It
| Bobby Ray
| Video
|
2005
| Guess Who
| Cab Driver
| Uncredited
|
The Honeymooners
| Ed Norton
|
|
Roll Bounce
| Byron
|
|
2006
| Something New
| Walter
|
|
2007
| Talk To Me
| Milo Hughes
|
|
The Grand
| Reggie Marshall
|
|
Resident Evil: Extinction
| L.J.
|
|
2008
| Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
| Reggie Jenkins
|
|
Hancock
| Criminal
| Uncredited Cameo
|
Open Season 2
| Boog
| Voice/Video
|
Soul Men
| Duane Henderson
|
|
2009
| Next Day Air
| Brody
|
|
The Hangover
| Black Doug
|
|
Janky Promoters
| Jellyroll
|
|
Other appearances
- Pimps Up, Hoes Down (1999)
- All About The Stunts (2002)
- Gangsta Nation (Westside Connection Music Video) (2003)
- 106 & Park top 10 Live (one episode) (2005)
- Letter to The President (2005)
- Def Comedy Jam (five episodes, 1995–2006)
- Inapporiate Behavior (2006)
- Why We Thugs (Ice Cube Music Video) (2006)