Omar Epps has shown an interest in performing at a young age. Before pursuing an acting career, he was part of the rap group Wolfpack. He also began writing short stories and songs since he was ten years old.
Early in his career, Epps was often cast as either a troubled teen (Juice) or an athlete (The Program, Major League II). In 1996, he appeared in the HBO TV movie Deadly Voyage, which earned him a Silver Nymph Award from the Monte Carlo International Television Festival. That same year, he also took a recurring role in the medical drama ER.
Epps slowly rose to prominence at the turn of the century. After strong performances in films The Wood and In Too Deep, he was cast alongside Sanaa Lathan in the critical hit Love & Basketball. The film earned him nominations from the Black Reel Awards and the NAACP Image Awards. After working in other films such as Against the Ropes and Big Trouble, Epps joined the cast of the Fox medical series House, appearing as neurologist Eric Foreman.
Epps is currently married to singer Keisha Spivey, with whom he has two children; he has another daughter from a previous marriage.
- He is a member of a hip-hop group called Wolfpak, which he formed with his brother in 1991.
- He began writing screenplays at age ten.
- He is childhood friends with actor Marlon Wayans.
- He was a back-up dancer for Queen Latifah.
- Monte Carlo Television Festival, Best Actor, 1997 (for Deadly Voyage)
- NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, 2007 (for House)
- NAACP Image Award, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series, 2008 (for House)
FILM:
- The Green Flash (1989)
- Juice (1992)
- The Program (1993)
- Major League II (1994)
- Higher Learning (1995)
- Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Juice in the Hood (1996)
- Scream 2 (1997)
- Blossoms and Veils (1998)
- Breakfast of Champions (1999)
- The Mod Squad (1999)
- The Wood (1999)
- In Too Deep (1999)
- Love & Basketball (2000)
- Brother (2000)
- Dracula 2000 (2000)
- Perfume (2001)
- Big Trouble (2002)
- Against the Ropes (2004)
- Alfie (2004)
- A Day in the Life (2009)
TELEVISION:
- ER (recurring, 1996-1997)
- House (regular, 2004-present)
In a 1999 interview with Newsday: "I'm going to be the first black President of the United States. If [Ronald] Reagan can do it, I know I can."
"I've been writing since I was a kid. Short stories, poetry, and all of that, and acting is just an extension of that. It just came naturally. So it's coming full circle."
"People don't want to pay eight or nine dollars to go see a problem that they have in their life, on screen. They pay to get away from that. That's why they watch soap operas."
"The only limitations that I can have are the ones that I set on myself."
"The whole Black Hollywood thing doesn't exist for me anymore. Once someone says that to themselves, they subject themselves to those rules."
"Before ER a lot of people knew my name and some people knew my face. I saw big difference after ER, like, wow, I didn't know television was that powerful."