Trivia: Mike Epps' name has become synonymous with a particular style of humor, through his appearance with several other African-American artists in the same genre. Epps earned a large portion of his fame through his credits in several Ice Cube films, including Next Friday (also starring Chris Tucker), How High (with Redman and Method Man), Friday After Next, and All About the Benjamins. Aside from featuring Ice Cube, the common thread of these films was the hilarious prominence of marijuana-smoking comic characters like the ones portrayed by Epps.Born in Indianapolis, IN, 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. He took over the part of Ed Norton in the big-screen remake of The Honeymooners, and had a major supporting role in the Petey Green biopic Talk to Me. He had a part in the smash 2009 comedy The Hangover, had a big part in Next Day Air, and a turn in Lottery Ticket. In addition to his acting, he kept churning out comedy specials.In 2012 he was one of the stars of Whitney Houston's last movie Sparkle, and played a teacher in the comedy Mac + Devin Go to High School. He reprised his role in The Hangover Part III and played the love interest in the HBO film Bessie. Epps also had a presence in TV, appearing in series like Survivor's Remose and Being Mary Jane, and playing the title role in the remake of Uncle Buck.

Trivia: Comedic actor Donald Faison began his acting career with bit parts in gritty urban dramas like Juice and Sugar Hill before breaking through with a supporting role in the hit 1995 comedy Clueless. A year later, he was one of the few cast members to make the leap to the film's TV spin-off and stuck with the show throughout its three-year run. After Clueless bowed, Faison wasted little time before joining the cast of the popular drama Felicity. But it was in 2001 that he would land his most noteworthy role, that of surgeon Dr. Christopher Turk on the hit NBC medical-sitcom Scrubs. When Scrubs ended in 2010, Faison immediately jumped to another show, the TV Land sitcom The Exes.

Trivia: A former music-video girl who appeared in clips by Pharrell and Ludacris before making her big-screen debut in ATL, Los Angeles native Lauren London possesses a small-town beauty with a distinctive smile and a slight city-girl edge. It was during London's stint in the Las Angeles public school system that the aspiring actress first began dabbling in theater and drama, and though she would later be home-schooled for her last three years of high school, the desire to perform never went away. Appearances in a handful of music videos helped to get London comfortable in front of the cameras, and when buzz began to build around the production of an upcoming film called ATL, she hired an acting coach and convinced director Chris Robinson's assistant to get her an audition. Despite being two hours late for the audition, London performed well enough under pressure to land the role of roller-skating rich girl New New -- who changes her identity and soon begins dating former high-school hotshot Rashad (played by hip-hop recording artist T.I.). With buzz around the rising starlet subsequently beginning to gain momentum, London next appeared in episodes of Everybody Hates Chris and Entourage while preparing for a role in the holiday-themed family drama This Christmas. She had a small part in Next Day Air, and landed a major role in the comedy I Love You, Beth Cooper. Two years later Tyler Perry tapped her to appear in Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family.

Trivia: A tall, polished actor adept at a broad array of parts and types, Wood Harris grew up amid the impoverished and crime-ridden ghettos of Chicago's West Side -- and reportedly felt intrigued by the many contradictions of the surrounding environment. The young man also felt drawn to acting, and the two interests converged in his first cinematic assignment: a role in Jeff Pollack's urban-themed sports drama Above the Rim (1994), starring gangsta rap legend Tupac Shakur. Harris only had a bit part in the film, but his work continued, and 2000 marked his breakthrough year: the year that not only brought with it a highly visible role as a footballer in the Jerry Bruckheimer-produced inspirational sports drama Remember the Titans (opposite screen heavyweight Denzel Washington) but -- more significantly for Harris -- a lead in the Showtime telemovie Hendrix, a biopic of rock demigod Jimi Hendrix. The drama paved the way for more prominent billings, and Harris continued to realize his potential with a regular role on HBO's The Wire (as Avon Barksdale) and a key supporting part as Dion Warner (aka Dion Element) in Richard Kelly's dystopian black comedy Southland Tales (2006). Meanwhile, at around the same time, Harris recorded his first rap album, K-Town -- its title a reference to the infamous Chicago neighborhood of the same name -- which chronicled his experiences growing up in the Windy City.

Trivia: Georgia native Omari Hardwick spent his formative years interested mainly in football, playing as a defensive back for the Furman Purple Paladins, and later for the University of Georgia Bulldogs. It was at UG where Hardwick first took an interest in acting, studying his craft in school and acting in a local theater troupe. Hardwick eventually moved to New York to act on Broadway, and later relocated to L.A. to pursue more on-camera roles. His big break came in 2004, when he was cast in Spike Lee's Sucker Free City, and within a few years, Hardwick was regularly appearing on the drama Saved. He stayed with the show for a season, and later made waves with a starring role in another Spike Lee project, 2008's Miracle at St. Anna. This soon led to a comedic turn in the crime comedy Next Day Air and the action comedy Kick Ass. He co-starred with Dylan McDermott in TNT's television series Dark Blue, in which he played a newlywed struggling to balance married liife with a demanding career in law enforcement (2009-2011), and took on a small role in the critically claimed musical drama Sparkle in 2012.

Trivia: African American actress/dancer Debbie Allen had built up a solid reputation as a Broadway choreographer by the time she made her screen debut in The Fish That Saved Pittsburgh (1979). In 1980, she created the role of demanding dance instructor Lydia Grant in Fame (1980), a role she carried over into the long-running TV series of the same name. Each and every episode of this five-season series began with Debbie addressing a roomful of students: "You want fame?...Well, fame costs. And the price is sweat." Practicing what she preached, Debbie not only co-starred in the series but directed several episodes and handled the choreography, winning a brace of Emmies in the process. She went on to be nominated for a Tony award for the 1986 Broadway revival of Sweet Charity. The older sister of Cosby Show co-star Phylicia Rashad, Debbie Allen has herself remained active on the small screen, in the early '90s mapping out the production numbers of the annual Academy Awards telecast and in the mid-'90s co-starring with rapper LL Cool J on the weekly NBC sitcom In the House. In 1997 she was one of the producer's of Steven Spielberg's period drama Amistad. Four years later she directed and starred in the made-for-TV drama The Old Settler opposite her sister. She played herself in the remake of the TV show Fame. She continued directing for television including episodes of That's So Raven, and the Lifetime movie biopic The Fantasia Barrino Story: Life Is Not a Fairy Tale. In 2009 she returned to her roots yet again by playing the principal of the high school for performing arts that is the setting for the 2009 big-screen remake of Fame.

Trivia: Mos Def may seem, to the casual observer, like a rare example of a musician successfully transitioning into acting, but in truth, his acclaimed music career did not take off until long after he'd cemented himself as a working actor. Nonetheless, the man has built both his music and film careers on a foundation of integrity, earning him critical praise and audience approval for both. His contributions to the underground hip-hop scene started with the 1996 single "Universal Magnetic," a rare example of introspection in a genre dominated by blustering and callousness. Def's film debut, however, came almost ten years before, when he appeared in the 1988 TV movie God Bless the Child at the age of 15. Then going by his birth name, Dante Terrell Smith, Mos Def landed appearances on shows like Here and Now, The Cosby Mysteries, Brooklyn South, Spin City, and NYPD Blue. The spots sustained his career throughout the '90s, as did his roles in feature films like Bamboozled and MTV's Carmen: A Hip Hopera. Slowly but steadily becoming a recognizable face in acting, Mos Def continued to take parts in high-quality films, even if this meant a lower profile for himself as an actor. His supporting roles in Monster's Ball, Brown Sugar, The Italian Job, and The Woodsman, however, garnered him attention on talent alone. In 2004, he co-starred in the HBO movie Something the Lord Made with Alan Rickman and was honored with an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie, along with Rickman. By the time Def appeared in 2005's Golden Globe award-winning HBO miniseries Lackawanna Blues alongside Terrence Howard and S. Epatha Merkerson, he was a recognized and sought-after face in film. Def soon afterward donned a British accent for a leading role in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, giving audiences a taste of his comedic skills -- which were also on display in his recurring role on the hit Comedy Central series Chappelle's Show, as well as Michel Gondry's retro comedy Be Kind, Rewind -- which found the actor playing a hapless video store clerk opposite Jack Black. Increasingly versatile, Def was just as effective as a key witness hoping to avoid assassination in Richard Donner's 16 Blocks as he was as legendary rock & roller Chuck Berry in 2008's Cadillac Records. Back on the small screen, Def's recurring role as the haunted Brother Sam on Showtime's Dexter found the actor earning even more critical praise in 2011.