Trivia: An edgy comic who skyrocketed to comedy fame with his memorably side-splitting appearance in Spike Lee's The Original Kings of Comedy, Bernie Mac may have seemed an unlikely candidate for a television sitcom, but with the debut of The Bernie Mac Show, the inventive comedian began on a high note, leaving many pondering the apparent overnight success of the comedian who had ostensibly come from nowhere to become a ubiquitous presence. Born Bernard Jeffrey McCullough in Chicago, IL, Mac was a member of a large extended family living under one roof, which provided the energetic youngster with plenty of fuel for refining his ability to perform dead-on impressions and humorously recall memorable family occurrences. Time spent as a gopher for performers at the Regal Theater also served as a primer for his showbiz aspirations (as well as a cautionary warning of the destructive temptations that go along with fame). Mac's first experiences with standup came at the age of eight, when he performed a routine about his grandparents at the dinner table in front of the congregation at church. Though it resulted in some strict reprimanding from his grandmother, he had the audience feeding out of his palm and the young impressionist quickly had the epiphany that humor meant more to him than the sting of discipline. From that point on, Mac refined and developed his comic abilities on the tracks of Chicago's El trains and in local parks. Though he earned a modest keep from his public performances, Mac craved the legitimacy of the club circuit and he began to perform professionally in 1977. After early film work -- including memorable appearances in Above the Rim (1994) and The Walking Dead (1995), which followed on the heels of his big-screen debut in 1992's Mo' Money -- Mac was offered and appeared in the television series Midnight Mac in 1995. Hesitation as to the neutering of his material made the comedian leery of television, and the show didn't last. The comic actor earned more attention when he turned up frequently the following year in television's Moesha, though mainstream acceptance was still four years and numerous bit film parts away. Following The Original Kings of Comedy, Mac began to develop an idea for a sitcom that revolved around similar family experiences and retained the edge that had initially shocked his audiences into laughter. In 2001, he debuted the family sitcom The Bernie Mac Show, and it was a success, running for five seasons. 2001 would indeed prove to be the year of the Mac as he also took on a substantial role in director Steven Soderbergh's Ocean's 11. He reprised that character in the two Ocean's sequels, as well as lead roles as a vice presidential candidate in the Chris Rock political satire Head of State and as a washed-up baseball player in 2004's Mr. 3000. 2007 saw Mac in a more serious role as a kindly janitor in the inspirational sports drama Pride. Upon his death in August 2008 of complications from pneumonia, Soul Men, in which he stars alongside Samuel L. Jackson as a soul singer embarking on a reunion tour, had yet to hit theaters.­

Trivia: One of the most powerful and uncompromising artists in rap music, Ice Cube enjoyed a surprisingly smooth transition into a career in motion pictures, first distinguishing himself as an actor and later branching out into writing, producing, and directing. Born O'Shea Jackson in South Central Los Angeles on June 15, 1969, Ice Cube came from a working class family, with both his father and mother employed by U.C.L.A. Ice Cube began writing lyrics when he was in ninth grade; a friend in a high school typing class challenged him to see who could come up with a better rap, and when he won the contest, Cube began honing his hip-hop skills in earnest. Before long, Ice Cube had formed a rap group called CIA with a friend, a DJ known as Sir Jinx. CIA began playing parties organized by Dr. Dre (born Andre Young), a member of a popular local hip-hop group called The World Class Wrecking Cru, and Cube and Dre both got to know Eazy-E (born Eric Wright), a rapper with a group called HBO who had started his own record company, financed by his successful career as a drug dealer. In time, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, and Eazy-E joined forces with DJ Yella (born Antoine Carraby) and MC Ren (born Lorenzo Patterson) to form the group N.W.A. With their 1988 album Straight Outta Compton, N.W.A.'s profane and provocative lyrics (particularly the infamous "F -- -- Tha Police") made them one of the most controversial groups in the history of rap music, and if they weren't the first gangsta rappers, they certainly brought the sound to a mass audience for the first time. In 1989, Cube, dissatisfied with N.W.A.'s management (and the fact he had been paid a mere 30,000 dollars for writing and performing on an album which sold three million copies), decided to leave the group and strike out on his own. He released his first solo album, AmeriKKKa's Most Wanted, in 1990, and the disc's blunt, forceful sound and aggressive blend of street life and political commentary proved there was life for the rapper after N.W.A.. The following year, after releasing the follow-up EP Kill at Will, and a second album, Death Certificate, Cube made his acting debut in John Singleton's gritty look at life in South Central Los Angeles, Boyz N The Hood, which drew its name from an early N.W.A. track. Cube received strong reviews for his performance as ex-con Doughboy, and a year later starred opposite fellow rap trailblazer Ice-T in Walter Hill's Trespass. In 1995, Cube reunited with Singleton for the drama Higher Learning, and, later that year, expanded his repertoire by starring in Friday, a comedy he also wrote and produced. With his career in the movies on the rise, Cube spent less and less time in the recording studio, although he often contributed to the soundtracks of the films in which he appeared, and recorded with the L.A. all-star group Westside Connection. In 1998, Cube added directing to his list of accomplishments with The Players Club, for which he also served as screenwriter and executive producer, as well as played a supporting role as Reggie. The same year, he released his first solo album in four years, War and Peace, Vol. One: The War Disc. Cube went on to write and produce sequels to both Friday and All About the Benjamins, which co-starred his Friday sidekick, Mike Epps. He also continued to work in films for other writers and filmmakers, including Three Kings, Ghosts of Mars, and the extremely successful urban comedy Barbershop.In 2004, Cube's career continued to pick up steam. He appeared in the motor-cycle action thriller Torque, as well as Barbershop 2: Back in Business. By the next year, he was taking over for Vin Diesel, starring in XXX: State of the Union, as well as branching into the realm of family comedy with Are We There Yet?. Both were box office gold, and Cube went on to follow up the latter with 2007's sequel Are We Done Yet?.He tried his hand at an inspirational sports drama producing and starring in The Longshots in 2008. His love of sports found full flower in his 2010 documentary Straight Outta L.A., which he made as part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series. The film examined the relationship between sports and hip-hop culture in The City of Angels during the heyday of N.W.A. He appeared in the corrupt cop drama Rampart, and had a funny turn as the Captain to the undercover agents working out of 21 Jump Street.

Trivia: One of the most popular African-American comedians of the late 1990s, TV star turned screen actor Jamie Foxx was born Eric Marlon Bishop in the small town of Terrell, Texas, on December 13, 1967. Foxx was raised by his grandparents after his parents separated. He enjoyed a happy upbringing, going to church every day with his grandparents and excelling at everything from academics to music to football. During his teen years he had his first taste of the entertainment business as his church's choir director and music director, and also started his own R&B band. Foxx studied music while a student at the U.S. International University in San Diego; it was during his college days that he got his start as a stand-up comedian. Attending a comedy club one night with some friends, he was encouraged to take the stage and perform some impersonations, which proved incredibly popular with the audience. Foxx's enthusiastic reception led to his decision to move to L.A. and pursue a comedy career. At the age of 22 he was hired for In Living Color, and he subsequently landed a recurring role on Charles Dutton's sitcom Roc. Foxx eventually broke through onto the big screen with small appearances in movies like The Truth About Cats and Dogs, The Great White Hype, and Booty Call. Foxx's big break in film came in 1999 with Any Given Sunday, and he would henceforth find himself on a short list of bankable dramatic actors in Hollywood. He would go on to star in Michael Mann's Ali and Collateral, before playing legendary musician Ray Charles for the biopic Ray, which found Foxx taking home a Golden Globe and an Oscar for his performance. Foxx would continue to remain a top-tier actor, starring in major films like Stealth, Jarhead, Miami Vice, Dreamgirls, The Soloist, Law Abiding Citizen, Django Unchained, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the 2014 remake of Annie.

Trivia: African-American supporting actor, onscreen from the 60s.'

Trivia: Hardly diminutive, Tommy "Tiny" Lister Jr. has made his imposing presence felt in a multitude of films since the mid-'80s. Originally a professional wrestler nicknamed Zeus and Z-Gangsta, the 6' 5" 275 lb. Lister retired in 1985 to pursue an acting career. After making his movie debut in director Hal Ashby's final film 8 Million Ways to Die (1985), Lister spent the rest of the 1980s working primarily in A and B movies heavy on action, including Runaway Train (1985), Beverly Hills Cop II (1987), and Walter Hill's Extreme Prejudice (1987). Lister earned his first starring role playing his wrestling alter ego Zeus in the Hulk Hogan vehicle No Holds Barred (1989). Lister continued his run of B films in the early '90s, as well as appearing in Walter Hill's higher profile actioner Trespass (1992) with future co-star Ice Cube, and Jean-Claude Van Damme's Universal Soldier (1992). As the 1990s went on, Lister played roles in a more varied assortment of films, including the quirky Johnny Depp/Marlon Brando/Faye Dunaway romantic fantasy Don Juan DeMarco (1995) and the Quentin Tarantino-wannabe noir Things to Do in Denver When You're Dead (1995). Lister got to act for Tarantino himself in Jackie Brown, as well as play the President in Luc Besson's The Fifth Element. Lister's 1990s career also benefited from the decade's surge in African-American filmmaking, beginning with his starring role in Mario Van Peebles' Western Posse (1993). Lister subsequently starred as neighborhood bully Deebo opposite Ice Cube in the sleeper hit comedy Friday (1995). After appearing in comedian Martin Lawrence's A Thin Line Between Love and Hate (1996), Lister played a supporting role in Ice Cube's directorial debut The Players Club (1998), and starred as a hood in Master P's I Got the Hook-Up (1998). Adding to his eclectic credits in 2000, Lister notched another hit reprising his role as Deebo in the sequel Next Friday (2000), and co-starred as one of Satan's sons in the Adam Sandler comedy Little Nicky (2000).

Trivia: An actor with hulking presence and a stern countenance, John Amos undercuts his ominous appearance with the kind of warm grin and fun-loving attitude that makes him a natural for comedy. More recognizable as a television actor, the former pro football player has made enough visible forays into film to earn him a reputation in both arenas.After stints in a variety of divergent career fields -- pro sports, advertising, commercial acting, stand-up comedy, comedy writing -- Amos got his big break with the role of Gordy the weatherman on The Mary Tyler Moore Show in 1970. After three years as a side player next to Mary Tyler Moore, Ed Asner, and Ted Knight, Amos thought he'd get the chance for top billing by signing on to the gig for which he is best known: James Evans, the temperamental patriarch of Good Times. But Jimmie Walker, who played son J.J. Evans, soon gave the show a sassy youthful focus with his catchphrase "Dy-no-mite!" stealing the spotlight from Amos and Esther Rolle, who played wife Florida. Amos asked out of his contract after three years, and in 1976, James Evans was killed off in a car accident.The decision to leave a hit series did not squash Amos, as it has some others who have made that bold decision. Instead, Amos stepped into the highly celebrated and widely seen role of the adult Kunta Kinte in the 1977 miniseries Roots. The role challenged the actor's dramatic abilities like none of his previous work had, and he won praise for documenting the travails of a captured African who resists his enslavement.While continuing to turn up in TV series such as Future Cop and Hunter, Amos began making regular appearances in film in the 1980s. Among his more prominent roles were as Seth, companion to Marc Singer's title character in the sword and sorcerer film The Beastmaster (1982); Cleo McDowell, owner of a McDonald's knockoff burger chain and employer of Eddie Murphy and Arsenio Hall's transplanted dignitaries in Coming to America (1988); and the double-crossing Major Grant, who becomes one of the villains opposite Bruce Willis in Die Hard 2 (1990). Settling back into a career of guest shots on TV shows, Amos occupied himself during the 1990s and beyond with recurring roles on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air and as Admiral Percy Fitzwallace on NBC's The West Wing.

Trivia: A plus-sized actor of Afro-Cuban descent whose killer smile and infectious laugh can liven up any comedy, Faizon Love got his start in such well-received African-American comedies as Fear of a Black Hat and Friday before getting wide recognition in such high-profile comedies as Money Talks, The Replacements, and Elf. It was during high school in New Jersey that the aspiring comic first became interested in performing for a crowd; his English teacher recognized Love's skill for comedy and allowing the student to perform for his classmates on days when lessons went especially well. Following graduation, Love moved to New York and made a bid for the big time in the East Coast entertainment capitol; it didn't take long for the performer to land an off-Broadway role in the Harlem National Black Theater production of Bitter Heart Midtown (a modernized retelling of Charles Dickens' Great Expectations). The subsequent death of beloved comic Robin Harris during the production of the animated comedy BeBe's Kids provided the emerging performer with his first big break in film, and though it was strictly a vocal affair, Love performed admirably under pressure. He could next be seen alongside Robert Townsend, Rusty Cundieff, Ice Cube, and Shawn Wayans in a series of low-budget but well-received comedy features. Love later parlayed his connection with Townsend into an extended television role on the small-screen sitcom The Parent 'Hood, and he continued to climb the credits until his role as a gridiron giant in The Replacements punted him into the mainstream. It was following his appearance in the Keanu Reeves sports comedy that Love's career truly took off, with a 2001 performance opposite Sean "Puffy" Combs in Jon Favreau's Made marking the beginning of a working relationship between the director and the actor that would continue when Love appeared opposite Will Ferrell in Elf (2003). Love's role as a surfing football player in Blue Crush in 2002 allowed the actor to overcomed his duel fears of sharks and water to brave the waves. And after attempting to remain in control of a prison as the warden in The Fighting Temptations, it was time to hit the road in Torque, a two-wheeled thrill ride starring Love's former Friday co-star Ice Cube. Video-game players with an ear for detail would recognize Love's substantial role in the hit 2004 release Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, with additional roles opposite Lindsay Lohan in Just My Luck and in the long-awaited OutKast musical Idlewild effectively serving to mark the arrival of a comedic actor whose versatility continued to impress.

Trivia: Though he wouldn't enjoy a hint of his brother Eddie Murphy's mainstream and financial success until 2003, Charlie Murphy was an active participant in a variety of films: sometimes as an actor, often as a writer, and occasionally as both. After offering small but indelible performances in Harlem Nights (1989) and Mo' Better Blues (1990), Murphy could be seen in the role of "Livin' Large" in Spike Lee's groundbreaking urban drama Jungle Fever. Despite the relative failure of Vampire in Brooklyn, which Murphy co-wrote, the young actor continued on with his career, and began to develop a devoted, if small, fan base. Ultimately, after more bit parts in African-American-oriented comedies (The Players Club [1998], The Pompatus of Love [1995]), Murphy got his big break as a writer and actor for Dave Chappelle's surprise TV hit Chappelle's Show. Though he was a key figure in many of the show's sketches, he gained the most notoriety for an allegedly true encounter involving Murphy and funk rocker Rick James. He had his own comedy series, Charlie Murphy's Crash Comedy, on the Crackle network in 2009 and continued working in both television and film. Murphy died in 2017, at age 57.

Trivia: Though Terrence Howard's great grandmother Minnie Gentry was a successful New York stage actress, Howard didn't venture onto the screen himself until the age of twenty. Raised in a multiracial Jehovah's Witness household, the young man studied chemical engineering at Pratt Institute before being discovered on the street in New York. This quickly led to appearances on such television shows as Coach, Street Legal, Living Single, and Picket Fences. His breakout role in 1995's Mr. Holland's Opus helped pave the way for Howard's film career, as did his critically acclaimed performance as Cowboy in the Hughes brothers film Dead Presidents. By the time he took the role of Quentin in 1999's The Best Man, Howard had established a reputation as an actor of both skill and integrity. The new millennium finally brought Howard work that showcased his talent and made him a well-known name, like his role in the Paul Haggis film Crash, as well as his work in the John Singleton's Four Brothers. He also attracted the spotlight on the small screen with parts in the acclaimed TV films Their Eyes Were Watching God with Halle Berry, and Lackawanna Blues with S. Epatha Merkerson. This set the stage for his career-making performance as a pimp desperate to create a new life for himself as a musician in Hustle & Flow, for which he earned an Oscar nomination. Over the coming years, Howard would remain a vital force on screen, appearing in several films, likeGet Rich or Die Tryin', Idlewild, Iron Man, and On the Road. In 2013, he played a supporting role in Lee Daniel's The Butler and reprised his role in The Best Man Holiday. Howard returned to television in Fox's smash-hit Empire, playing music mogul Lucious Lyon.

Trivia: Made his debut as an actor at the age of 17.Played as a pitcher for the Schaumburg Flyers baseball team in minor league.Decided to leave aside his career in baseball to focus on his acting career.Took acting classes in UCLA.Made his debut on a film in 2004.

Trivia: Standing 6'5" and weighing over 300 pounds, African American actor Michael Clarke Duncan inarguably possesses one of Hollywood's more unforgettable figures. A former bodyguard and bouncer, Duncan first gained attention when he appeared as one of a group of oil drillers sent to stop an asteroid from annihilating the Earth in the 1998 blockbuster Armageddon. A year later, Duncan's career got another significant boost when the actor earned lavish critical plaudits for his portrayal of a wrongfully convicted death row inmate in The Green Mile.Born in Chicago on December 10, 1957, Duncan was raised on the city's south side by his single mother. A serious student, Duncan decided that he wanted to play football in high school; after his mother refused to let him, fearing he would get hurt, he developed an interest in acting instead. Following his graduation from high school, the aspiring actor studied communications at Mississippi's Alcorn State University. His studies were cut short when he returned to Chicago to attend to his mother, who had fallen ill. He subsequently found work digging ditches with the Peoples Gas Company and moonlighted as a club bouncer. His work led to a chance encounter with a stage producer who hired him as a security guard for a traveling theatre company, which eventually brought Duncan to Hollywood. Upon his arrival in L.A., Duncan, who was hovering dangerously close to bankruptcy, secured further work as a security guard and found his first agent. He got his professional start on television, appearing in commercials, sitcoms, and on the soap opera The Bold and the Beautiful. He started his film career playing -- surprisingly enough -- bouncers in such films as The Players Club and Bulworth (both 1998), finally getting his big break -- and the first role that didn't require him to boot people out of clubs -- in Armageddon. Thanks to the great commercial success of Armageddon, Duncan was able to find subsequent employment in a number of productions, most notably The Green Mile. He earned overwhelmingly strong reviews for his portrayal of doomed, saintly John Coffey, a man whose conviction for a brutal double murder seems at odds with his exceedingly gentle, almost child-like demeanor. Duncan garnered Best Supporting Actor Golden Globe and Oscar nominations for his work in the film. He next switched genre gears, re-teaming with Armageddon co-star Bruce Willis to star in the comedy The Whole Nine Yards, which cast him a brutish thug who terrorizes mild-mannered dentist Matthew Perry. Once again utilizing his massive girth to maximum effect in the following year's The Planet of the Apes Duncan followed up the big budget remake with the made-for-television They Call Me Sirr before once again flexing formidably, this time opposite The Rock, in The Scorpion King. Later turning up as the villainous Kingpin in the comic book superhero film Daredevil (2003), Duncan would also loan his voice to the same character in Spider-Man: The Animated Series later that same year. A string of vocal performances in such animated efforts as Kim Possible: A Stitch in Time, The Proud Family, and Crab Nebula found Duncan's vocal chords in increased demand in television, films, and even videogames, yet by 2005 the hard-working actor was back on the big screen with roles in both Robert Rodriguez's Sin City, and Michael Bay's The Island. Though action may have always been the best genre for the physically imposing actor to make an impression on the big screen, fans would take note that the hulking Duncan also had a keen sense of humor, a point made all the more evident by his role in the 2006 Will Ferrell NASCAR laugher Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby. Duncan continued to work in television in the following years, making appearances on popular shows including Chuck, Two and a Half Men, and Bones. In 2012, Duncan landed a starring role in The Finder, a short-lived series in which he once again took on the role of former lawyer Leo Knox, whom he had portrayed in Bones. In July of that same year, Duncan suffered a heart attack and never fully recovered; he died on September 3rd at the age of 54.

Trivia: While he's never achieved the mass-market pop-culture visibility of Dr. Dre or Puff Daddy, in the 1990s Master P quietly became the biggest underground mogul in hip-hop, winning a fervently loyal fan base and building a multimillion-dollar empire (in 1999, Fortune Magazine estimated his worth at 361 million dollars) based on a string of platinum-selling albums dealing with the gritty realities of street life in the Dirty South.Master P was born Percy Miller in New Orleans, LA, on April 29, 1970. Miller and his four siblings were raised in a housing project in one of the city's most crime-ridden neighborhoods, and after his parents divorced, Miller shuttled back and forth between New Orleans (where he attended high school and lived with his father) and Richmond, CA (where he spent summers with his mother). While Miller was tempted by the lure of the street hustling that was a part of life in inner-city New Orleans, he developed an entrepreneurial streak early on, as well as well as a passion for sports. Miller used his skills as a basketball player to earn a college scholarship to the University of Houston, where he studied business; in time, Miller left Houston and moved back to California, where he continued his studies at Merritt Junior College in Oakland. In the late 1980s, Miller inherited $10,000 from his grandfather, and used the money to start a record store in Oakland, No Limit Records. Running the store allowed Miller to closely monitor what was selling in the growing hip-hop market, and in 1991 he cut his first album, Get Away Clean, under the name Master P for the tiny In A Minute label. While the first two Master P albums sold negligibly at first, he was quickly learning the rudiments of both the record business and the hardcore rap market, and in 1994, Miller observed that while major labels were shunning hard-edged "gangsta rap" in a desire to avoid controversy, there was still a large and loyal market for street-level hip hop. That year, Master P dropped his third album, the more accomplished The Ghetto's Tryin' to Kill Me!, on his own No Limit Records label. Initially selling the album out of the trunk of his car, Master P avoided mainstream media outlets and instead promoted the album to independent record stores through word of mouth; The Ghetto's Tryin' to Kill Me! and its follow-up EP, 99 Ways to Die, together sold an impressive 250,000 copies without the benefit of national distribution. No Limit Records then signed a distribution deal with Priority Records, and in 1996, Master P's The Ice Cream Man debuted at number three on Billboard's R&B charts, despite receiving practically no mainstream radio or video play. Master P quickly expanded his label, first by releasing the top-selling hip-hop compilation West Coast Bad Boyz, and then by signing his brothers to No Limit, who recorded rough-and-tumble gangsta rap not unlike Master P's, under the names C-Murder and Silkk the Shocker. The three Millers also recorded together under the blanket name TRU, while rappers Mystikal and Mia-X also recorded platinum-plus releases for No Limit.After No Limit's almost identical sounding releases became mainstays on the hip-hop and R&B charts in the mid-'90s, Master P next set his sights on expanding into filmmaking. In 1997, he wrote a screenplay about New Orleans street life called I'm Bout It, but was unable to interest a studio in the project. Undaunted, Master P financed the project himself, serving as producer, director, and star. When Master P was unable to find a distributor for the feature, he released it himself on home video through No Limit; while reviews were less than enthusiastic, I'm Bout It shocked industry experts by topping the Billboard home video charts, selling over 300,000 copies in its first month of release. Master P's next film, 1998's I Got the Hook-Up (which he wrote, produced, and starred in, but did not direct) attracted the attention of several studios, and received a theatrical release through the Miramax-owned Dimension Films, earning a respectable $10 million gross on a $3.5 million budget. Master P and No Limit next began to take a two-tiered approach to film production, making lower-budgeted direct-to-video films tied into albums by No Limit artists, such as MP Da Last Don and Da Game of Life (the latter starring Snoop Dogg), while spending larger sums on more elaborate projects with at least a token theatrical release in mind, such as the action opus No Tomorrow and the comedy Foolish. Master P also began appearing in other people's screen projects, appearing on the HBO series Oz, playing the recurring role of "Patience" on the sitcom Moesha, and appearing in a supporting role in the film Gone in 60 Seconds. When not busy with his other projects, Master P remains a passionate sports fan, launching an athlete's management firm and playing professional basketball with the Continental Basketball Association's Fort Wayne Fury and the NBA's Toronto Raptors. He also markets and designs men's clothing.

Trivia: Appeared in Tupac Shakur's final music video, "Toss It Up," in 1996. Served as First Lady of Turks and Caicos during her marriage to Michael Misick. Founded the Turks and Caicos Film Festival with Jasmine Guy. Is a Global Ambassador for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure foundation. Made her directorial debut with the 2014 film Skinned.

Trivia: Possessing a charmingly seductive smile and a distinctively vibrant but laid-back personality, voluptuous actress/model LisaRaye first caught the eye of television viewers with an appearance on the popular television series In the House. Born in Chicago in September 1967, LisaRaye never really took the idea of a career in acting seriously until persuaded by an insistent roommate to attend a local audition in her hometown. Making her screen debut in the low-budget action movie Reasons, LisaRaye received numerous critical kudos despite the fact that the film went largely unseen. Though the movie never did find a distributor, director Monty Ross convinced the budding young actress to move out to L.A. during pilot season, and LisaRaye soon landed minor roles on such shows as Martin and In the House. Subsequently appearing in rapper Tupac Shakur's final music video, her memorable appearance caught the eye of rapper/actor Ice Cube, who was at the time planning his directorial debut, The Players Club. LisaRaye was quickly cast in the film, and her memorable performance as a troubled stripper left a solid impression on audiences. Though her appearances thus far had shown an impressive talent developing, it was following her appearance in The Wood (1999), that LisaRaye's career truly began to ignite. In 2000 LisaRaye found her widest audience yet as the host of Source: All Access, a popular series dedicated to exploring hip-hop culture. She quickly gained a loyal following with her winning smile and extensive knowledge of all things hip-hop. As film roles continued to role in, the millennial turnover found LisaRaye approaching her biggest role to date in the 2002 film Civil Brand. A harrowing look into life in women's prison, the film took home top awards at both the American Black Film Festival and The Urbanworld Film Festival. Soon following little sister Da Brat into a career in music, LisaRaye next began collaborating with Benzino to record a song to be featured in the film Redemption. 2003 proved an equally lucrative year for LisaRaye as she prepared for the release of the Barry Levinson comedy Envy, the female-driven Western Guns and Roses, and her new sitcom All of Us.