Omar Epps — Like A Fine Wine

–“Boys to Men” by New Edition

Omar Epps was 19 years old when the world first caught a glimpse of the possibility. Nineteen … still a kid from New York, and still very “green” on all things Hollywood. But before the final credits could roll in the 1992 black cinema classic Juice, Epps’ cultural relevance had been solidified. With that one role, he had officially become a player in the entertainment industry — a striking face with a boatload of talent to  match.

Ah, the memories of humble beginnings.

So much has transpired in the 17 years that have passed since the film’s initial release. Stars have come and gone; world news is now summarized in 120 characters or less; and the current leader of the free world possesses a surprising amount of melanin.

But through all of those changes, one fact has quietly remained consistent … and that’s the undeniable truth that Omar Epps is one of the hardest working actors in the business, and his extensive filmography suggests as much.

Juice
The Program
Higher Learning
Major League II
Love & Basketball
The Wood

The list grows longer and even more impressive once you factor in the last five years of his life spent as a principle cast member on Fox’s hit medical drama “House.” But for all of this success — especially with it occurring at such an early age — Epps lacks the arrogance evident in many of his colleagues, most of whose résumés aren’t nearly as impressive.

The humble manner in which he conducts his business intrigued the members of the rolling out staff in such a way that we decided to empower the entire team to conduct the interview with Epps. Since he managed to gain the respect of our entire office, he might as well answer everyone’s questions right? We thought so too. Here’s a small sampling of that experiment.

Rolling out staff vs. Omar Epps

How has technology affected the types of roles that you now choose?
–Soweto Bosia, webmaster

Epps: It’s affected me a lot. Audiences are fickle now. When I started out, cable wasn’t as big, so there weren’t as many options out there for people to be entertained. The Internet wasn’t as big either, so now there are so many more choices for the viewing audience. That makes it a lot more important to be diligent and wise with your choices.

As you reflect on your career, is this how you envisioned it when you first started out?
–Mike Lawhorn, traffic manager

Epps: I’m almost there. I think that once my writing and producing take off, then my career will really begin to take off in the way that I envisioned it … it’s still very close, though. I tell kids all the time that you have to dream big, and then you work backwards. The bottom line is that I’ve been really blessed to receive opportunities, and it’s what I’ve decided to do with those opportunities that has gotten me to this point. Looking back on it all, it’s still pretty close to how I envisioned it as a kid.

You’ve been acting for close to 20 years now.
Do you see yourself putting in another 20 years?
–Brian Wynder, video production

Epps: The beauty of acting is that you never stop. You just go through rhythms where you might not see someone for 10 years, and then they pop back up. For example, look at Merryl Streep’s career, and how she’s experiencing a resurgence. You can also look at Robert De Niro, and see how he redefined his career by doing comedies. That’s the beauty of acting. You can do it forever. But honestly, I’m more interested in having a powerhouse production company in this business.

Is it important for an actor to hone his skill as a writer if he or she wants to experience longevity in the business?
–Condia Perry, content manager

Epps: It’s interesting that you asked that, because I actually got into acting through my writing. I’ve been writing for as long as I can remember … poetry, short stories, music. And as a kid, I would be sitting there writing these stories, and it sparked something within me where I wanted to play those things out. That’s what gave me the acting bug. Now I think that being a writer has helped me immensely, because I understand the science of story. I understand characters and it gives me a different depth as an actor. One of my best friends is Marlon Wayans, and we grew up and went to high school together. We’ve been writing since then, and you see where the writing has taken his career. We might not have taken it seriously back then, but it definitely has helped us experience success in our careers today.

What is your take on the state of black Hollywood?
Does a problem exist?
–Melinda Johnson, business operations manager

Epps: Well it’s a bit of a conundrum. When I first started out, there definitely weren’t as many opportunities as there are now. The irony [in] that is that now even though there are more opportunities out there, those aren’t really career-defining opportunities … they’re just working vehicles. There’s a difference between an actor and a star. A star puts a–es in the seats, and the studio is going to pay them top dollar because they’re going to make their money back. Actors are just there. So it’s one of those things where you’ve heard Spike Lee’s take on it, and it does still exist, but that’s just studio business.

This business comes down to dollars and cents like anything else. So if you look at someone like a Tyler Perry, you can understand the business and see that he’s a genius. He would have never sold Madea if he had just walked in there with a script. But he had a following, so when he came in there with those numbers he couldn’t be denied. What’s happening in the movie industry now is the same thing that has been happening with independent artists in hip-hop. Once a label sees that you can move a certain number of units by yourself, then they’ll get behind you. That’s what Tyler Perry did with film. So I don’t know if you can call that a problem in black Hollywood, because that’s bigger than Hollywood. That’s the fabric of this country. We just have to take more control of our product, and then we’ll see the results that we’re looking for.

Epps has been putting in some serious work over the years. So when it was time for us to take a look back at his impressive career, it was only right to highlight some of our favorite character portrayals.

Juice (1992)
The role that launched Epps into our collective consciousness continues to be widely regarded as a black cinema classic. The film, which also marked the coming-out-party for Tupac Shakur, early on set the standards high for Epps and our expectations of the types of performances he was capable of delivering.

Higher Learning (1995)
Director John Singleton’s examination of college race relations was highlighted by a strong performance by Epps. Every guy in America had to be jealous of his on-screen romance with then-budding supermodel Tyra Banks … I know that we were.

Scream 2 (1997)
Even though he and on-screen girlfriend Jada Pinkett Smith met their untimely demise in the movie’s opening sequence, black America was still proud to see Epps splash some much-needed color in the very popular, but largely “vanilla” horror franchise.

Love & Basketball (2000)
Arguably his most memorable role, Epps and Sanaa Lathan’s love story sizzled as the bounce of the basketball on the hardwood echoed the nearly audible pounding of the pair’s hearts throbbing for each other. This story expertly epitomized the many twists and turns that can brought on by love.

“House” (2004-present)
The beauty of this move was that it showed the world that Epps was capable of swimming in the often treacherous mainstream waters. His portrayal of Dr. Eric Foreman on “House” served as the ultimate checkmate to naysayers that thought otherwise.