Mike Epps Biography

Mike Epps (born in Indianapolis, Indiana) is an African American comedian and actor. His breakout role was as "Day-Day", the cousin of Craig (Ice Cube), in the 1999 movie Next Friday. Other notable movie roles include All About the Benjamins (again with Ice Cube), Guess Who (the 2005 remake of Guess Who's Coming to Dinner with Bernie Mac), Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) and the 2005 remake of The Honeymooners. Epps is also slated to star in a biopic about Richard Pryor.

He has been confirmed to reprise his role as L.J. in Resident Evil: Afterlife.

Tall, African-American Indiana native Mike Epps found fame as a touring stand-up with Def Comedy Jam but left the circuit for Los Angeles when given a chance at starring opposite Ice Cube in the highly-anticipated sequel "Next Friday" (2000).
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A troublemaking class clown who admitted to spending four months in a juvenile center after a prank involving super glue, Epps successfully attempted stand-up in Indiana, took his comedy to Atlanta and was soon honing his skills in the clubs of New York City, where he was spotted and welcomed into the Def Comedy Jam family. With a stop along the way to appear in actor Vin Diesel's directorial debut "Strays" (1996), Epps was well on his way to becoming one of the bigger names in stand-up.

He appeared in a 1999 episode of "The Sopranos" in 1999, the same year the uncommonly handsome comedian learned that Ice Cube was soon to cast his 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, but still had a hard time winning over those expecting a Chris Tucker clone despite his consistent, though often improvised, performance. Epps' played down his good looks to play the ineffectual Day-Day, a smoked-out loser stalked by his obsessive ex-girlfriend (Tamala Jones) and her brutish younger sister (Lady of Rage). 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, the Cheech and Chong of the new millennium. Epps played the bumbling thief to Ice Cube's bounty hunter in the action comedy "All About the Benjamins" and again rejoined the rapper-actor-filmmaker in the continuing "Friday" saga's latest entry "Friday After Next" (both 2002). After turns in the uneven musical comedy, “The Fighting Temptations” (2003) and the dreadful horror sequel, “Resident Evil: Apocalypse” (2004), Epps played Ed Norton to Cedric the Entertainer’s Ralph Kramden in the rehash of the famed 1950’s sitcom, “The Honeymooners” (2005). Though promising a fresh take on an oldie-but-goodie, the movie was blasted by critics who complained about a lack of chemistry between characters, a subservient bow to political correctness—particularly with Kramden’s famous threat to send Alice to the moon—and a dearth of laughs despite overwhelming comedic talent.

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MIKE EPPS BIOGRAPHY