Taye Diggs

Taye Diggs
Born	Scott Leo Diggs
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994 – present
Spouse	Idina Menzel (January 11, 2003 - present) 1 child

Scott Leo "Taye" Diggs (born January 2, 1971) is an American theatre, film and television actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the Broadway musical Rent, the motion picture How Stella Got Her Groove Back, and the television series Private Practice. His nickname, Taye, comes from the playful pronunciation of Scotty as "Scottay".

Early life

Diggs was born in East Harlem but grew up in New Brunswick, New Jersey, the son of Marcia (née Berry), a teacher and actress, and Jeffries Diggs. He was raised in Rochester, New York, where he attended Allendale Columbia School and later transferred to School of the Arts (Rochester, New York). He starred in the first production of "It All Adds Up", an original musical by the piano teacher and musician John Gabriele. He is the oldest of five children; he has two brothers and two sisters. Diggs received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in musical theater from Syracuse University. He performed many times at the popular Lakes Region Summer Theatre in Meredith, New Hampshire. Diggs's Broadway debut was in the ensemble cast of the 1994 Tony Award-winning revival of the musical Carousel.

Career

In 1996, he got his big break, originating the role of the nasty landlord Benny in Jonathan Larson's Tony Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning Rent. After Rent he appeared as Mr. Black alongside Idina Menzel's character of Kate in Andrew Lippa's off-Broadway production of The Wild Party. Diggs also played The Bandleader in the long-running Broadway revival of Chicago and temporarily filled in for Norbert Leo Butz (an original Rent standby) as the love interest Fiyero of Idina Menzel's Elphaba character in Wicked.

Diggs then moved from stage to television, with a role on the soap opera Guiding Light. In 1998, he made his film debut in How Stella Got Her Groove Back. This movie brought Diggs much acclaim and exposure. The following year he played a tantric sex god in Doug Liman's Go, and an AWOL groom in the coming-of-age drama The Wood. Malcolm D. Lee's The Best Man features Diggs as the eponymous character, an author and best friend of the groom (portrayed by Morris Chestnut). He also starred in the remake of William Castle's The House on Haunted Hill. Taye Diggs was featured in an episode of America's Next Top Model, to help the contestants through an acting challenge. Another notable role of his was when he guest starred on the comedy-drama Ally Mcbeal as a lawyer named Jackson Duper who was the love interest of the character Renee Raddick and also the possible love interest on the Ling Woo character.

Diggs portrayed the title character on the short-lived UPN television series Kevin Hill which despite critical acclaim was not renewed for a second season due to the troubles that UPN was having.. He reprised the role of Benny for the 2005 Rent film. Diggs is featured on the following cast recordings: Carousel 1994 revival cast; Rent 1996 original Broadway cast; The Wild Party original off-Broadway cast. He also sings on the Rent film soundtrack. In 2002 he reprised his role as the Bandleader in the film adaptation of Chicago, and also played opposite Christian Bale as Bale's partner/antagonist Brandt in the dystopian sci-fi thriller Equilibrium.

In 2003, Diggs was on Punk'd after being tricked by Ashton Kutcher, while getting a check-up at a Punk'd-operated doctor's office. In early 2006, Diggs guest-starred for several episodes as Will Truman's love interest, James, on the final season of Will & Grace. In May, ABC picked up his pilot, Day Break, in which he portrayed a detective trapped in the same day and forced to relive it to clear his name of murder; the show debuted in mid-November 2006, but was abruptly canceled due to poor ratings. Although his film and television career continue to move forward, he still returns to the stage frequently. Most recently he was seen alongside James McDaniel in Charles Fuller's A Soldier's Play at Second Stage Theatre in New York.

Diggs co-stars opposite Kate Walsh in Private Practice, the fall 2007 spin-off of Grey's Anatomy. Diggs had a guest role on The West Wing as a Secret Service agent in charge of the security detail for the President's daughter. He then guest-starred on Grey's Anatomy again in the Grey's Anatomy/Private Practice Crossover Event.

Personal Life

Taye Diggs married RENT co-star Idina Menzel on January 11, 2003. Their son, Walker Nathaniel Diggs, was born on September 2, 2009.

Filmography

Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1998	Judging Amy	The Baylif
1999	Go	Marcus
	The Wood	Roland
	The Best Man	Harper Stewart
	House on Haunted Hill	Eddie Baker
2000	The Way of the Gun	Jeffers
2002	New Best Friend	Artie Bonner
	Just a Kiss	Andre
	Brown Sugar	Andre Romulus 'Dre' Ellis
	Equilibrium	Andrew Brandt
	Chicago	The Bandleader
2003	Basic	Pike
	Malibu's Most Wanted	Sean (aka Blood Bath)
2004	Drum	Henry Nxumalo
2005	Rent	Benjamin "Benny" Coffin III
2007	Slow Burn	Jeffrey Sykes
2008	Days of Wrath	Steve Lerato
2009	Dead of Night	Vampire Vargas

TV credits

Year	Title	Role	Other notes
2001	Ally McBeal	Jackson Duper	10 episodes
2003	Punk'd	Himself	Episode: 2.05
	The West Wing	Secret Service Agent Wesley Davis	Episodes: "Twenty Five", "Commencement"
2004	America's Next Top Model	Himself	1 episode
2004-2005	Kevin Hill	Kevin Hill
2006	Cake	Hemingway Jones
	Will & Grace	James	Episodes: "Grace Expectations", "The Definition of Marriage", "I Love L. Gay", "Von Trapped"
2006-2007	Day Break	Detective Brett Hopper
2007-2009	Grey's Anatomy	Dr. Sam Bennett	Episodes: "The Other Side of This Life: Part 1/Part 2" (Private Practice backdoor pilot), "Before and After"
2007-present	Private Practice	Dr. Sam Bennett
2009	The Super Hero Squad Show	Black Panther	Voice
	Better Off Ted	Greg	Episode: Love Blurts

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Film	Result
2000	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture	The Best Man	Nominated
2002	Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series	Ally McBeal	Nominated
2003	Screen Actors Guild Award	Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture	Chicago	Won
	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture	Brown Sugar	Nominated
2005	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	Kevin Hill	Won
2008	Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Private Practice	Nominated
2009	Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series	Private Practice	Won
2010	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series	Private Practice	Nominated
(Source: IMDb.com)

External links

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• Taye Diggs interview