Michael Ealy

Michael Ealy
Ealy at a football game in 2012
Born	Michael Brown (1973-08-03) August 3, 1973 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	late 1990s–present
Spouse	Khatira Rafiqzada ​ (m. 2012)​

Michael Brown (born August 3, 1973), professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his roles in Barbershop (2002), its sequel Barbershop 2: Back in Business (2004), 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), Their Eyes Were Watching God (2005), Seven Pounds (2008), For Colored Girls (2010), and Underworld: Awakening (2012). Ealy stars as Dorian in the science fiction police drama, Almost Human.

Life and career

Ealy was born in Washington, D.C., and was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. Ealy attended the University of Maryland in College Park, MD. His mother worked for IBM and his father was in the grocery business. He started his acting career in the late 1990s, appearing in a number of off-Broadway stage productions. Among his first film roles were Bad Company and Kissing Jessica Stein. His breakout role came in 2002's Barbershop, in which he plays reformed street thug Ricky Nash, a role that he reprised in the 2004 sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business. In 2003, he played the role of Slap Jack in the second installment of the Fast and the Furious film series, 2 Fast 2 Furious. Later in 2004, Ealy appeared in Never Die Alone with DMX. He also appeared in Mariah Carey's music video for her hit single "Get Your Number" from her 2005 album The Emancipation of Mimi. He also played Dominic in "Think like a Man" in 2012. In 2005, Ealy co-starred in the Television film version of Their Eyes Were Watching God, produced by Oprah Winfrey and Quincy Jones, and starring Academy Award–winning actress Halle Berry. The same year, he starred in the independent film Jellysmoke, directed by Mark Banning. He starred in the Showtime television series Sleeper Cell, the first season of which aired December 4–18, 2005, and the second season of which, Sleeper Cell: American Terror, aired December 10–17, 2006.

On December 14, 2006, Ealy was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in Sleeper Cell: American Terror in the category Best Performance by an Actor in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. In December 2008 he was featured in the movie Seven Pounds alongside Will Smith as Ben Thomas. He also starred as the male lead in Beyoncé's "Halo" music video, and as CIA Field Officer Marshall Vogel in the ABC television series FlashForward. He starred in the 2012 film "Think Like a Man".

Ealy also appears in the limited-edition coffee table book (About Face) by celebrity photographer John Russo, published by Pixie Press Worldwide. He is currently working on independent writing projects. In 2009, Ealy performed in The People Speak, a documentary feature film that uses dramatic and musical performances of the letters, diaries, and speeches of everyday Americans, based on historian Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States.

In 2010, Ealy signed on to play attorney Derrick Bond in The Good Wife for at least ten episodes of the second season. He co-stars in the action movie Takers as Jake Attica. In 2011, Ealy signed on to play Travis Marks in USA Network's new original series Common Law about two cops who have to go to counseling because they argue too much. It premiered following Fairly Legal on Friday, May 11, 2012. And finally in Unconditional, with the role of PAPA JOE. In 2013, Ealy signed on to play "Dorian" in the TV series "Almost Human". The sci-fi police procedural takes place in the year 2048 and follows the relationship between two cops as they struggle to solve futuristic crimes that involve complex technology. Ealy depicts the android "Dorian", an older, less reliable "DRN" android model that is tasked with protecting his partner John Kennex (Karl Urban).

Personal life

In October 2012, Ealy married his girlfriend of four years, Khatira Rafiqzada, in a ceremony in Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Year	Film	Role
2001	Kissing Jessica Stein	Greg
2002	Bad Company	G-Mo
	Barbershop	Ricky Nash
2003	2 Fast 2 Furious	Slap Jack
2004	November	Jesse
	Barbershop 2: Back in Business	Ricky Nash
	Never Die Alone	Mike
2005	Their Eyes Were Watching God	Virgible 'Tea Cake' Woods
	Jellysmoke	Jacob
2008	Miracle at St. Anna	Sgt Cummings
	Seven Pounds	Ben Thomas
2009	The People Speak	Himself
2010	Takers	Jake Attica
	For Colored Girls	Beau Willie
2011	Margaret	Dave the Lawyer
2012	Underworld: Awakening	Detective Sebastian
	Think Like a Man	Dominic
	Unconditional	"Papa Joe" Bradford
2013	Last Vegas	Ezra
2014	About Last Night	Danny
	Think Like a Man Too	Dominic

Television

Year	Film	Role
2005–2006	Sleeper Cell	Darwyn al-Sayeed
2009–2010	FlashForward	Marshall Vogel
2009	The People Speak	Voice of Malcolm X
2010	The Good Wife	Derrick Bond
2011	Californication	Ben
2012	Common Law	Travis Marks
2012	WWE Raw	Himself - May 7 Episode
2013	La Familia De Jimenez	Rodrigo (Love interest of Ancho Giorgadze) - Season 4-Regular
2013–	Almost Human	Dorian

Music videos

Year	Music video	Role
2005	"Get Your Number"	Love interest of Mariah Carey
2009	"Halo"	Love interest of Beyoncé Knowles
2012	"Tonight"	Love interest of female John Legend ft. Ludacris

Awards and nominations

Year	Nominated work	Award	Category	Result
2007	Sleeper Cell	Golden Globe Awards	Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television	Nominated
2005	Their Eyes Were Watching God	Black Reel Awards	Best Actor	Won
2010	For Colored Girls	African-American Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actor	Won
2011	For Colored Girls	NAACP Image Awards	Image Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	Nominated
2012	Think Like a Man	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actor Romance	Nominated

External links

• Michael Ealy at IMDb
• 'The People Speak' – article from the Los Angeles Times
• The People Speak at IMDb