Michael Ealy

Michael Ealy (born August 3, 1973) is an American actor. His real name is Michael Brown; Ealy is the name he uses for acting. He is perhaps best known for his roles in the movies 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). On television, Ealy stars as Dorian in the science-fiction police drama, Almost Human.

Michael Ealy
Ealy at ComicCon, July 22, 2011
Born	(1973-08-03) August 3, 1973 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	late 1990s–present
Spouse	Khatira Rafiqzada ​ (m. 2012)​

Life and career

Ealy was born in Washington, D.C.. He was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. His mother worked for IBM. His father worked in the grocery business. He attended the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland.

He started his acting career in the late 1990s. He appeared in Off-Broadway stage productions. Among his first movie roles were Bad Company and Kissing Jessica Stein. His breakout role was in 2002's Barbershop, in which he played a reformed street criminal named Ricky Nash. He played that role again in the sequel, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, in 2004. In 2003, he played Slap Jack in 2 Fast 2 Furious. Later in 2004, Ealy appeared in Never Die Alone with DMX. He appeared in Mariah Carey's music video for her hit single "Get Your Number". He played Dominic in "Think like a Man" in 2012.

Personal life

In October 2012, Ealy married Khatira Rafiqzada, in Los Angeles. They had been together for four years before this.

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
2015	The Following	Strauss' Best Student

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

Other websites

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