Early life

Ealy was born in Washington, D.C., and was raised in Silver Spring, Maryland. Ealy graduated from Springbrook High School and attended the University of Maryland in College Park, Maryland. His mother worked for IBM and his father was in the grocery business.

Career

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.

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.

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 appeared as attorney Derrick Bond in the second season of The Good Wife. He co-starred in the 2010 action movie Takers as Jake Attica, and appeared as Travis Marks in USA Network's original series Common Law about two cops who have to go to counseling because they argue too much. Common Law premiered following Fairly Legal on Friday, May 11, 2012.

Ealy appeared as Dominic in the 2012 ensemble comedy Think Like a Man and its 2014 sequel, Think Like a Man Too, and appeared as "Papa Joe" in the 2012 inspirational film Unconditional. He appeared opposite Think Like a Man co-star Kevin Hart in the 2014 remake of About Last Night.

In 2013, Ealy signed on to play "Dorian" in the Fox 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, "DRN" android model that is considered to be less reliable due to its artificial emotions and that is tasked with protecting his partner John Kennex (Karl Urban). The show aired for one season on Fox from 2013 to 2014.

In 2015, Ealy played serial killer "Theo" in season 3 of the television series The Following. Ealy will join the season 2 of the ABC crime mystery show Secrets and Lies, which will air in mid 2016.

Personal life

In October 2012, Ealy married Khatira Rafiqzada, his girlfriend of four years, in a ceremony in Los Angeles. and together they have a son.

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	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
2015	The Perfect Guy	Carter Duncan

Television

Year	Television	Role	Other notes
2000	Metropolis	Calvin McDade	Unsold television pilot
2002	ER	Rick Kendrick	Episode: "Hindsight"
2005	Their Eyes Were Watching God	Virgible 'Tea Cake' Woods	ABC television movie
2005-06	Sleeper Cell	Darwyn al-Sayeed	Main role, 18 episodes
2007	Suspect	Det. Marcus Tillman	Television movie
2009-10	FlashForward	Marshall Vogel	Recurring role, 10 episodes
2010	The Good Wife	Derrick Bond	Recurring role, 12 episodes
2011	Californication	Ben	5 episodes
2012	Common Law	Travis Marks	Main role, 12 episodes
2012	WWE Raw	Himself	May 7 episode
2013-14	Almost Human	Dorian	Main role, 13 episodes
2015	The Following	Theo	Main role (season 3), 10 episodes
2016	Secrets and Lies	Eric Warner	Main role (season 2)

Music videos

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

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

[ Source: Wikipedia ]