Early life

Epps was born at Wishard Hospital in Indianapolis, Indiana, the son of Mary Reed and Tommy Epps. Epps' natural comedic ability was encouraged at an early age, and he began performing stand-up as a teenager. Epps moved to Atlanta where he worked at the Comedy Act Theater, before moving to Brooklyn to star in Def Comedy Jam in 1995. Epps ended up on the Def Comedy Jam tour and starred in two of HBO's Def Comedy Jam broadcasts.

Career

Stand-up comedy

Epps began his professional career by joining the Def Comedy Jam tour in 1995 and starred in two of HBO's Def Comedy Jam broadcasts.

Movie career

Epps' first on-screen appearance came in Vin Diesel's directorial debut, Strays in 1997.

In 1999, Epps was then cast as Ice Cube's co-star (effectively, Chris Tucker's replacement) in the sequel, Next Friday. This came after weeks of auditions after Ice Cube attended a stand-up set Epps did, and then asked Epps to try out for the role of Day-Day Jones. His role as Day-Day Jones was a breakthrough for the new actor, who was already familiar to much of the audience from his stand-up work. Later that year, Epps had a cameo in 3 Strikes, and supported Jamie Foxx in Bait.

Epps had a voice role in the 2001 movie Dr. Dolittle 2 as Sonny the Bear and finished the year with a featured role as comical pimp Baby Powder in How High, starring Method Man and Redman. Epps reunited with Ice Cube in 2002 as the bumbling thief to Ice Cube's bounty hunter in All About the Benjamins, and again re-teamed with Cube in Friday's second sequel Friday After Next.

Epps also got to voice another bear character (Boog) in the 2008 film Open Season 2 after Martin Lawrence declined the role. In 2010, Epps also released a stand-up comedy special, Under Rated & Never Faded, and hosted the 2010 BET Hip Hop Awards.

Epps' name has become synonymous with a particular style of humor, through his appearance with several other African-American artists in the same genre. Aside from featuring Cube, the common thread of these films was the hilarious prominence of marijuana-smoking comic characters, like the ones portrayed by Epps.

Epps most recently starred alongside Jordin Sparks and Whitney Houston in the 2012 remake of Sparkle, in his first non-comedic role as the main antagonist, Satin. A stand-up comic by day, an evil and abusive drug kingpin by night in engaged in an affair with the titular character's sister. Epps' performance was well received by critics and audiences.

Epps is currently working on a baseball-themed movie, entitled Bad Behavior, alongside teen quartet Mindless Behavior, in which he plays their coach, André Parker.

On August 26, 2014, it was announced that Epps landed the coveted role of Richard Pryor in the upcoming biopic directed by Lee Daniels, despite Nick Cannon very publicly campaigning for the role and Pryor's family stating that Marlon Wayans or Terrence Howard should get the role. Epps will star alongside Oprah Winfrey, who will play Pryor's abusive grandmother Marie Carter.

Music

Epps recently had a small part in the song A Bay Bay by Hurricane Chris, doing the Rick James move. He appeared in the music video "Gangsta Nation" by Westside Connection. He also hosted a Jim Jones and Skull Gang album entitled Jim Jones & Skull Gang Present A Tribute To Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps. Epps has also made a song called "Trying to Be a Gangsta" with Pooh Bear.

Epps also hosted G Unit's 2008 mixtape Elephant In The Sand, appearing on the track Hollow Thru Him. Epps also has a song called "Big Girls", which came out in 2008. It was originally recorded by Bow Wow featuring Yung Joc. The song is currently on iTunes and can be found on his album, Funny Bidness: Da Album, which was released October 27, 2009. Epps also has featured in rapper French Montana's Mac Wit Da Cheese mixtape, which was released on April 19, 2009.

Epps is also featured on the Dom Kennedy song "Intro/Hard Work" on his FutureStreet/DrugSounds mixtape.

Part of his standup in Under Rated & Never Faded was sampled for the song "I'm on Everything" by Bad Meets Evil on their first EP, Hell: The Sequel. Also on Runaway, Born Sinner the second album from rapper J. Cole.

Super Bowl XLVI

Epps served as the "Super Bowl ambassador" in his native Indianapolis for the 2012 Super Bowl. He was featured in commercials promoting the Super Bowl Village and he made special appearances in the Village during the week of the Super Bowl.

2014 Atlanta incident

On June 1, 2014, Epps purportedly assaulted fellow stand-up comedian LaVar Walker outside of the Uptown Comedy Club. It was stated Epps and two of his bodyguards did this in response to Walker making a parody video about Epps and comedian Kevin Hart. Epps allegedly struck him in the face and kicked him in the stomach and back, while one of the other two men threw the victim's cellphone and crushed his prescription glasses. Atlanta Police issued a warrant for Epps' arrest two days later on June 3.

Personal life

Epps married Mechelle McCain in July 2006; they currently live in Beverly Hills, California. He met her while filming The Fighting Temptations (in which they appeared alongside Cuba Gooding, Jr. and Beyoncé). McCain had a minor, non-speaking role in the movie as Epps' character's girlfriend. Epps has also dedicated his time and money to the Tupac Amaru Shakur Foundation for the Arts in Georgia.

Epps has four children, Bria Epps, from a previous relationship (born 1993), Makayla Epps, from a previous relationship (born 1999), Maddie, and Mariah.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Note
1997	Strays	Mikeys	Film debut
2000	Next Friday	Day-Day Jones
2000	3 Strikes	Crackhead
2000	Bait	Stevie Sanders
2001	Dr. Dolittle 2	Sonny	Voice only Credited as Michael E. Epps
2001	How High	Baby Powder
2002	All About the Benjamins	Reginald Wright	Credited as Michael Epps
2002	Friday After Next	Day-Day Jones/Old Man with Shotgun
2003	Malibu's Most Wanted	Rap-Battle Host	Uncredited
2003	The Fighting Temptations	Lucius	₢₴
2004	Still 'Bout It	Bobby Ray
2004	Resident Evil: Apocalypse	L.J.
2005	Guess Who	The Cab Driver	Uncredited
2005	The Honeymooners	Ed Norton
2005	Roll Bounce	Byron
2006	The Unsuccessful Thug
2006	Something New	Walter
2007	Talk to Me	Milo Hughes
2007	Resident Evil: Extinction	L.J.
2008	Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins	Reggie Jenkins
2008	Shelly Fisher	Esquire Jones
2008	Hancock	Criminal	Uncredited
2008	Bigg Snoop Dogg Presents: The Adventures of Tha Blue Carpet Treatment
2008	Soul Men	Duane Henderson
2008	Open Season 2	Boog	Direct-to-video Voice only Replacing Martin Lawrence
2009	Next Day Air	Brody
2009	The Hangover	Black Doug
2009	Janky Promoters	Jellyroll
2010	Love Chronicles: Secrets Revealed	Thomas Black
2010	Lottery Ticket	Reverend Taylor
2010	Ghetto Stories	Janitor	Cameo
2010	Faster	Grone
2011	Jumping the Broom	Willie Earl
2012	Sparkle	Satin
2012	Mac & Devin Go to High School	Mr. Armstrong
2013	The Hangover Part III	Black Doug
2014	Repentance	Ben Carter
2014	School Dance	Principal Rodgers
2015	Bessie	Richard
2015	Mike Epps: Don't Take It Personal	Himself
2015	Stealing Cars	Sheriff Till
2016	Nina	Richard Pryor
2016	Meet the Blacks	Carl Black

Television

• The Sopranos (1999) .... Jerome
• Pimps Up, Ho's Down (1999)
• All About the Stunts (2002)
• 106 & Park (1 episode, 2005)
• Letter to the President (2005)
• Def Comedy Jam (5 episodes, 1995-2006)
• Inappropriate Behavior (2006)
• The Unsuccessful Thug (2006)
• The Boondocks (2006) .... Moe "Mo Gunz" Jackson
• BET Hip Hop Awards (2009-present) .... Himself/Host
• Wild 'n Out (2013) .... Himself
• Ridiculouness (2014) .... Himself/L.J.
• Survivor's Remorse (2014-Present) .... Uncle Julius
• Being Mary Jane (Season 2) (2015) .... Chris Warren
• Uncle Buck (TBA) .... Buck Russell

Music videos

• "Whatchulookinat" - Whitney Houston
• "Ay Bay Bay" — Hurricane Chris
• "Gangsta Nation" — Westside Connection
• "Why We Thugs" — Ice Cube
• "What You Know" — T.I.
• "ASAP" — T.I.
• "Never Forget" — Napoleon
• "I'm Lit" — Square Off
• "I Don't Know Y'all" — Young Dro
• "Mrs. Right" — Mindless Behavior featuring Diggy Simmons
• "Nothin'" - NORE
• "I'm on Everything" - Bad Meets Evil
• "How Come You Don't Call Me" - Alicia Keys
• "Bitch, Don't Kill My Vibe" - Kendrick Lamar
• "I Was Your Baby"- Angie Stone
• "No Flex Zone!" - Rae Sremmurd
• "Ayo" - Chris Brown and Tyga

Discography

Studio albums

• Funny Bidness: Da Album (2009)

Collaboration albums

• A Tribute to Bad Santa Starring Mike Epps (2008)
• Omar Ray Life & Timez of Suge Gotti, Vol. 1 (2012)

Singles

• "Big Girls" (2008)
• "Trying to Be a Gangsta" (2009)
• "Aint Chu You?" (2009)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]