# Evan Ross

Evan Olav Ross-Næss (born August 26, 1988) is an American actor and musician. He made his acting debut in the comedy-drama film ATL (2006), and has since starred in the films Pride (2007), According to Greta (2009), Mooz-lum (2010), 96 Minutes (2011), Supremacy (2014), and The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 (2014) and Part 2 (2015).
On television, Ross had a recurring role as Charlie Selby in the season 3 of The CW's teen drama series 90210 and a regular role as Angel Rivera in the season 2 of Fox's musical drama series Star. Ross also starred on ABC's procedural drama series Wicked City as Diver Hawkes. As a musician, he released his first single "Yes Me" in February 2011, and his second single "How To Live Alone" in May 2015.
Ross is the son of Diana Ross and shipping magnate and mountaineer Arne Næss Jr.. He has been married since 2014 to singer-songwriter Ashlee Simpson, with whom he has two children.

## Early life

Ross was born Evan Olav Næss in Greenwich, Connecticut, to businessman and mountaineer Arne Næss Jr., who was Norwegian, and entertainer Diana Ross, who is African-American. His paternal great-uncle was Norwegian philosopher Arne Næss.
Ross' parents divorced in 2000. He has one older full brother, Ross Næss, and three older maternal half-sisters, Rhonda, whose biological father is Berry Gordy, and Tracee and Chudney from his mother's marriage to Robert Ellis Silberstein. He also has three older paternal half-siblings from his father's first marriage, Christoffer, Katinka, and Leona, and two younger paternal half-brothers from his father's third marriage, Nicklas and Louis. In January 2004, Ross' father was killed at age 66 in a mountain climbing accident near Cape Town.

## Career
### Acting

Ross began his career as an actor while a student at Greenwich High School. His first major role was in the film, ATL, released in March 2006, in which he co-starred with rappers T.I. and Big Boi. Ross received rave reviews for his role as troubled teenager Amare McCarter in the HBO television film Life Support, starring alongside Queen Latifah and his real-life half-sister Tracee Ellis Ross, who portrayed his elder sister in the film. Ross later co-starred in the biographical film Pride, in which he portrayed a good-natured teen with a speech impediment. He also appeared (uncredited) in an episode of Girlfriends. The episode, titled "What's Black-A-Lackin'?", also guest-starred Chrisette Michele, and was directed by his half-sister Tracee.
Ross has appeared in several other films, including the thriller Linewatch with Cuba Gooding, Jr. (2008), the drama Gardens of the Night (2008), and the crime drama film Life Is Hot in Cracktown (2009). He then starred as Julie, the love interest of Hilary Duff's character, in the 2009 comedy-drama film According to Greta. Ross has also appeared in The Notorious B.I.G. music video for the song "Nasty Girl" (2005), and the Lionel Richie music video for the song "Just Go" (2009).
In 2010, Ross joined the cast of The CW's teen drama series 90210 in its third season, portraying Liam Court's (Matt Lanter) half-brother and the love interest to Annie Wilson, played by Shenae Grimes. That same year, he appeared in Case 219, and the critically acclaimed film festival winner Mooz-lum, also starring Danny Glover and Nia Long. He then starred in the comedy-drama The Family Tree (2011) and co-starred alongside Brittany Snow in the thriller 96 Minutes, which was released April 28, 2012, in select theaters. Ross won the Breakout Acting Award at SXSW for his performance in the film.
In 2012, Ross had a supporting role in the Jay and Mark Duplass-directed comedy-drama Jeff, Who Lives at Home. The following year, he portrayed music producer Dallas Austin in the VH1 biopic CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story, about the 1990s Atlanta girl group TLC (the film was named after their second album CrazySexyCool). He then appeared in the drama film All the Wilderness (2014), which premiered at SXSW; the Courteney Cox-directed comedy-drama Just Before I Go (2014), which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival; and the drama film Supremacy (2014), which premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival.
Also in 2014, Ross portrayed the role of Messalla in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1, released on November 21. He reprised the role in Mockingjay – Part 2, which was released on November 20, 2015. In July 2015, he joined the cast of ABC's crime drama series Wicked City, portraying crime scene paparazzo Diver Hawkes, replacing Darrell Britt-Gibson in the role. Beginning in 2017, Ross had a major role as Angel Rivera in the second and third seasons of Fox's drama series Star. In 2018, Ross starred in a reality show alongside his wife Ashlee Simpson Ross called Ashlee+Evan, which lasted 6 episodes.

### Music

In 2007, Ross began recording his debut album, which was expected to encompass R&B and pop. After four years in the studio, Ross released his single "Yes Me" on February 25, 2011, which was produced by Tony DeNiro and written by DeNiro and Ross. On December 5, 2014, Ross released a sneak preview of another song, "How To Live Alone", on his Instagram account. Ross released the song as a single, featuring rapper T.I., on May 14, 2015. In 2016, Ross was featured on DJWS & Hero's song, "They". Ross also recorded the duets, "Don't Look At Me" and "All I Want" for the series Star with Brittany O'Grady. In 2017, Ross was featured on "Restricted" by Kronic. In 2018, Ross became one-half of the duo, Ashlee + Evan, with his wife. The pair released a duet collaboration, Ashlee + Evan, on October 12, 2018.

## Personal life

Ross became engaged to singer-songwriter Ashlee Simpson in January 2014, and the two were married that year on August 30 at his mother's estate in Connecticut. They have two children together, a daughter born in 2015 and a son born in 2020, and Ross is the step-father of Simpson's son with her previous husband, musician Pete Wentz.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | ATL | Anton Swann | |
| 2007 | Pride | Reggie Jones | |
| 2008 | Gardens of the Night | Donnie | |
| 2008 | Linewatch | Little Boy | |
| 2009 | Life Is Hot in Cracktown | Romeo | |
| 2009 | According to Greta | Julie Robinson | |
| 2009 | Black Water Transit | Gary Vermillion | |
| 2010 | Case 219 | Cameron Porter | |
| 2010 | Mooz-lum | Tariq Mahdi | |
| 2011 | The Family Tree | Josh Krebs | |
| 2011 | 96 Minutes | Dre | |
| 2012 | Jeff, Who Lives at Home | Kevin | |
| 2013 | N.Y.C. Underground | Sam | |
| 2014 | All the Wilderness | Harmon | |
| 2014 | Just Before I Go | Romeo Semple | |
| 2014 | Squatters | AJ | |
| 2014 | Supremacy | Anthony Walker | |
| 2014 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 | Messalla | |
| 2015 | The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2 | Messalla | |
| 2017 | The Curse of Buckout Road | Aaron Powell | |
| 2020 | Pink Skies Ahead | Cameron | |
| 2021 | The United States vs. Billie Holiday | Sam Williams | |
| 2021 | She Ball | Mike | Direct to streaming |
| 2022 | The Loneliest Boy in the World | Julius | |
| 2023 | A Snowy Day in Oakland | Rodney Smalls | |
Key :
| † | Denotes films that have not yet been released |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1999 | Shelly Fisher | Ricky Bender | Television film |
| 2006–2007 | All of Us | Danny | 3 episodes |
| 2007 | Life Support | Amare McCarter | Television film |
| 2008 | Girlfriends | Marco | Episode: "What's Black-a-Lackin'?" |
| 2010–2011 | 90210 | Charlie Selby | 9 episodes |
| 2011 | Luck | Doorman | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2013 | CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story | Dallas Austin | Television film |
| 2015 | Wicked City | Diver Hawkes | 8 episodes |
| 2017–2019 | Star | Angel Rivera | 14 episodes |
| 2018 | Ashlee+Evan | Himself | Reality Show |

### Music videos

| Year | Title | Artist |
| 2005 | "Nasty Girl" | The Notorious B.I.G. |
| 2009 | "Just Go" | Lionel Richie |
| 2018 | "Sugar Daddy" | Macy Gray |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award/Festival | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2008 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Life Support | Nominated |
| 2011 | SXSW Film Festival | Breakthrough Performance | 96 Minutes | Won |
| 2012 | Black Reel Awards | Best Actor | Mooz-lum | Nominated |
| 2018 | Nice International Film Festival | Best Actor | Buckout Road | Nominated |
| 2018 | World Music & Independent Film Festival | Best Actor in a Feature Film | Buckout Road | Nominated |