# Robert Ri'chard

Robert Andrew Ri'chard (born January 7, 1983) is an American actor, known for his roles as Bobby Walker on the Nickelodeon sitcom Cousin Skeeter (1998–2002), and as Arnaz Ballard on the UPN sitcom One on One (2001–2006). He received Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming for performance in the made-for-television movie In His Father's Shoes (1998), and NAACP Image Award nomination for Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress for the 1999 teen drama film, Light It Up.
Ri'chard starred in the sports drama film Coach Carter and the horror film, House of Wax in 2005. He later played the lead in the stripper drama film Chocolate City (2015) and its sequel, Chocolate City: Vegas Strip (2017), and in the erotic drama film, Kinky (2018).

## Early life

Ri'chard was born in Los Angeles, California. He is of Louisiana Creole descent. He attended Palms Middle School in Los Angeles, California.

## Career

In 1997, Ri'chard starred in the television special, In His Father's Shoes, which earned him the 1998 Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in a Children's Special. Ri'chard later starred in the Nickelodeon sitcom Cousin Skeeter. He also made a few appearances as himself on the hit Nickelodeon game show, Figure It Out. He played Samuel on Touched by an Angel, a troubled teen whose brother is in prison for shooting a man. His breakout role was in the TV adaptation of Anne Rice's novel, The Feast of All Saints, where he played the young Marcel who becomes a man within society. He has been professionally acting since the age of 13. He appeared in the movie Light It Up along with R&B star Usher. Ri'chard has guest starred on many hit shows such as Boston Public, NCIS, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, My Wife and Kids, and The Jamie Foxx Show. In 2000, he starred in the Disney Channel TV movie Alley Cats Strike. He became popular in 2001 when he got the role of Arnaz Ballard on the UPN hit sitcom One on One alongside Flex Alexander and Kyla Pratt. That role was the most significant of his television roles. He continued to play the role until the show ended in 2006.
Ri'chard appeared in films Coach Carter and House of Wax in 2005. From 2006 to 2007 he had a recurring role in the CW series Veronica Mars and from 2009 to 2010 in the TBS sitcom Meet the Browns as Derek Porter, a buffoonish frat student who lived next door to Brown Meadows. He debuted in season 3 as a recurring character, and in the fourth season, was promoted to a main character. Ri'chard was set to star in a series entitled Eight Days a Week, starring Christina Milian and Mario Lopez on the CW Television Network during the fall 2007 season, but it was canceled due to the 2007 Writers Strike before airing. On November 16, 2011, it was announced that Robert Ri'chard was cast as Jamie in the CW series The Vampire Diaries.
In 2015, Ri’chard played stripper in the comedy-drama film, Chocolate City. He later returned to its sequel, Chocolate City: Vegas Strip (2017). In 2018 he starred in the erotic film, Kinky. He later appeared in films Bolden (2019), Alone (2020) and Sweetwater (2023). On television, he appeared in Lucifer and iZombie. He had the recurring roles during the final season of Fox soap opera, Empire, and the Amazon comedy series, Harlem alongside Cousin Skeeter co-star, Meagan Good.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1997 | In His Father's Shoes | Clay Crosby | TV movie Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Performer in Children's Programming Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie / Pilot / Mini-Series: Leading Young Actor |
| 1999 | Our Friend, Martin | Miles (voice) | Video |
| 1999 | Light It Up | Zacharias 'Ziggy' Malone | Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Youth Actor/Actress |
| 2000 | Alley Cats Strike | Todd McLemore | TV movie Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Movie (Comedy) - Leading Young Actor |
| 2000 | New Kids on the Planet | Bobby Walker | Cousin Skeeter TV movie |
| 2001 | The Feast of All Saints | Marcel | TV movie |
| 2002 | Who's Your Daddy? | Murphy | Video |
| 2005 | Coach Carter | Damien Carter | |
| 2005 | House of Wax | Blake | |
| 2005 | P.N.O.K. | Pvt. Battle | Short |
| 2007 | The Comebacks | Aseel Tare | |
| 2007 | Eight Days a Week | Daniel 'Sarge' Sargent | TV movie |
| 2010 | Louis | Baquet | |
| 2011 | 5th & Alameda | Troy | |
| 2012 | A Beautiful Soul | Christ Scott | |
| 2013 | Pastor Shirley | Jason | |
| 2014 | Sweat Harder | Athlete 7 | Short |
| 2015 | Chocolate City | Michael McCoy | |
| 2015 | The Man in 3B | Benny | |
| 2016 | Bad Dad Rehab | Tristan | TV movie |
| 2017 | Secondhand Love | - | Short |
| 2017 | Chocolate City: Vegas Strip | Michael McCoy | |
| 2017 | Vagabonds | Skeeter Johnson | Short |
| 2018 | Kinky | Darrin Bernard | |
| 2018 | Throwback Holiday | Aaron Tucker | |
| 2019 | Bolden | George Baquet | |
| 2019 | The Naughty List | Zane | TV movie |
| 2020 | My Brother's Keeper | Donnie | |
| 2020 | Alone | Brandon | |
| 2021 | Real Talk | Robert Allen | |
| 2021 | The Fight That Never Ends | John 'Jay' Hunter | TV movie |
| 2023 | Sweetwater | Pop | |
| 2023 | Big Boss | TJ | |
| 2023 | Queen of Hearts | Justin | Tubi movie |
| 2023 | Vicious Affair | Kenneth Hastings | Tubi movie |
| 2024 | RSVP | Maurice Wright | BET+ Original |
| 2025 | A Demon's Revenge | TBA | Post—production |
| TBA | Paradies 3 | TBA | Post—production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1993 | Where I Live | Brian | Episode: "Married... with Children" |
| 1996 | Hangin' with Mr. Cooper | Gary | Episode: "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" |
| 1996 | Nash Bridges | Leo | Episode: "Leo's Big Score" |
| 1996 | Touched by an Angel | Samuel Dixon | Episode: "Sins of the Father" |
| 1996–98 | Nickelodeon Sports Theater with Shaquille O'Neal | Luke Williams / Troy Davis | Episode: "4 Points" & "First Time" |
| 1997 | Crisis Center | Dwayne | Episode: "Shots" |
| 1997 | Promised Land | Hank | Episode: "Stealing Home: Part 1 & 2" |
| 1998 | The Jamie Foxx Show | Bruce | Episode: "The Afterschool Special" & "We Got No Game" |
| 1999 | All That | Himself | Episode: "All That Live! (100th episode)" |
| 1998–2001 | Cousin Skeeter | Bobby Walker | Main cast Nominated — Young Artist Award for Best Performance in a TV Comedy Series - Leading Young Actor (1999–2001) |
| 2000 | Once and Again | Jared | Recurring cast: Season 1 |
| 2001 | Boston Public | Student | Episode: "Chapter Fourteen" |
| 2001 | My Wife and Kids | Tommy | Episode: "Grassy Knoll" |
| 2001 | Touched by an Angel | Alex Wilson | Episode: "Band of Angels" |
| 2001–06 | One on One | Arnaz Ballard | Main cast |
| 2005 | CSI: Miami | Tobey Hollins | Episode: "48 Hours to Life" |
| 2006–07 | Veronica Mars | Mason | Recurring cast: Season 3 |
| 2009 | NCIS | Seaman Richard Zell | Episode: "South by Southwest" |
| 2009–10 | Meet the Browns | Derek Porter | Recurring cast: Season 3-4 |
| 2012 | The Vampire Diaries | Jamie | Recurring cast: Season 3 |
| 2012 | King Bachelor's Pad | Howard | Episode: "Last Wish" |
| 2012 | The Client List | Alex | Episode: "Acting Up" |
| 2013 | CSI: NY | Ray Griffin | Episode: "Today Is Life" |
| 2014 | Hungry | Jayson | Episode: "How to Marry a Millionaire" |
| 2015 | 427 | Dion | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2016 | Lucifer | Josh Bryant | Episode: "Lucifer, Stay. Good Devil." |
| 2017 | iZombie | Finn Vincible | Episode: "Eat a Knievel" |
| 2017–21 | The Rich and the Ruthless | Max Barringer | Main cast |
| 2020 | Empire | Julian | Recurring cast: Season 6 |
| 2021 | Harlem | Shawn | Recurring cast |