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_.

## 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.

### Film

|Year|Film|Role||
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
|2001|_Kissing Jessica Stein_|Greg||
|rowspan="2"|2002|_Bad Company_|G-Mo|
|_Barbershop_|Ricky Nash|||
|2003|_2 Fast 2 Furious_|Slap Jack||
|rowspan="3"|2004|_November_|Jesse|
|_Barbershop 2: Back in Business_|Ricky Nash|||
|_Never Die Alone_|Mike|||
|rowspan="2"|2005|_Their Eyes Were Watching God_|Virgible 'Tea Cake' Woods|
|_Jellysmoke_|Jacob|||
|rowspan="2"|2008|_Miracle at St. Anna_|Sgt Cummings|
|_Seven Pounds_|Ben Thomas|||
||2009|_The People Speak_|Himself|
|rowspan="2"|2010|_Takers_|Jake Attica|
|_For Colored Girls_|Beau Willie|||
|rowspan="1"|2011|_Margaret_|Dave the Lawyer|
|rowspan="3"|2012|_Underworld: Awakening_|Detective Sebastian|
|_Think Like a Man_|Dominic|||
|_Unconditional_|"Papa Joe" Bradford|||
|2013|_Last Vegas_|Ezra||
|rowspan="2"|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||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|style="text-align:center;"|2007|_Sleeper Cell_|_Golden Globe Awards_|Performance by an Actor in a Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television||
|style="text-align:center;"|2005|_Their Eyes Were Watching God_|_Black Reel Awards_|Best Actor||
|style="text-align:center;"|2010|_For Colored Girls_|_African-American Film Critics Association_|Best Supporting Actor||
|style="text-align:center;"|2011|_For Colored Girls_|_NAACP Image Awards_|Image Award Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture||
|style="text-align:center;"|2012|_Think Like a Man_|_Teen Choice Awards_|Choice Movie Actor Romance||

## Other websites

- 'The People Speak' – article from the _Los Angeles Times_

## Infobox (person)

- **name**: Michael Ealy
- **image**: Michael Ealy.jpg
- **caption**: Ealy at ComicCon, July 22, 2011
- **birth place**: Washington, D.C., United States, U.S.
- **occupation**: Actor
- **yearsactive**: late 1990s–present