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Mekhi Phifer

Mekhi Phifer

Birthday: 1974-12-29 | Place of Birth: Harlem, New York City, New York, USA

Mekhi Thira Phifer (born December 29, 1974) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his multi-year role as Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER and his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile. He was a regular on the Fox crime show Lie to Me portraying the role of Ben Reynolds, before season 3. He was born in in Harlem, New York City, the son of Rhoda Phifer, a high school teacher; he grew up in a single-parent household with his mother. His acting career began in 1995, when Phifer attended an open casting call for director Spike Lee’s Clockers, beating over a thousand others to get the lead role as a narcotics dealer embroiled in a murder cover-up. He followed that role with another in the comedy spoof feature High School High (which also starred his former wife Malinda Williams) and continued by co-starring in the fright flick I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze, Jr. Among Phifer’s other big-screen credits are Soul Food, The Biography of Spud Webb, Hell’s Kitchen, NYC, Tears of a Clown, O (as the titular character Odin a.k.a. O), and the thriller Uninvited Guest (as Silk). He appeared in Impostor as well as Paid in Full, 8 Mile, opposite Eminem and Dawn of the Dead. Phifer has a son, Omikaye, with his ex-wife, actress Malinda Williams. His second son, Mekhi Thira Phifer Jr., was born to his girlfriend Oni Souratha in Los Angeles on October 30, 2007.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

2019
Truth Be Told

as    Markus Killebrew

2019
Canal Street

as    Prosecutor A.J. Canton

2018
The Bobby Brown Story

as    Tommy Brown

2016
Pandemic

as    Gunner

2016
Roots

as    Jerusalem

2016
Frequency

as    Satch Reyna

2014
2013
The Love Section

as    James Johnson

2013
The Suspect

as    The Suspect

2011
Flypaper

as    Darrien

2011
Last Man Standing

as    Jeremy Davis

2009
A Day in the Life

as    King Khi

2007
Slow Burn

as    Isaac Duperde

2006
Puff, Puff, Pass

as    Big Daddy

2006
Torchwood

as    Rex Matheson

2004
Dawn of the Dead

as    Andre

2003
Honey

as    Chaz

2002
8 Mile

as    Future

2002
The Other Brother

as    Martin

2002
Paid in Full

as    Mitch

2001
Impostor

as    Cale

2001
Brian's Song

as    Gale Sayers

2001
Carmen: A Hip Hopera

as    Hill

2001
O

as    Odin James

1999
A Lesson Before Dying

as    Jefferson

1999
Uninvited Guest

as    Silk