From the moment Omar Epps appears on screen, you know you’re in for something special. It's a testament to the consistent energy he’s placed into his work for the past three decades. In an industry that feeds on what’s trending, Epps is a masterclass in building a legacy. For more than 30 years, he’s starred in iconic projects — Juice, Higher Learning, The Wood, Love & Basketball —that have helped to create cultural breakthroughs, each time leaving us better than when we came. In his TV roles — ER, House, Resurrection — we’ve been able to watch him transcend mediums, bringing his insightful presence to households across America.
Now, Epps continues to shine as one of the newest additions to NBC fan-favorite, This Is Us. Ahead of its fourth season, the plot-twisting drama released a super trailer placing the actor right in the middle of the drama as Darnell Hodges, the father of a teenage son who’s also a dad (portrayed by When They See Us star Asante Blackk) and the crush of Deja, the adopted daughter of Randall and Beth Pearson. Although series creator Dan Fogelman says we'll learn more about Epps’ character in the seventh episode of the season, the show's premiere highlighted everything we’ve come to know and love about the veteran actor: how he can seamlessly enter a project and take it to another, deeper, level.
Recently, Shondaland spoke with Epps about what led him to NBC’s biggest drama, balancing his career with his obligations as a husband and father, and the keys to building his long career.
MELISSA KIMBLE: One thing that I really respect about you as an actor and artist is that you’re always finding new ground to break. What inspires you to constantly create?
OMAR EPPS: I just feel that that’s my purpose. Underneath it all, the art and creativity is how I express myself, and hopefully inform while entertaining and pushing the boundaries of culture forward. You know that’s how we got here; we got here from the greats before us. I’m just trying to carve out my own path.
MK: When it comes to your role on NBC’s This Is Us, what are you most excited about? And how do you think it fits into the bigger picture of your career?
OE: Well, it’s interesting, I don’t know how it fits into the bigger picture just yet — hopefully it’s another solid step in the right direction. They’re so secretive with what’s going to happen and where it’s going that it’s hard for me to answer the first part of your question. But I can say what attracted me to the role was [how the show is] dealing with teenage pregnancy, which you know can be a problem within impoverished communities, especially black and brown communities. And I really appreciated the lovingness of the family, the togetherness of the family. That really attracted me to it. To me it’s tackling that issue in a whole different way. Usually when you see that it’s like downtrodden and it’s problematic but I thought that was really eloquent how they attacked that.
MK: Obviously there’s a little correlation there between you and your character because he’s a father and you’re a father yourself. Did that have any impact on what attracted you to this role?
OE: Naturally. At this point in my life, I am a father so I can relate to those parental emotions in a real way.
MK: You’re definitely a legend in the game and I love how you represent this idea of longevity, not only in your professional life, but also from a personal standpoint — being a father, a husband, and being married for over a decade. How do you balance it all?
OE: It’s tough, but it’s life. My family means the world to me. For me, growing up without a father [and] coming from a single parent household, [being present] was something that had to happen when it was time for me to have children of my own. I would try to give them what I never had, in that sense. I think any working parent — it doesn’t matter what you do — it’s hard. But if the love is there and the care is there, you find a way.
MK: You’ve done so much over your career as well. Is there anything you haven’t done yet that you want to do?
OE: There’s plenty of stuff I want to do. I want to do some really big action films. I wanna get into comedy. People ask if I have a dream role and I kinda don’t work in that way — it’s step by step. There’s certainly some passion projects that I’m trying to put together as well. I just want to keep the ball rolling and keep ascending.
MK: You just mentioned step by step, and that’s so contradictory to how the industry seems to move. It can be very fast and about who’s hot right now. How did you develop that approach to building your career?
OE: Because it happens in steps, and you can’t fabricate that. If you look at, let’s say, the trajectory of a Michael B. Jordan. This man has been grinding for awhile, but, in the public, you see Fruitvale Station, then you see Creed and then all of a sudden it’s Black Panther. But he was on The Wire and he’s just been grinding.
I think it’s a step by step process because you can’t predict the future. You don’t know — I mean hopefully you’ll getting involved with projects that are not only critically acclaimed and received well from the public, but they make money, they’re profitable. But you never know which one that’s gonna be. To me, it’s about being authentic to yourself and following your own path and being patient. For me, coming into the game I always looked at the marathon of it, not the sprint. I dedicated my life to this thing and said I want to be able to still be around 20 years from now. That’s what informed my approach from early on.
Melissa Kimble is a Chicago based writer and cultural branding strategist. Follow her on Twitter @Melissa_Kimble.
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