Omari Hardwick

Best-known as the leading man in "Power" (Starz, 2014-), Omari Hardwick also enjoyed recurring roles in "Saved" (TNT, 2006), "Dark Blood" (TNT, 2009-2010), and "Being Mary Jane" (BET, 2013-) and big screen parts in "For Colored Girls" (2010), "Middle of Nowhere" (2012) and "Sparkle" (2012). Born in Atlanta, GA, Hardwick attended the University of Georgia on a football scholarship, but after a stint with the San Diego Chargers' developmental squad failed to amount to anything, he switched his attention to acting instead. Hardwick made his screen debut in LGBT comedy "Circus" (2001), and three years later got his big break playing Dante Ponce in Spike Lee's TV movie "Sucker Free City" (2004). Minor roles in "Beauty Shop" (2005), "Gridiron Gang" (2006) and "The Guardian" (2006) followed before Hardwick landed his first small screen gig as paramedic John 'Sack' Hallon in short-lived medical drama "Saved" (TNT, 2006). Hardwick then reunited with Spike Lee to play Platoon Commander Huggs in WWII epic "Miracle at St Anna" (2008), appeared as drug dealers in comedy "Next Day Air" (2009) and gritty drama "Everyday Black Man" (2010), and starred alongside Dylan McDermott as undercover officer Ty Curtis in police procedural "Dark Blue" (TNT, 2009-10). After showing up as Nicolas Cage's former partner in "Kick-Ass" (2010), Hardwick appeared in another box-office hit, "The A Team" (2010), worked with Ava DuVernay on indie dramas "I Will Follow" (2010) and "Middle of Nowhere" (2012), and received critical acclaim for his performance as Janet Jackson's closeted husband in "Tyler Perry's "For Colored Girls" (2010). Roles in musical remake "Sparkle" (2012), soapy romance "Things Never Said" (2013) and psychological thriller "The Last Letter" (2013) were then followed by an eight-episode stint as married love interest Andre in comedy drama "Being Mary Jane" (BET, 2013) and key parts in festive drama "A Christmas Blessing" (2013), self-help ensemble "Reach Me" (2014) and Greg Carter's autobiographical "Lap Dance" (2014). Hardwick made the move up to leading man status when he was cast as James 'Ghost' St. Patrick, the NYC nightclub owner living a double life as a drug lord, in the 50 Cent-produced "Power" (Starz, 2014-), but continued to grace the big screen with roles in ex-con drama "Chapter and Verse" (2015) and crime thriller "Shot Caller" (2016).