Mos Def

Many Mos Def fans think of him as a musician first, actor second, but the real story is that Def worked steadily as an actor for almost a decade before taking the rap world by storm with his 1996 single "Universal Magnetic." Born Dante Smith on Dec. 11, 1973, in Brooklyn, N.Y., Def made his film debut at age 15 in the TV movie God Bless the Child.

Throughout the 1990s, Def appeared on TV shows such as "Spin City" and "NYPD Blue." As his rap career took off, so did his big-screen career, and by the beginning of the new decade, he was delivering critically acclaimed performances with supporting roles in films such as Monster's Ball, Brown Sugar, The Italian Job and The Woodsman.

In 2004, Def earned an Emmy nomination for his performance opposite Alan Rickman in Something the Lord Made, and in 2005, he proved his comic chops with a leading role in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Filmography