After airing the third season of USA's "Shooter" last week, and publishing his first book, Omar Epps pulled up to the Angie Martinez Show to talk about his book, acting alongside Tupac, his marriage and much more.
Omar has had an extensive career in acting since the 90's; A career some would call extraordinary, he called, "Not too shabby." When talking about the beginning of his career, he speaks on his first acting job in the classic film, Juice. The film, Juice, was made in 1992 and had cast members such as Tupac Shakur, Khalil Kain, and Jermaine Hopkins. Epps reflects on a funny memory when his agent at the time pronounced Tupac's name wrong, calling him "Tu-Pack Shacker". When thinking of Tupac, Epps tells Angie: "I feel cheated that we didn't get to see him evolve. He had so much potential as an actor."
As for what future plans we can expect from Epps, sadly there will be no Love & Basketball 2! To be apart of the classic was enough for the actor and he believes that doing a second one would be risky. The hard part would be making the second one good, but where would the story go? Aside from that, he has been working on many projects within his own production company, Brooklyn Works Films. He is also starring in the USA TV show, Shooter, that aired season three on June 21st.
Before his major acting career, Epps attended LaGuardia High School in New York studying the arts. Marlon Wayans who also attended LaGuardia and Epps have had a long friendship that started out with an almost fight! He speaks on how the situation between the two played out and how Wayans has been a great friend ever since.
Epps' book titled, From Fatherless to Fatherhood, is a novel reflecting on Epps' childhood and the relationship he lacked with his father. Now that he is a father of three, Epps has made it his responsibility to be the father he never had. “I began this exploration of myself and life. And I thought maybe one day this could be used as a tool to change someone’s life,” Epps explains. Growing up in his neighborhood it was normalized to not have a father figure; Epps believes we need to start changing the norm. The book is not just for fathers or men, Epps states that the read is for everyone. “I speak to everyone in the book--Even to women. I’m not a doctor, but this is what I’ve experienced, what I’ve seen,” Epps tells Angie.
Rumors had once circulated that Epps had tried to prevent his wife, Keisha Epps, who is a member of the singing group Total, from going on her reunion tour. Epps squashed all of those rumors and explains to Angie that he is super supportive of his wife and didn’t hold her back from going on the reunion tour despite the rumors. Epps and his wife have been married since 2006, and when the topic of marriage came up, Angie asks what the key to keeping their relationship together is? Epps responds, "We took breaking up off the table from the beginning--That’s not an option.”
When asked what advice he would give aspiring actors, he says, “Follow the beat of your own heart.” In the entertainment industry you have to face a lot of rejection but a the key to keep striving is, “You have to know who you are at your core.”
Check out The Full Interview Above.