| Laz Alonso |
Born and raised in Washington DC, Laz always knew he wanted to be an actor. He remembers at a very early age entertaining his family by imitating relatives and family friends. He graduated from the prestigious Howard University School of Business, earning a Bachelors Degree in Business Administration with a concentration in marketing. After college, he worked on Wall Street at an investment banking firm.
He and two partners eventually started their own marketing business, promoting mainstream products to the trend-setting urban marke. Owning and operating his own successful business freed up Laz’s time to finally explore his passion for acting.
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Laz began taking classes in the evening to hone his craft and it didn’t take him long to begin landing roles in commercials and videos. Chosen as one of Variety’s “Top Ten Actors to Watch in 2009” and part of the new breed of emerging leading men in Hollywood, actor Laz Alonso can currently be seen top lining the new A&E series “Breakout Kings” (March 6, 2011). The show premiered to record breaking numbers for the network and continues to draws millions each week.
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On Mother’s Day weekend 2011, fans got to see a different, softer side to Laz in Columbia Pictures romantic comedy entitled Jumping the Broom (May 6, 2011) where he led the cast along with Paula Patton in a movie about the clash of two families from opposite ends of the socioeconomic spectrum meeting for the first time during a weekend wedding in Martha's Vineyard.
The movie opened to amazing numbers making it the #1 Romantic Comedy in the country! In the film, Laz plays “Jason Taylor” a handsome, savvy and smart, a successful businessman from Brooklyn who's about to marry money -- only he's marrying Sabrina Watson (Patton) for love. The film’s cast is rounded off with Mike Epps, Angela Bassett, Loretta Devine and Romeo Miller. Arlene Gibbs and Elizabeth Hunter wrote the script, based on a story by Hunter. Bishop T.D. Jakes, Curtis Wallace, Tracey Edmonds, Glendon Palmer and Hunter are producing.
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In addition to Broom, Laz will play the strong-supporting role of “Sheriff John Burke” in Rod Lurie’s remake of the Sam Peckinpah classic Straw Dogs (September 16, 2011) for Sony Screen Gems. The film stars James Marsden and Kate Bosworth, and tells the story about a young couple who relocate back to the wife’s hometown and find that much of the backwards thinking that permeated her small town when she was growing up is still alive.
Laz can be seen in the lead role of “Tsu’Tey” in the highest grossing film of all time, Avatar! His past movie credits include lead roles in the Sony/Screen Gems’ hits Stomp The Yard and This Christmas, a lead role in 2006 Roland Joffe psychological thriller Captivity, and a co-starring role in the 2005 hit Jarhead, opposite Academy Award winner Jamie Foxx, Jake Gyllenhaal and Peter Sarsgaard. The feature and was directed by Sam Mendes for Universal.
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