Donald Faison (Actor)

Donald Faison speaks at the Hollywood Christmas Celebration Nov 20, 05. (Photo: Stephen Shugerman / Getty Images)

About Donald Faison

A charming, attractive and especially likable African-American performer, Donald Adeosun Faison made his breakthrough as Murray in the 1995 hit romantic comedy "Clueless" after successful supporting parts in grittier fare including the gang-themed dramas "Juice" (1992) and "New Jersey Drive" (1995). NYC born and bred, Faison was on the acting track early on, a veteran of the CityKids acting troupe and a graduate of LaGuardia High School of the Performing Arts. An auspicious debut in "Juice" led to a role in the similarly hard-hitting Wesley Snipes vehicle "Sugar Hill" in 1994.

1995 proved notable for Faison's career, appearing in two of the year's biggest box office hits, playing Loretta Devine's smart-aleck son in the female-focused ensemble drama "Waiting to Exhale" as well as taking a pivotal supporting role in "Clueless". His turn as the affable and somewhat goofy Murray in the latter, a Beverly Hills-set update of Jane Austen's "Emma" led to a regular role on the subsequent TV-series (ABC, 1996-97; UPN, 1997-99). In 1998, Faison had a recurring role on the ABC sitcom, "Sabrina, the Teenage Witch", playing a warlock and potential love interest of the high school conjurer in an interracial storyline that was refreshingly handled as a non-issue. That same year he had a cameo in the teen comedy "Can't Hardly Wait", playing the cowboy hat-clad drummer of a band entertaining high school graduation partygoers.

After a turn as a high school ladies' man in the 1999 comedy "Trippin'", Faison graduated to higher education parts, cast in a recurring role on the college drama "Felicity" (The WB). Here he played the sweet and sexy Tracy, the touchingly spiritual and frustratingly celibate boyfriend of Tangi Miller's tough-as-nails Elena. In 2000, the actor returned to the big screen and to high school, playing an athlete on a newly-integrated football team coached by a driven Denzel Washington in the 1970s-set drama "Remember the Titans". In 2001 Faison was cast in one of his most popular roles, playing the cocky but comedic Dr. Chris Turk in the NBC medical sit-com "Scrubs" (2001 - ), where he demonstrated not only his gift for endearing comedy but also a appealing romantic side in his character's realistically developing romance with Nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes).

Film roles continued coming for Faison, such as his turn as a downtrodden actor-turned-limo driver in the entertaining kid comedy "Big Fat Lair" (2002), and as party boy Huey in the 2003 comedy "Uptown Girls," a role that reunited him with his "Clueless" co-star Brittany Murphy and his "Remember the Titans" director Boaz Yakin. He next appeared in the abysmal “King’s Ransom” (2005), a comedy minus the laughs about a millionaire businessman (Anthony Anderson) who kidnaps himself to avoid an expensive divorce from his wife (Kellita Smith) only to be captured and held for ransom by a dimwitted rube (Jay Mohr). Spike TV then tapping Faison to host "The Playbook," a series of six half-hour specials touted as "the ultimate guide for guys" to help make their lives easier when it comes to such things as dating, buying a car and gambling.

Notes

"I think [fans] deserve the love. They're showing you so much love they deserve to get that back." --Donald Adeosun Faison to Chicago Sun-Times, May 23, 1999.

Faison on fame: "You handle it how you want to handle it. Someone comes up to me and says 'Weren't you in ...' I just say 'That's right, "Top Gun". "Maverick". That was me.'" --quoted in Us Weekly, October 16, 2000.

On being cast in teen roles while in his mid-20s: "I'd like to do different things. Right now I've just been cast in a lot of teen stuff and that's just the way it is. I don't know if Jennifer Love Hewitt is worried about getting typecast. She does a lot of teenage stuff. Sooner or later [you're] going to grow out of it. I look forward to growing out of it. I think as I mature, my acting will mature." --quoted to Nekesa Mumbi Moody of the Associated Press, June 9, 1999.