Gabriel Casseus (Actor)

When Gabriel Casseus was just reaching adulthood, he'd hang out in Harlem with Eriq La Salle and Ving Rhames and the trio would fantasize about success in show business. But while his cohorts became working actors and then hot properties, Casseus languished in Manhattan working in restaurants, playing the occasional guest roles in local filmed TV series, such as on "New York Undercover" (Fox, 1994) and "Law & Order" (NBC, 1994). The commanding actor also honed his craft on stage, appearing in regional theater productions of "The Amen Corner" and "Blues for Mr. Charlie", but some of his acting gigs were truly on the bottom rung (e.g., acting in staged recreations of crimes on Fox's "America's Most Wanted").

Casseus was fired from his job managing The Shark Bar, a trendy West Side eatery in Manhattan which was a favorite of black show business in 1994. The following day, he landed his first feature role as Midget, a car-stealing joyrider, in "New Jersey Drive", directed by Nick Gomez and executive produced by Spike Lee. The film didn't get much attention from Hollywood or critics, but Lee noticed Casseus and cast him as Jamal, the former gang member turned thoughtful Muslim, in "Get on the Bus" (1996). Coupled with roles that year in "Lone Star" (as the young incarnation of bar owner Otis Payne seen in flashbacks) and The Disney Channel's "Nightjohn" (about the secret literacy of slaves), he found his career on the ascent. He had a good follow up as Denzel Washington's brother in "Fallen" (1997) but stumbled somewhat in the ensemble of the muddled "Revenant/Modern Vampires" (1998). The small screen afforded several challenging projects ranging from HBO's "Don King: Only in America" (1997, which starred Ving Rhames) to the historical drama "Buffalo Soldiers" (TNT, 1997) to "The Wedding" (ABC, 1998). Returning to the big screen, Casseus acted in the festival-screened "Harlem Aria" (1999) about a would-be opera singer, played the Almighty in the comedy remake "Bedazzled" and then turned gritty for the prison drama "Lock Down" (both 2000).