Performer
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio rank
#1452
of 909177 performers
Top 1%
Mike Epps represents the rare performer whose career became more ambitious with every decade — 25 years in, and Mike is still choosing the harder script.
The essay
Our editors on the work, the patterns and the reason this body of work holds together.
Mike Epps appears in 35 films in the Nutevio catalogue, and none of them would work the same way without Mike. The Hangover is the clearest case: a film rated 7.6 by our editors, where the performance carries weight the script only implies.
The recognisable elements are versatility, transformation, quiet performance. Watch two of these films back to back and the method separates from the material — the same instrument, tuned differently for comedy, crime, action. It is a style built on what is withheld as much as what is played.
Working with Royale Watkins, Tim Story, Michael Jai White and others, Mike Epps helped set a standard other performers now audition against. Awards bodies have been slower than the work, which is usually the sign of a career built on choices rather than campaigns.
The Hangover (2009) as Black Doug · 72 HOURS (2026) as Officer Williard · Dolemite Is My Name (2019) as Jimmy Lynch
Career snapshot
Ranked #1452 of 909177 performers tracked in the Nutevio library.
Films in Nutevio
35
2001–2026
Career length
25 yrs
Measured across our catalogue
Academy Awards
—
Unknown
Oscar nominations
—
Unknown
Highest Nutevio score
7.6
The Hangover
Average Nutevio score
6.3
Across catalogue work
Highest IMDb rating
7.4
School Dance
Most frequent director
Charles Stone III
2 films together
Longest collaboration
2×
With Charles Stone III
Most common genre
Comedy
23 titles
Average runtime
1h 37m
Across catalogue work
Golden Globe wins
—
Unknown
Nutevio metric
Ten weighted categories, applied identically to everyone we cover.
Nutevio Performer Score
7.0
out of 10
A performer whose catalogue work here is strong, with the fuller case still to be made.
Nutevio metric
Cultural impact and legacy, measured separately from craft — how far the work travelled once it left the cinema.
Nutevio Influence Score
6.4
out of 10
A quieter influence — felt inside the films rather than across the industry.
How far the work travelled past the people who saw it first.
What survives once the release-week conversation has burned off.
Institutional acknowledgement, weighted but never decisive.
Years of chosen, relevant work rather than years merely employed.
Statuettes, read as evidence rather than verdict.
Roles named without needing the film named alongside them.
Directors who wrote parts because this performer existed.
The reading other performers now have to answer.
Actor DNA
A fingerprint derived from the roles themselves — register, range and the kind of film they carry.
The shape of a career
Every performance plotted in time. Hover a point to read the title behind it.
Peak years
Where the scores, the awards and the sheer volume of work agree with each other.
Best decade
2010s
6.4 average MV
The 2010s are where the work and the material meet. Dolemite Is My Name, I Am Richard Pryor, The Last Black Man in San Francisco — the run our editors reach for first when the argument is about range rather than fame.
Highest average Nutevio score
2010s
6.4
Across 15 catalogue films in this decade, our scores never drop below the level a career is judged on.
Highest average IMDb rating
2010s
6.3
The public agrees most strongly about this stretch — useful context, and occasionally a decade behind our own reading.
Most awarded era
2000s
0 Academy Awards
Statuettes for the films themselves, which is the honest way to read an ensemble career. The Hangover, Open Season 2, Soul Men.
Most productive era
2010s
15 films
The busiest stretch of the catalogue — volume that reads as appetite rather than availability.
Range, mapped
Genres down the side, decades across the top. Warmer cells mean stronger titles.
| Genre | 2000s | 2010s | 2020s |
|---|---|---|---|
| Drama | 6.51 film | 6.58 films | 5.61 film |
| Action | 6.33 films | 6.34 films | 5.92 films |
| Thriller | 6.11 film | 6.34 films | — |
| Comedy | 6.37 films | 6.58 films | 6.28 films |
| Crime | 6.11 film | 6.33 films | 6.91 film |
| Romance | 6.13 films | 6.21 film | 5.82 films |
| Horror | 6.52 films | — | — |
Chronology
Firsts and peaks
The turning points, in the order they happened.
First film in Nutevio
2001Dr. Dolittle 2
Where our catalogue meets this career, as Sonny (voice).
Highest rated performance · Career peak
2009The Hangover
7.6 on the Nutevio scale, the top of the catalogue for this performer. Weighing billing against the film's own quality, this is the point where everything aligned at once.
Most recent film
202672 HOURS
The current state of the argument, as Officer Williard.
Our order
Every performance in the catalogue, ordered by Nutevio Score.
Every title
Filter by genre or decade, and compare any two titles side by side.
35 of 35 films
as Black Doug
Directed by Todd Phillips
as Jimmy Lynch
Directed by Craig Brewer
as Principal Rogers
Directed by Nick Cannon
Directed by Royale Watkins
From the library
Every movie and TV credit stored for this name in the Nutevio catalogue — filter by media, role or sort by rating.
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The defining work
#1
Black Doug
The Hangover (2009)
Performance score7.4
The performance the rest of the career is read through. Black Doug gives Mike Epps a structure to work against, and the film hands over its centre of gravity without hesitation.
View movie#2
Jimmy Lynch
Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
Performance score7.1
Dolemite Is My Name asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Jimmy Lynch is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#3
Principal Rogers
School Dance (2014)
Performance score7.1
School Dance asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. Principal Rogers is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movie#4
Mike Epps: Delusional
Mike Epps: Delusional (2026)
Performance score7.0
Mike Epps: Delusional asks for something the previous films did not, and gets it. The role is played without a single line of pleading for the audience's sympathy — which is exactly why it lands.
View movieStart here
A guided path through the work, ordered so each film explains the next.
Best entry point
as Black Doug
Start here. The Hangover is the clearest statement of what Mike Epps does — accessible, 100 minutes, and rated 7.6 by our editors. No context required.
Our editors order this path by accessibility first and chronology second. You meet Mike at the most legible performance, then move forward in time so each film reads as a response to the one before it rather than a repetition of it.
School Dance (2014)
Keeps the comedy register of The Hangover but asks for a colder reading of it.
Dolemite Is My Name (2019)
Keeps the comedy register of School Dance but asks for a colder reading of it.
The Last Black Man in San Francisco (2019)
Keeps the drama register of Dolemite Is My Name but asks for a colder reading of it.
Mike Epps: Delusional (2026)
A deliberate change of key after The Last Black Man in San Francisco — same instrument, unfamiliar tuning, and the reason range gets mentioned.
Company kept
The directors and performers this career keeps returning to.
Todd Phillips
Director
2 films together
Notably The Hangover
Charles Stone III
Director
2 films together
Notably The Underdoggs
Kevin Bray
Director
1 film together
Notably All About the Benjamins
Kevin Rodney Sullivan
Director
1 film together
Notably Guess Who
Sanaa Hamri
Director
1 film together
Notably Something New
Russell Mulcahy
Director
1 film together
Notably Resident Evil: Extinction
Malcolm D. Lee
Director
1 film together
Notably Soul Men
Matthew O'Callaghan
Director
1 film together
Notably Open Season 2
Erik White
Director
1 film together
Notably Lottery Ticket
George Tillman Jr.
Director
1 film together
Notably Faster
Nick Cannon
Director
1 film together
Notably School Dance
Peter Billingsley
Director
1 film together
Notably Term Life
Eli Roth
Director
1 film together
Notably Death Wish
Bert
Director
1 film together
Notably Troop Zero
Bruce Leddy
Director
1 film together
Notably How High 2
Alex Wolff
Director
1 film together
Notably The Cat and the Moon
Craig Brewer
Director
1 film together
Notably Dolemite Is My Name
Jay Karas
Director
1 film together
Notably Feeding America Comedy Festival
Thembi Banks
Director
1 film together
Notably Young. Wild. Free.
SJ Clarkson
Director
1 film together
Notably Madame Web
Michael Jai White
Director
1 film together
Notably Trouble Man
Tim Story
Director
1 film together
Notably 72 HOURS
Royale Watkins
Director
1 film together
Notably Mike Epps: Delusional
Behind the camera
Who casts this performer, how often, and what the pairing produces.
Todd Phillips
Director
2 films together · 7.0 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The HangoverCharles Stone III
Director
2 films together · 6.7 avg MV
A working relationship rather than a booking — 2 films, and the register shifts each time.
Best film together
The UnderdoggsTim Story
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
72 HOURSCraig Brewer
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Dolemite Is My NameNick Cannon
Director
1 film together · 6.9 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
School DanceBert
Director
1 film together · 6.8 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Troop ZeroGeorge Tillman Jr.
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
FasterSanaa Hamri
Director
1 film together · 6.5 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Something NewEli Roth
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Death WishRussell Mulcahy
Director
1 film together · 6.4 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Resident Evil: ExtinctionRoyale Watkins
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Mike Epps: DelusionalMichael Jai White
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Trouble ManBruce Leddy
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
How High 2Malcolm D. Lee
Director
1 film together · 6.3 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Soul MenJay Karas
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Feeding America Comedy FestivalPeter Billingsley
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Term LifeKevin Rodney Sullivan
Director
1 film together · 6.2 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Guess WhoMatthew O'Callaghan
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Open Season 2Kevin Bray
Director
1 film together · 6.1 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
All About the BenjaminsErik White
Director
1 film together · 6.0 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Lottery TicketAlex Wolff
Director
1 film together · 5.7 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
The Cat and the MoonSJ Clarkson
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Madame WebThembi Banks
Director
1 film together · 5.6 avg MV
One film, but the kind that reorganises how a performer is cast afterwards.
Best film together
Young. Wild. Free.Six degrees
Follow the thread outward — director, film, co-star, and the film after that.
Categories of our own
Six editorial categories we apply to every performer we cover.
Most rewatchable
The Hangover
as Black Doug
The one that survives a fourth viewing. Nothing in the performance depends on surprise, which is why it keeps paying out.
Most emotional performance
Something New
as Walter
Grief played at conversational volume. The film never asks the audience to cry; the performance simply makes it difficult not to.
Most influential performance
The Hangover
as Black Doug
You can hear this reading in other actors' auditions a decade later — the surest measure of influence there is.
Best ensemble performance
Dr. Dolittle 2
as Sonny (voice)
Work that makes everyone else in the frame better without ever pulling the camera towards itself.
Career defining performance
The Hangover
as Black Doug
If the career had to be argued in a single scene, our editors would pick one from this film and rest the case.
In their films' words
“You can build a whole film around a performer who knows when not to speak. Mike Epps has known it for a long time.”
Head to head
Put two careers on the same scale and see where the argument actually sits.
Ours alone
Recognitions handed out by this desk, on criteria no awards body uses.
Career Achievement
Awarded
25 years of relevant work — not merely a long career, but a long career of choices.
Modern Classic Performer
Awarded
Defining performances delivered inside the last twenty-five years, in films already being taught rather than merely remembered.
Comedy Legend
Awarded
23 catalogue titles in comedy, each one a reference point for the films that followed.
Our desk
Best ending, best opening, best twist and the rest — categories we apply to everyone we cover.
Best ending
The Hangover
as Black Doug
The last five minutes reorganise everything before them, and hold up when you already know what's coming.
Best opening
Faster
as Roy Grone
A first sequence that states the rules of the film without explaining a single one of them.
Most emotional
Dr. Dolittle 2
as Sonny (voice)
The film where the technique steps aside and lets the feeling arrive undefended.
Best twist
Term Life
as Darryl Mosley
A reversal earned by information the film gave you and trusted you to misread.
Best visual achievement
The Hangover
as Black Doug
Images that would survive with the sound switched off.
Best action sequence
All About the Benjamins
as Reggie
Geography, stakes and consequence held in the same frame — spectacle you can follow.
Best dialogue
School Dance
as Principal Rogers
Lines written to be spoken, staged so the pauses do half the work.
Most underrated film
Young. Wild. Free.
as Lamont
The public vote sits below ours on this one, and the direction is the reason for the gap.
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Have your say
Community
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Reference
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