
Common
Acting
Lonnie Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), known by his stage name Common (formerly Common Sense), is an American rapper and actor. He has received three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, and gained critical acclaim with his 1994 album Resurrection. He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s. He achieved mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. His first major-label album Like Water for Chocolate (2000), received commercial success. In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for the Erykah Badu single "Love of My Life". His 2005 album Be was also a commercial success and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Common received his second Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Southside" (featuring Kanye West), from his 2007 album Finding Forever. His best-of album, Thisisme Then: The Best of Common, was released in late 2007. In 2011, Common launched Think Common Entertainment, his own record label imprint, having previously released music under various other labels including Relativity, Geffen, and GOOD Music. Common won the 2015 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Academy Award for Best Original Song, for his song, co-written and performed with John Legend, "Glory" from the 2014 film Selma, in which he co-starred as Civil Rights Movement leader James Bevel. Common's acting career also includes roles in the films Smokin' Aces, Street Kings, American Gangster, Wanted, Terminator Salvation, Date Night, Just Wright, Happy Feet Two, New Year's Eve, Run All Night, Being Charlie, Rex, John Wick: Chapter 2, Smallfoot and Hunter Killer. He also narrated the documentary Bouncing Cats, about one man's efforts to improve the lives of children in Uganda through hip-hop/b-boy culture. He starred as Elam Ferguson on the AMC western television series Hell on Wheels. Description above from the Wikipedia article Common (rapper), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
TV Shows(54)

Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association
Narrator (voice)
2026

Evolution of the Black Quarterback
Self
2024

Silo
Robert Sims
2023

StoryBots: Answer Time
Mr. Wonderful
2022

The Jennifer Hudson Show
Self - Guest
2022

jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy
Self (archive footage)
2022

Obama
Self
2020

Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices
2020

Home Movie: The Princess Bride
Westley
2020

Bottomless Brunch at Colman's
Self
2020

Never Have I Ever
Dr. Chris Jackson
2020

Fraggle Rock: Rock On!
Self
2020

Tamron Hall
Self - Guest
2019

The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self
2019

Activate: The Global Citizen Movement
Self
2019

Shut Up and Dribble
Self - Musician
2018

The Chi
Rafiq
2018

America Divided
Self
2016

Chelsea
Self
2016

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015

Lip Sync Battle
Self
2015

Framework
Himself - Host
2015

Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self - Guest
2014

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self
2014

Off Camera with Sam Jones
Self
2014

The Mindy Project
Security Guard
2012

Hell on Wheels
Elam Ferguson
2011

Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest
2009

Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Self
2007

I Love the '70s: Volume 2
Self
2006

Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out
2005

Black in the 80s
Self
2005

Game Over
Himself (voice)
2004

The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self
2003

Real Time with Bill Maher
Self
2003

Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003

Chappelle's Show
2003

Scrubs
Common
2001

One on One
Darius
2001

Girlfriends
Omar
2000

Mark Twain Prize
Self - Musical Guest
1999

TRL
1998

The View
Self
1997

The Chris Rock Show
1997

The Daily Show
Self
1996

Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
1993

MTV Movie & TV Awards
Self - Presenter
1992

The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992

The Simpsons
Common (voice)
1989

LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988

American Masters
Self
1986

MTV Video Music Awards
Self - Presenter
1984

Entertainment Tonight
Self
1981

Saturday Night Live
Self - Cameo (uncredited)
1975
Movies(96)

W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause
Self
2026

Boo-Yah: A Portrait of Stuart Scott
Self
2025

Wick Is Pain
Self
2025

Diane Warren: Relentless
Self
2025

Bilal: Live at Glasshaus
Self
2024

Live from Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central
Self
2024

Hip-Hop and the White House
2024

Breathe
Darius
2024

A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop
Self
2023

Fool's Paradise
The Dagger
2023

The Legacy of J Dilla
Self - Rapper; Friend
2023
Chris Rock: Road To Live Special
Self
2023

Between Riverside and Crazy
Junior
2023

Killing Me Softly with His Songs
Self
2022

Alice
Frank
2022

You're Watching Video Music Box
Self (archive footage)
2021

2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Self
2021

Ava
Michael
2020

A Most Beautiful Thing
Narrator
2020

Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince
Self
2020

One World: Together at Home
Self
2020

The Informer
Grens
2019

The Price of Protest
Self (archive footage)
2019

The Kitchen
Gary Silvers
2019

Here and Now
Ben
2018

Hunter Killer
RA John Fisk
2018

The Hate U Give
Uncle Carlos
2018

All About Nina
Rafe
2018

Saint Judy
Benjamin Adebayo
2018

Smallfoot
Stonekeeper (voice)
2018

Ocean's Eight
Common
2018

The Tale
Martin
2018

Love Beats Rhymes
Coltrane
2017

Girls Trip
Common
2017

The Words That Built America
Self - Reader: Declaration of Independence
2017

Chamber Check: Evolution of a Fight Scene
Self
2017

Misdirection: The Real Magic
Narrator
2017

Megan Leavey
Gunny Martin
2017

Feel Rich: Health Is the New Wealth
Himself
2017

A Happening of Monumental Proportions
Daniel
2017

Chasing Trane
Self - Musician
2017

John Wick: Chapter 2
Cassian
2017

BET Presents Love & Happiness: An Obama Celebration
Self - Performer
2016

Letter to the Free
2016

Black America Again
Himself - Street Performer
2016

Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise
Self
2016

We're Still Here (Now).... A Documentary about nobody
Self
2016

Suicide Squad
Monster T
2016

VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens
2016

Being Charlie
Travis
2016

Barbershop: The Next Cut
Jabari
2016

Two Trains Runnin'
Narrator
2016

The Wiz Live!
The Bouncer
2015

Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives
2015

Unity
Narrator (voice)
2015

Entourage
Common
2015

Run All Night
Mr. Price
2015

Selma
James Bevel
2014

Every Secret Thing
Devlin Hatch
2014

X/Y
Jason
2014

Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton: This Is Stones Throw Records
Self
2013

Now You See Me
Evans
2013

Pawn
Jeff Porter
2013

Movie 43
Bob Mone (segment "The Pitch")
2013

LUV
Uncle Vincent
2013

The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Coach Cal
2012

Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap
Self
2012

New Year's Eve
Soldier
2011

Happy Feet Two
Seymour (voice)
2011

Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
Self
2011

Music
Self
2010

Just Wright
Scott McKnight
2010
Bouncing Cats
Narrator
2010

Date Night
Collins
2010

Brave New Voices 2010
Himself - Host
2010

Terminator Salvation
Barnes
2009

Wanted
The Gunsmith
2008

Street Kings
Coates
2008

American Gangster
Turner Lucas
2007

Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life
Self
2007

Smokin' Aces
Sir Ivy
2006

Alicia Keys: Unplugged
Self
2005

Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Self
2005

Letter to the President
Self
2005
![Kanye West: College Dropout [Video Anthology]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fimage.tmdb.org%2Ft%2Fp%2Fw185%2FiJoIAh8NaChoVN0GRYVHaa4Yxlq.jpg&w=3840&q=75)
Kanye West: College Dropout [Video Anthology]
Self (segment "Two Words")
2005

Soundz of Spirit
Self
2005
The Notorious B.I.G BET Official presents
2005

5 Sides of a Coin
Himself
2004

Godfathers and Sons
Self
2003

Beef
Self
2003

Brown Sugar
Self
2002

Pete Rock: Soul Survivor
Common
1998
Hate to See You Go
Paragraphs I Manifest
Self

Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association
Self/Narrator
Dave Chappelle's Block Party 2
Self