Acting
Mekhi Thira Phifer (born December 29, 1974) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his multi-year role as Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER and his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile. He was a regular on the Fox crime show Lie to Me portraying the role of Ben Reynolds, before season 3. He was born in in Harlem, New York City, the son of Rhoda Phifer, a high school teacher; he grew up in a single-parent household with his mother. His acting career began in 1995, when Phifer attended an open casting call for director Spike Lee’s Clockers, beating over a thousand others to get the lead role as a narcotics dealer embroiled in a murder cover-up. He followed that role with another in the comedy spoof feature High School High (which also starred his former wife Malinda Williams) and continued by co-starring in the fright flick I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze, Jr. Among Phifer’s other big-screen credits are Soul Food, The Biography of Spud Webb, Hell’s Kitchen, NYC, Tears of a Clown, O (as the titular character Odin a.k.a. O), and the thriller Uninvited Guest (as Silk). He appeared in Impostor as well as Paid in Full, 8 Mile, opposite Eminem and Dawn of the Dead. Phifer has a son, Omikaye, with his ex-wife, actress Malinda Williams. His second son, Mekhi Thira Phifer Jr., was born to his girlfriend Oni Souratha in Los Angeles on October 30, 2007.
Law & Order
1990 · TV
The Daily Show
1996 · TV
High Potential
2024 · TV
ER
1994 · TV
Chicago P.D.
2014 · TV
Psych
2006 · TV
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
2003 · TV
The View
1997 · TV
Curb Your Enthusiasm
2000 · TV
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
1993 · TV
White Collar
2009 · TV
Beat Bobby Flay
2013 · TV
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003 · TV
Homicide: Life on the Street
1993 · TV
Lie to Me
2009 · TV
Torchwood
2006 · TV
Punk'd
2003 · TV
Key & Peele
2012 · TV
Love, Victor
2020 · TV
Miss USA
1963 · TV
Truth Be Told
2019 · TV
New York Undercover
1994 · TV
Best Week Ever
2004 · TV
Match Game
2016 · TV
Hollywood Game Night
2013 · TV
8 Mile
2002 · Movie
On Air with Ryan Seacrest
2004 · TV
Dawn of the Dead
2004 · Movie
Divergent
2014 · Movie
Insurgent
2015 · Movie
Allegiant
2016 · Movie
Frequency
2016 · TV
Roots
2016 · TV
Secret City
2016 · TV
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
1998 · Movie
Shaft
2000 · Movie
Honey
2003 · Movie
Obsession
2019 · Movie
A Day Late and a Dollar Short
2014 · Movie
Impostor
2001 · Movie
Lights Out
2024 · Movie
Clockers
1995 · Movie
The Silent Hour
2024 · Movie
Flypaper
2011 · Movie
Long Gone Heroes
2024 · Movie
Paid in Full
2002 · Movie
The Tuskegee Airmen
1995 · Movie
The Bobby Brown Story
2018 · TV
Pandemic
2016 · Movie
Mary J. Blige Presents Be Happy
2026 · Movie
Girl 6
1996 · Movie
Chocolate City: Vegas Strip
2016 · Movie
Carmen: A Hip Hopera
2001 · Movie
O
2001 · Movie
Be Happy
2026 · Movie
The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat
2024 · Movie
High School High
1996 · Movie
This Christmas
2007 · Movie
Slow Burn
2005 · Movie
Hell's Kitchen
1998 · Movie
NBC 75th Anniversary Special
2002 · Movie
Uninvited Guest
1999 · Movie
Soul Food
1997 · Movie
Subway Stories
1997 · Movie
Last Man Standing
2011 · Movie
Brian's Song
2001 · Movie
A Lesson Before Dying
1999 · Movie
Puff, Puff, Pass
2006 · Movie
The Suspect
2013 · Movie
A Day in the Life
2009 · Movie
The Making of '8 Mile'
2003 · Movie
Hav Plenty
1997 · Movie
The Other Brother
2002 · Movie
Nora's Hair Salon II: A Cut Above
2008 · Movie
Canal Street
2019 · Movie
A Talent For Trouble
2018 · Movie
The Love Section
2013 · Movie
Labyrinth
2025 · Movie
