NBC’s answer to Revenge–a complicated story of murder and the sins of the past among the rich and powerful–isn’t slated to premiere until early next year, but (as they’ve done with many shows this year) the network is previewing the pilot episode on NBC.com right now…and right there in the middle of it all is the painfully handsome Cuban-American actor Laz Alonso.
We’ve profiled Laz before, and followed his work through Breakout Kings and Southland, the gritty cop drama that started on NBC and continued (with a smaller cast) on TNT. Before that it was Avatar, and before that Fast & Furious.
That’s a lot of very recognizable names for a guy who’s only been at this for a decade or so, and who began as an on-air host on BET. After a few small parts in TV dramas and sitcoms, and as a regular in a couple of short-lived half-hour shows (One on One, Eyes), Laz received some serious notice for a very weird reason: he was part of the infamous Budweiser campaign that made “Waaazzzuuuup?” the watchword of a generation. After that, things really caught fire with a series of great roles in everything from Spike Lee’s The Miracle of St. Anna to Down for Life, where he served as an executive producer as well. The biggies have come in quick succession: Fast & Furious/Avatar/Southland/Straw Dogs. And now…Deception.
That’s a lot of work, a lot of credits, for one hard-working actor. And that’s just the obvious stuff: check out this clip from BlackAtlas.com from a few months ago: where he spend some time in Brazil and the Dominican Republic:
Deception premieres Monday January 7 at 10P, but you can catch the full-length pilot on nbc.com and/or hulu.com right now.
