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Biography: Derek Luke

Derek Luke was an all-but-unknown actor who was still working a day job when Denzel Washington plucked him from obscurity in 2002 for the leading role in his first directorial effort, Antwone Fisher. Born in Jersey City, NJ, in 1974, Luke displayed a precocious interest in drama at the age of four, telling his mother he wanted to be an actor, and, in 1995, he moved to California in hopes of making a career for himself in film and television. The 1,000-dollar nest egg Luke brought with him didn't last long, but, determined to get his foot in the door of the business, he took jobs that would allow him to meet people in the entertainment industry -- first serving as an usher for television tapings at the Universal Pictures studios and later as a sales clerk at a shop selling candy, gifts, and sundries on the Sony Pictures Studios lot. While there, Luke became acquainted with Antwone Fisher, a screenwriter who had a development deal with the studio, and learned that Fisher's memoir about his turbulent early life was being made into a film. Luke became even more intrigued when he learned Denzel Washington was interested in directing the film, but, despite landing an audition for the project, the picture was put on hold before casting could be completed. In the meantime, Luke continued to work at the store and landed bit parts on the sitcoms The King of Queens and Moesha before auditioning for Antwone Fisher a second time in 2001. While Luke wasn't happy with his reading, Washington was convinced the actor had the right emotional pitch for the character, and, several weeks later, the Hollywood veteran stopped by the Sony Studios store to tell Luke he'd won the part. Though opinions on the film were mixed, Luke was singled out for his raw, authentic, and emotional performance. After completing Antwone Fisher, Derek Luke was soon cast in two 2003 features: Pieces of April and Biker Boyz. Though Luke was still every bit the dramatic powerhouse that he was in Antwone Fisher, his abilities were put on the back burner somewhat in the ensemble casts of Spartan, Friday Night Lights, and Glory Road. As a wronged family man who becomes a freedom fighter in apartheid-era South Africa, however, Luke proved in Phillip Noyce's 2006 iopic Catch a Fire that he was more than capable of carrying a major film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide less

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Movies (11)
TV (1)
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Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail (2009)
Tags: Comedy Drama Message Movie Family Drama
Length: 103min
Tyler Perry transitions another one of his hit plays to the big screen with this adaptation of +Madea Goes to Jail. The successful filmmaker stars once again as the mischief-prone older woman whose exploits this time lead her to jail, where she...
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Notorious (2009)
Tags: Drama Biopic Musical Drama
Length: 122min
Fox Searchlight presents the tragic life story of ap star Notorious B.I.G. from director George Tillman Jr. (Soul Food) and executive producer Sean "Diddy" Combs. The script is provided by Cheo Hodari Coker and Biker Boyz writer/director Reggie Rock...
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Definitely, Maybe (2008)
Cast: Kevin Kline
Tags: Romantic Comedy Comedy
Length: 111min
A political consultant in the midst of a bitter divorce attempts to delicately divulge the truth about his past relationships to his curious young daughter, who simply won't stop asking questions until she's satisfied with all the answers....
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Glory Road (2006)
Cast: Jon Voight Jerry Bruckheimer Josh Lucas
Tags: Sports Drama Drama Docudrama
Length: 117min
A true-life story of a basketball team who broke down barriers while racking up victories is the basis for this sports drama. Don Haskins (Josh Lucas) was a high school and college basketball star who, after six years of working with high school...
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Miracle at St. Anna (2008)
Cast: Spike Lee
Tags: War Drama War
Length: 160min
Spike Lee's World War II film Miracle at St. Anna begins in 1983 with Hector Negron, a veteran of that war, unexpectedly shooting a customer dead. Police discover that the suspect, a quiet postal worker, kept a statue head worth millions of dollars in...
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Pieces of April (2003)
Cast: Peter Hedges Patricia Clarkson Oliver Platt
Tags: Comedy Drama Urban Comedy Holiday Film Domestic Comedy
Length: 80min
Novelist and screenwriter Peter Hedges makes his directorial debut with the comedy drama Pieces of April. Family outcast April Burns (Katie Holmes) lives in a beat-up apartment in New York's Lower East Side with her boyfriend, Bobby (Derek Luke). In...
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Spartan (2004)
Cast: David Mamet Val Kilmer William H. Macy Ed O'Neill
Tags: Political Thriller Thriller
Length: 106min
David Mamet writes and directs the political thriller Spartan. Respected Secret Service agent Robert Scott (Val Kilmer) is assigned to the kidnapping case of Laura Newton (Kristen Bell), the missing daughter of a high-ranking political figure. Scott...
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Catch a Fire (2006)
Cast: Tim Robbins Phillip Noyce Sydney Pollack
Tags: Biopic Political Thriller Thriller
Length: 102min
An apolitical South African oil-refinery worker and soccer coach is forced into terrorism as a means of fighting back against the brutality of the apartheid regime in director Phillip Noyce's dramatic look at the life of one-time political prisoner...
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Friday Night Lights (2004)
Cast: Billy Bob Thornton Peter Berg Lucas Black
Tags: Americana Drama Sports Drama
Length: 117min
H.G. Bissinger's best-selling true-life account of a few months in the life of a high-school football team comes to the screen in this adaptation written and directed by Peter Berg. Odessa, TX, is an oil town in the western part of the state that's...
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Biker Boyz (2003)
Cast: Laurence Fishburne Djimon Hounsou
Tags: Chase Movie Action Drama Family Drama Coming-of-Age
Length: 110min
Two generations of radical bikers face off in this rubber-burning action drama. Manuel "Smoke" Galloway (Laurence Fishburne) is the leader of the Black Knights, an underground motorcycle club. Smoke, like most of his fellow Knights, is a successful...
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Biography: Derek Luke

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