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Merrick Morton/20th Century Fox/Kobal/Shutterstock, Paras Griffin/Getty Images for BET
The Brooklyn native was actually having quite the career before the TV phenomenon that was Lost made him magazine-cover famous.
After getting his start on the TV series Fame as a dancer, he was on the family drama I'll Fly Away and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for the film Smoke, and then came his breakout role as the eloquent Mercutio, Romeo's wisest, wittiest friend who's tragically cut down in the crossfire between Capulet and Montague.
Then it was on to films such as Blood and Wine, The Edge, The Best Man, Woman on Top, The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions, as well as a starring role on the HBO prison drama Oz—and then he played embattled dad Michael Dawson on Lost, sharing a SAG Award win for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series in 2005.
Later came movies including Zero Dark Thirty and The Best Man Holiday, as well as prominent arcs on Sons of Anarchy, Goliath, Criminal Minds, Star and The Rookie, plus a starring role on Claws. Next up, Perrineau is working on the supernatural series From, set to premiere in 2022.
He married model-actress Brittany Robinson in 2002 and they have three daughters together, including Jem and the Holograms actress Aurora Perrineau.