Taye Diggs

Possessing movie star good looks, multi-talented performer Taye Diggs found stardom on stage, television, and film. Hailing from Newark, New Jersey, he made his Broadway debut in 1994, performing in a Tony-winning revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "Carousel." His career took a major leap forward two years later when he was part of the original Broadway cast of Jonathan Larson's groundbreaking musical "Rent," along with Jesse L. Martin and his future wife, Idina Menzel (the couple divorced in 2014). Diggs moved to television with guest spots on "New York Undercover" (Fox, 1994-99) and "Law & Order" (NBC, 1990-2010). His mainstream breakthrough came when he played Angela Bassett's younger love interest in the hit adaptation of Terry McMillan's best seller "How Stella Got Her Groove Back" (1998). That began a run of high-profile film roles. He was part of the large ensemble in Doug Liman's "Go" (1999), starred as a groom with cold feet in "The Wood" (1999), played the Best Man in the wedding comedy "The Best Man" (1999), and was one of the terrified guests in the remake of "House on Haunted Hill" (1999). On television, he had a memorable story arc on "Ally McBeal" (Fox, 1997-2002) as attorney Jackson Duper. He was able to put his musical background to good use when he appeared as the Bandleader in the Academy Award-winning "Chicago" and reprising his Broadway role of Benjamin Coffin III in the big screen adaption of "Rent" (2005). He attempted to move into headlining a TV series but two attempts, the legal drama "Kevin Hill" (UPN, 2004-05) and sci-fi noir "Day Break" (ABC, 2006-07), were both short-lived. His guest appearances on "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 2005-) served as a springboard to a series regular role in the spinoff "Private Practice" (ABC, 2007-13). Diggs played Dr. Sam Bennett, neighbor and colleague of Kate Walsh's Dr. Addison Forbes Montgomery. On the big screen, he starred opposite Julia Stiles in "Between Us" (2012), before returning to previous ground in "The Best Man Holiday" (2013). He continued as a regular presence on television as well with recurring roles on "The Good Wife" (CBS, 2009-16), "Rosewood" (Fox, 2015-17), and "Empire" (Fox, 2015-). He also starred opposite Kathleen Robertson in the crime drama "Murder in the First" (TNT, 2014-16). In films, he added roles in the thriller "Til Death Do Us Part" (2017) and the comedy "Set It Up" (2018). He returned to series regular status when he was cast in the drama "All American" (The CW, 2018-). Diggs played Billy Baker, an ambitious high school football coach who recruits a star player from Compton to play for him in Beverly Hills. Never one to be boxed in, he also kept a full film slate, starring with John Cusack in the thriller "River Runs Red" (2018), and reuniting with "Ally McBeal" costar Lucy Liu in the dramedy "Stage Mother" (2019).