3/7
Entertainment Pictures/Zuma, Shareif Ziyadat/WireImage
The real-life rapper played a music artist reluctant to sign to a major label in the 2002 film before going on to appear in The Italian Job and host HBO's spoken-word show Def Poetry until 2007.
The 47-year-old earned nominations at the Golden Globes and Emmys in 2004 for his work in the miniseries Something the Lord Made, and he also appeared in Be Kind, Rewind and Cadillac Records before joining the cast of Showtime's Dexter in its sixth season.
Nominated for six Grammys, Mos Def has released five solo albums over the course of his career.