Mekhi Phifer

Mekhi Thira Phifer born December 29 1974 is an American actor He is perhaps best known for his multiyear role as Dr Greg Pratt on NBCs longrunning medical drama ER and his costarring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile He was a regular on the Fox crime show Lie to Me portraying the role of Ben Reynolds before season 3 He was born in in Harlem New York City the son of Rhoda Phifer a high school teacher he grew up in a singleparent household with his mother His acting career began in 1995 when Phifer attended an open casting call for director Spike Lees Clockers beating over a thousand others to get the lead role as a narcotics dealer embroiled in a murder coverup He followed that role with another in the comedy spoof feature High School High which also starred his former wife Malinda Williams and continued by costarring in the fright flick I Still Know What You Did Last Summer starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr Among Phifers other bigscreen credits are Soul Food The Biography of Spud Webb Hells Kitchen NYC Tears of a Clown O as the titular character Odin aka O and the thriller Uninvited Guest as Silk He appeared in Impostor as well as Paid in Full 8 Mile opposite Eminem and Dawn of the Dead Phifer has a son Omikaye with his exwife actress Malinda Williams His second son Mekhi Thira Phifer Jr was born to his girlfriend Oni Souratha in Los Angeles on October 30 2007