Common
Known for: Acting
Lonnie Rashid Lynn (born March 13, 1972), known by his stage name Common (formerly Common Sense), is an American rapper and actor. He has received three Grammy Awards, an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and a Golden Globe Award. He debuted in 1992 with the album Can I Borrow a Dollar?, and gained critical acclaim with his 1994 album Resurrection. He maintained an underground following into the late 1990s. He achieved mainstream success through his work with the Soulquarians. His first major-label album Like Water for Chocolate (2000), received commercial success. In 2003, he won the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for the Erykah Badu single "Love of My Life". His 2005 album Be was also a commercial success and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 2006 Grammy Awards. Common received his second Grammy Award for Best Rap Performance by a Duo or Group for "Southside" (featuring Kanye West), from his 2007 album Finding Forever. His best-of album, Thisisme Then: The Best of Common, was released in late 2007. In 2011, Common launched Think Common Entertainment, his own record label imprint, having previously released music under various other labels including Relativity, Geffen, and GOOD Music. Common won the 2015 Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song and the Academy Award for Best Original Song, for his song, co-written and performed with John Legend, "Glory" from the 2014 film Selma, in which he co-starred as Civil Rights Movement leader James Bevel. Common's acting career also includes roles in the films Smokin' Aces, Street Kings, American Gangster, Wanted, Terminator Salvation, Date Night, Just Wright, Happy Feet Two, New Year's Eve, Run All Night, Being Charlie, Rex, John Wick: Chapter 2, Smallfoot and Hunter Killer. He also narrated the documentary Bouncing Cats, about one man's efforts to improve the lives of children in Uganda through hip-hop/b-boy culture. He starred as Elam Ferguson on the AMC western television series Hell on Wheels. Description above from the Wikipedia article Common (rapper), licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Filmography
Series
Silo
Robert Sims
2023
Series
The Simpsons
Common (voice)
1989
Series
Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen
Self - Guest
2009
Series
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Guest
2015
Series
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
2015
Series
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert
Self - Musical Guest
2015
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self
2014
Series
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
Self - Guest / Musical Guest
2014
Series
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self - Guest
2014
Series
Late Night with Seth Meyers
Self
2014
Series
The Daily Show
Self
1996
Series
The Kelly Clarkson Show
Self
2019
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self - Cameo (uncredited)
1975
Series
Saturday Night Live
Self
1975
Series
Real Time with Bill Maher
Self
2003
Series
The Jennifer Hudson Show
Self - Guest
2022
Series
The View
Self
1997
Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self
2003
Series
Jimmy Kimmel Live!
Self - Musical Guest
2003
Series
Scrubs
Common
2001
Series
The Chi
Rafiq
2018
Series
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
Series
The Tonight Show with Jay Leno
1992
Series
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Self - Guest
1993
Series
Girlfriends
Omar
2000
Series
Keeping Up with the Kardashians
Self
2007
Series
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Self
2003
Series
MTV Video Music Awards
Self - Presenter
1984
Series
The Mindy Project
Security Guard
2012
Series
Never Have I Ever
Dr. Chris Jackson
2020
Series
Tamron Hall
Self - Guest
2019
Series
Hell on Wheels
Elam Ferguson
2011
Series
MTV Movie & TV Awards
Self - Presenter
1992
Series
WIRED's Autocomplete Interviews
Self - Guest
2016
Film
Now You See Me
Evans
2013
Film
John Wick: Chapter 2
Cassian
2017
Series
American Masters
Self
1986
Series
Nick Cannon Presents: Wild 'N Out
2005
Film
Suicide Squad
Monster T
2016
Series
Chelsea
Self
2016
Series
Off Camera with Sam Jones
Self
2014
Series
One on One
Darius
2001
Series
Lip Sync Battle
Self
2015
Film
Terminator Salvation
Barnes
2009
Film
American Gangster
Turner Lucas
2007
Film
Ocean's Eight
Common
2018
Film
Hunter Killer
RA John Fisk
2018
Film
Wanted
The Gunsmith
2008
Film
Movie 43
Bob Mone (segment "The Pitch")
2013
Film
Date Night
Collins
2010
Film
Smokin' Aces
Sir Ivy
2006
Film
Street Kings
Coates
2008
Film
Run All Night
Mr. Price
2015
Series
TRL
1998
Series
Home Movie: The Princess Bride
Westley
2020
Series
Chappelle's Show
2003
Film
Happy Feet Two
Seymour (voice)
2011
Series
StoryBots: Answer Time
Mr. Wonderful
2022
Film
Smallfoot
Stonekeeper (voice)
2018
Series
The Chris Rock Show
1997
Film
New Year's Eve
Soldier
2011
Film
Girls Trip
Common
2017
Film
Ava
Michael
2020
Series
Entertainment Tonight
Self
1981
Film
Entourage
Common
2015
Film
The Hate U Give
Uncle Carlos
2018
Film
Megan Leavey
Gunny Martin
2017
Film
The Informer
Grens
2019
Film
The Kitchen
Gary Silvers
2019
Series
Mark Twain Prize
Self - Musical Guest
1999
Series
I Love the '70s: Volume 2
Self
2006
Series
jeen-yuhs: A Kanye Trilogy
Self (archive footage)
2022
Series
Bottomless Brunch at Colman's
Self
2020
Film
The Odd Life of Timothy Green
Coach Cal
2012
Series
Game Over
Himself (voice)
2004
Series
Fraggle Rock: Rock On!
Self
2020
Film
Selma
James Bevel
2014
Film
The Tale
Martin
2018
Film
Saint Judy
Benjamin Adebayo
2018
Series
Shut Up and Dribble
Self - Musician
2018
Film
Just Wright
Scott McKnight
2010
Film
Pawn
Jeff Porter
2013
Film
Breathe
Darius
2024
Film
Barbershop: The Next Cut
Jabari
2016
Series
Obama
Self
2020
Film
Wick Is Pain
Self
2025
Film
Brown Sugar
Self
2002
Film
One World: Together at Home
Self
2020
Film
Every Secret Thing
Devlin Hatch
2014
Film
Fool's Paradise
The Dagger
2023
Series
America Divided
Self
2016
Series
Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association
Narrator (voice)
2026
Film
Being Charlie
Travis
2016
Film
LUV
Uncle Vincent
2013
Film
X/Y
Jason
2014
Series
Black in the 80s
Self
2005
Film
Here and Now
Ben
2018
Chris Rock: Road To Live Special
Self
2023
Film
Alice
Frank
2022
Series
Evolution of the Black Quarterback
Self
2024
Series
Bookmarks: Celebrating Black Voices
2020
Film
All About Nina
Rafe
2018
Film
The Words That Built America
Self - Reader: Declaration of Independence
2017
Film
Unity
Narrator (voice)
2015
Film
You're Watching Video Music Box
Self (archive footage)
2021
Film
Killing Me Softly with His Songs
Self
2022
Film
Dave Chappelle's Block Party
Self
2005
Film
Love Beats Rhymes
Coltrane
2017
Film
Stretch and Bobbito: Radio That Changed Lives
2015
Film
Beats Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
Self
2011
Series
Activate: The Global Citizen Movement
Self
2019
Film
Something from Nothing: The Art of Rap
Self
2012
Film
Notorious B.I.G.: Bigger Than Life
Self
2007
Film
Hip-Hop and the White House
2024
Film
2021 Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony
Self
2021
Film
The Price of Protest
Self (archive footage)
2019
Bouncing Cats
Narrator
2010
Film
Chasing Trane
Self - Musician
2017
Film
VH1 Hip Hop Honors: All Hail the Queens
2016
Film
Diane Warren: Relentless
Self
2025
Dave Chappelle's Block Party 2
Self
Film
A Happening of Monumental Proportions
Daniel
2017
Film
Beef
Self
2003
Film
Two Trains Runnin'
Narrator
2016
Film
Boo-Yah: A Portrait of Stuart Scott
Self
2025
Film
W.E.B. Du Bois: Rebel With a Cause
Self
2026
Film
Music
Self
2010
Film
Let's Go Crazy: The Grammy Salute to Prince
Self
2020
Film
Bilal: Live at Glasshaus
Self
2024
Film
The Wiz Live!
The Bouncer
2015
Film
Maya Angelou: And Still I Rise
Self
2016
Film
Alicia Keys: Unplugged
Self
2005
Film
A GRAMMY Salute to 50 Years of Hip-Hop
Self
2023
![Kanye West: College Dropout [Video Anthology]](https://image.tmdb.org/t/p/w185/iJoIAh8NaChoVN0GRYVHaa4Yxlq.jpg)
Film
Kanye West: College Dropout [Video Anthology]
Self (segment "Two Words")
2005
Film
Kanye West: College Dropout [Video Anthology]
Airline Employee (segment "All Falls Down")
2005
Film
We're Still Here (Now).... A Documentary about nobody
Self
2016
Hate to See You Go
Film
BET Presents Love & Happiness: An Obama Celebration
Self - Performer
2016
Film
Godfathers and Sons
Self
2003
Film
Letter to the President
Self
2005
Paragraphs I Manifest
Self
Film
Misdirection: The Real Magic
Narrator
2017
Film
Pete Rock: Soul Survivor
Common
1998
Film
Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton: This Is Stones Throw Records
Self
2013
Film
Chamber Check: Evolution of a Fight Scene
Self
2017
Film
Black America Again
Himself - Street Performer
2016
Film
Feel Rich: Health Is the New Wealth
Himself
2017
Film
5 Sides of a Coin
Himself
2004
Film
Soul Power: The Legend of the American Basketball Association
Self/Narrator
Film
A Most Beautiful Thing
Narrator
2020
Film
Between Riverside and Crazy
Junior
2023
Film
The Legacy of J Dilla
Self - Rapper; Friend
2023
Film
Live from Detroit: The Concert at Michigan Central
Self
2024
Series
Framework
Himself - Host
2015
The Notorious B.I.G BET Official presents
2005
Film
Brave New Voices 2010
Himself - Host
2010
Film
Letter to the Free
2016
Film
Soundz of Spirit
Self
2005