Nicole Ari Parker

Often seen portraying level-headed professionals or the calming counterpart to energetic comedic leading men, Nicole Ari Parker made her show business breakthrough as one of the star's of the Showtime series "Soul Food" (Showtime, 2000-04). Parker enjoyed five seasons portraying a lawyer on the show, which was one of the few and most successful African-American dramas on television, and made several big screen supporting appearances in such dramas as "Remember the Titans" (2000) and "Brown Sugar" (2002). While her foray into TV sitcoms with "Second Time Around" (UPN, 2004-05) was short-lived, it did launch a new era of the actress' career and she went on to co-star as the sincere counterpart of comic actors Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy in "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" (2008) and "Imagine That" (2009) - a shift that nonetheless continued to fulfill the actress' desire to make positive entertainment for the African-American community.