Ro Brooks: From Extra to Actor

Jerome Ro Brooks talks about going from being an Extra to an Actor and his latest book. He grew up in West Baltimore. Ro's natural acting ability was cultivated by his Grandmother and Great Aunt, who would encourage Ro and his three older sisters to perform dance and musical routines for them by throwing change at their feet. During his younger years, Ro began developing his musical prowess by rapping and dancing at local talent shows and events. While attending Walbrook High School, Ro's early success would begin when he got together with a group of friends and formed the rap group, Twice As Nice. The group would win 1st place at a local talent show that would earn them a spot on the bill at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater for a taping on "Showtime at the Apollo". They would make history by becoming the first rap group to win on "Amateur Night". A few years later, Ro landed his first role as an extra in the feature film "The Meteor Man", directed by Robert Townsend. He has gone on to work with other acclaimed directors such as Michael Bay, Fab 5 Freddy, Quentin Tarantino, Michael Mann, and Tyler Perry just to name a few.

Ro has starred in numerous films, commercials, and television shows including (Film) Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Mysterious Ways, A Beautiful Soul, Pastor Shirley, and Squatters; (Television) HBO's critically acclaimed The Wire, FX's Sons of Anarchy, Showtime's Shameless, FOX's Emmy Award Winning, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and 24, CBS's CSI New York, El Rey's Matador and many others.

With an extensive background in music, Ro welcomed the opportunity to return to his musical roots while integrating and expanding on his acting talents to include music videos, working with such artists as Sean "P. Diddy" Combs, 50 Cent, Justin Timberlake, Lil' Wayne, TI, Jill Scott, Young Jeezy, Snoop Dogg, Shyne, Lil' Mo, Syleena Johnson, and Master P.

Ro Brooks is known for his dramatic, compelling role as Michael, on OWN's - Tyler Perry's, hit drama series "The Haves and the Have Nots". He has also had the pleasure of working on BET's, history breaking, three-night mini-series, "The New Edition Story". Ro joins the cast of "Medinah", as a series regular." Medinah" is a middle eastern Sci/Fi - Drama series set in Doha, Qatar where Ro plays a CIA agent sent to find his partner. Medinah is slated to release in Winter 2022.