Eddie Steeples is one of the hottest young dramatic and comedic actors in Hollywood. The Emmy Award-nominated Office Max commercials made him a recognizable face before he was tapped as one of People Magazine's Sexiest Men of 2004.

Steeples began studying acting at the St. Louis Repertory Theatre. By the mid-90's Steeples had moved to New York City where he joined an avante-garde hip hop group No Surrender, as well as an experimental movie outfit called Mo-Freek helmed by director Kevin Ford. Throughout the ensuing years, Steeples' versatility as an actor allowed him to play a number of leading roles. He flexed his comedic skills as the Rubberband Man in the Office Max commercials and on the groundbreaking Chris Rock Show. He also played a dramatic lead in the award-winning short film Whoa, which premiered at Sundance.

Steeples was recently cast in Lion's Gate's Akeelah and the Bee (with Laurence Fishburne and Angela Bassett). He has also played leading roles in several of Ford's independent features such as Caravan Summer, People Are Dead (co-starring Angela Bettis, Mia Tyler, and Cinque Lee), and Lost In The Bush (co-starring Brent Roam). Another project he appeared in was the political documentary Amadou, inspired by the Amadou Diallo police protests that swept Manhattan in 1999.

While in New York, Steeples also got behind the camera shooting for various Mo-Freek productions, as well as serving as a cameraman for the Sony/Music Choice show Street Team TV, where he filmed artists such as Jermaine Dupri, the Ataris and Nas. Since relocating to Hollywood, Steeples has received considerable attention for his role of Rasan in the Warner Bros. action movie Torque with Ice Cube, Faison Love and Jaime Pressly (his Earl co-star). And in 2004, Steeples co-wrote a film, Robbers, that he also acted in and co-directed with Chris Sivertson. The project is currently in post-production in Los Angeles.

Although Steeples currently resides in the Los Angeles area, he continues to be a regular member of the group No Surrender, and when he is not filming, he is busy working on a solo music album, mixing his influences from rock, hip-hop, and soul.

Credit: filmbug.com