Whatever Happened To The Cast Of American Gangster

"American Gangster" was released in 2007 to much acclaim. As the title suggests, it's a gangster film, but what sets it apart from other American crime movies — and even other gangster films set in New York — is the specific setting of Harlem and the dual-perspective structure that follows the drug kingpin Frank Lucas (Denzel Washington) as well as the vice cop working to take him down, Richie Roberts (Russell Crowe). The natural push and pull of these two complex characters is a major aspect of why the film works as well as it does.

Director Ridley Scott's energetic pacing keeps this 157-minute-long film moving quickly, and Steven Zaillian's screenplay, adapted from the New York magazine article "The Return of Superfly," provides the star-studded cast with great material to really sink their teeth into. With two Oscar-winning superstars in the lead roles, it might be easy to overshadow the rest of the cast, so let's check in on what this ensemble of performers has been up to in the years since the release of "American Gangster."

Russell Crowe starred opposite Denzel Washington as Richie Roberts, the vice cop dedicated to catching Frank Lucas. Just like Denzel Washington, Crowe was already an Academy Award winner at the time of making "American Gangster." Crowe won the Best Actor Oscar for his work in Ridley Scott's "Gladiator" and was nominated twice more for "The Insider" and "A Beautiful Mind."

Directly following "American Gangster," Crowe and director Ridley Scott worked together again on "Body of Lies" in 2008. They would collaborate again on "Robin Hood" in 2010, which was also the first feature film that Crowe served as a producer on. Other noteworthy Russell Crowe films since "American Gangster" include "Les Misérables," "Man of Steel," "Boy Erased," "Noah" from director Darren Aronofsky, and "The Nice Guys" from writer and director Shane Black. Crowe made his own directorial debut in 2014 with "The Water Diviner," while his second film as a director, "Poker Face," was in production until a COVID case was found amongst the crew. "The production has been immediately paused and everyone instructed to isolate," Crowe wrote of the incident (via Deadline).

Frank Lucas enlists the help of his brothers when building and running his criminal empire, and one of those brothers is Huey Lucas, as played by Chiwetel Ejiofor. Before "American Gangster," Ejiofor had enjoyed a handful of good roles, but it wasn't until he starred in Steve McQueen's 2013 film "12 Years a Slave" as Solomon Northup — and earned his first Oscar nomination to date — that he was really rocketed to stardom.

Ejiofor would wind up working with director Ridley Scott again in 2015 on "The Martian." He has also appeared in action films such as "The Old Guard," which has a sequel in the works, and "Triple 9" from director John Hillcoat. Ejiofor entered the Marvel Cinematic Universe in 2016 as Mordo in "Doctor Strange," a role which he is reprising in the upcoming "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." Ejiofor has also made his way into voice acting, providing the voice of Scar in the updated "The Lion King." Outside of the film industry, Ejiofor has had a long history as a theater performer in the United Kingdom. He has acted in many plays, including a number of Shakespearean works such as "Othello," "Romeo and Juliet," and "Macbeth."

John Hawkes had already begun to establish himself as a formidable character actor by the time he played Freddie Spearman in "American Gangster." Before the film, John Hawkes was likely best known as Sol Star on the HBO series "Deadwood," though some viewers might have remembered him fondly from his small but memorable supporting role in "From Dusk Till Dawn" as the liquor store clerk who shoots Quentin Tarantino through the hand.

Hawkes works frequently, often doing multiple films every year. Since he began acting in the mid-1980s, he has appeared in well over 100 films and television shows. In 2011, he earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination for his work as Teardrop in "Winter's Bone." The following year, he had memorable roles in "Martha Marcy May Marlene" and Steven Soderbergh's "Contagion." Though many of Hawkes's best parts are supporting characters, "The Sessions" provided him with an excellent leading role as a man in an iron lung who hires a sex surrogate to lose his virginity. The film earned him a Screen Actors Guild nomination along with other awards attention. Recently, Hawkes appeared in "The Peanut Butter Falcon," the mini-series "Too Old to Die Young," and "Deadwood: The Movie," reprising the character of Sol.

In a film packed with excellent performances, Ruby Dee was the only performer nominated for an Oscar for "American Gangster," giving a standout performance as Lucas family matriarch Mama Lucas. Dee began acting all the way back in the 1940s and continued performing through 2013, before she passed away in 2014 at the age of 91. In addition to acting, Ruby Dee was a renowned poet and playwright. Her husband, Ossie Davis, was also an actor and playwright, and the two worked together on civil rights activism throughout their lives.

In an acting career that totaled 115 films and television shows, "American Gangster" arrived toward the end of Ruby Dee's tenure and was arguably her last great film. She appeared in a handful of small films following "American Gangster," such as "The Perfect Age of Rock 'n' Roll" and "Red and Blue Marbles." The largest film she acted in after "American Gangster" was the Eddie Murphy comedy "A Thousand Words," in which she played the main character's mother, who was suffering from dementia.

Cuba Gooding Jr. played the part of Nicky Barnes, the competing drug dealer who dilutes Frank Lucas's Blue Magic heroin. The role is somewhat of a small one in the grand scheme of things, but Gooding Jr. makes the most out of his screen time. His role as Tre Styles in "Boyz n the Hood" arrived early on in his career and put his name on the map. When he followed it up with "A Few Good Men" and "Jerry Maguire" a few years later — the latter of which earned him the Best Supporting Actor Oscar — Cuba Gooding Jr.'s career was in great shape.

By the time "American Gangster" came around, Gooding Jr.'s career had already gone through some ups and downs. Films like "Pearl Harbor," "Snow Dogs," and the blatantly homophobic "Boat Trip" had besmirched his filmography. In the years since "American Gangster," Cuba Gooding Jr.'s films have continued to be hit or miss, though he does occasionally land a good role in a highly acclaimed film like "The Butler" or "Selma." His performance as O.J. Simpson in the first season of the anthology series "American Crime Story" was considered by many to be something of a return to form for Gooding Jr. He followed that series up with a recurring role on the next season of "American Horror Story." In 2018, he made his directorial debut with "Bayou Caviar," which he also starred in and co-wrote.

Musician Common played Turner Lucas, one of Frank Lucas's brothers who gets involved in his criminal empire. Common, whose real name is Lonnie Rashid Lynn Jr., was still relatively new to acting when he appeared in "American Gangster," although he had appeared in small roles in a couple of projects beforehand such as "Smokin' Aces." Though he continues to make music — with his latest album "Let Love" released in 2019 — Common began acting more regularly after "American Gangster."

One of Common's most recognizable roles was as Cassian in "John Wick: Chapter 2," a rival assassin who can hold his own against Keanu Reeves' titular character. In television, Common's biggest role was as Elam Ferguson on the AMC series "Hell on Wheels." Outside of "John Wick," Common has appeared in other action films like "Wanted," "Terminator Salvation," "Suicide Squad," and "The Kitchen," along with dramas or thrillers such as "Now You See Me," "Selma," and "Ocean's Eight."

Kevin Corrigan is a talented character actor who has popped up in more gangster films than most actors can claim, including "Goodfellas," "True Romance," "The Departed," and "Seven Psychopaths," and of course "American Gangster," where he played Campizi. He's also played a recurring character on the gangster television series "The Godfather of Harlem," a prequel series to "American Gangster" that follows the rise of Bumpy Johnson as played by Forest Whitaker, a character played by Clarence Williams III in an uncredited role in the film.

Though he might play plenty of gangsters and other assorted criminals, usually in supporting roles, he has also displayed a great talent for deadpan comedy as well with a lead role on the show "Grounded for Life" where he played Eddie, the brother of the series lead played by Donal Logue. He also played the memorable part of Professor Sean Garrity, the conspiracy theory class teacher, on three episodes of "Community." Other noteworthy films and television shows Kevin Corrigan has appeared in since "American Gangster" include "Pineapple Express," "Damages," "Fringe," "The Mentalist," "The Get Down," "Ray Donovan," and the Terrence Malick film "Knight of Cups."

Norman Reedus is a massive star these days, but wasn't nearly as big of a name at the time of making "American Gangster." He wasn't a total unknown, as he had already had a breakout role in 1999's "The Boondock Saints," but his presence in "American Gangster" is small: He plays the brief role of the detective in the morgue. A sequel, "The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day," saw Reedus reprise his role as Murphy MacManus from the earlier film.

Following "American Gangster," Norman Reedus rocketed to superstardom when he landed the role of fan-favorite character Daryl Dixon on "The Walking Dead." Appearing in almost 200 episodes of the AMC zombie series has taken up a lot of time in Reedus's career, but he has also appeared in outside projects such as "Triple 9," "Vacation," and the Hideo Kojima video game "Death Stranding." Reedus has a second show on AMC as well, a docu-series which he hosts about motorcycle culture called "Ride with Norman Reedus." An upcoming "Walking Dead" spin-off is also in the works and set to star Reedus and Melissa McBride, who plays Carol on the show.