Jussie Smollett ( , born June 21, 1982) is an American actor and singer. He began his career as a child actor in 1987 acting in films including "The Mighty Ducks" (1992) and Rob Reiner's "North" (1994). In 2015, Smollett portrayed musician Jamal Lyon in the Fox drama series "Empire", a role that was hailed as groundbreaking for its positive depiction of a black gay man on television. Smollett has also appeared in Ridley Scott's science fiction film "" (2017) as Ricks and in "Marshall" (2017) as Langston Hughes.