Epps landed a role on the hit television drama "ER" for several episodes portraying Dr. Dennis Gant, a troubled surgical intern. After his television work on "ER", Epps returned to the big screen in 1997 with a brief turn as a giddy moviegoer on a date with a woman played by Jada Pinkett, who ends up an early victim of a psychopathic slasher in the blockbuster sequel "Scream 2". Also in 1997, Epps was the star of the fact-based HBO movie "First Time Felon". He played a small-time criminal who goes through Chicago's boot camp reform system and undertakes a heroic flood rescue, only to then be faced with the adjustment of re-entering society with the mark of ex-con. In 1999 Epps was cast as Linc in "The Mod Squad". While "The Mod Squad" proved a critical and box-office bust, Epps's later 1999 effort "The Wood" offered him a serious and multi-dimensional role. Following a group of middle-class African Americans from youth to adulthood, "The Wood", the debut effort from director-screenwriter Rick Famuyiwa, co-starred Richard T. Jones and Taye Diggs. Also in 1999, Epps was featured alongside Stanley Tucci and LL Cool J, playing an undercover detective who finds himself caught up in the illegal goings-on he is investigating in "In Too Deep". 1999 also saw him lens the 1950s set murder mystery "When Willows Touch", with James Earl Jones and Jada Pinkett Smith.