In 1995, Cedric moved into acting, auditioning and receiving his first-ever role as The Cowardly Lion in the 1995 Apollo Theater Revival of "The Wiz". He expanded his career by playing Steve Harvey's friend Cedric Jackie Robinson on "The Steve Harvey Show". He then began appearing in films, including "Barbershop", "", "Ride", "Serving Sara", "Johnson Family Vacation", "Intolerable Cruelty", "Man of the House", "Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events", "Madagascar, , " and "Be Cool". Cedric was the subject of controversy when his "Barbershop" character made unpopular remarks about Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. These comments were spoken in character, were part of the script, and he has never apologized for them. In "Madagascar", Cedric voiced Maurice the aye aye. In October 2005, Cedric joined the Champ Car auto racing series as a part owner. He appeared in the movie "Charlotte's Web" as the voice of Golly the gander. While his acting career grew, Cedric continued to do stand-up and traveled the country as one of the "Kings of Comedy" headliners, with Steve Harvey, D. L. Hughley and Bernie Mac. The act was later made into a Spike Lee film, "The Original Kings of Comedy". Cedric had his own sketch comedy show, "Cedric the Entertainer Presents", but after being renewed for a second season, it was canceled by Fox before the season began. He took time to write a book, "Grown-A$$ Man." He then appeared in the 2003 video game "Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2004". His most recent HBO Comedy Special was "". Two of the background dancers from the special were Kamilah Barrett and Sandra Colton, who were finalists in Fox's "So You Think You Can Dance". He also recorded comedic interludes on two multi-platinum selling albums, Nelly's "Country Grammar" (2000) and Jay-Z's "The Black Album" (2003).