Omar Benson Miller Breaks Out In Acting Career

Actor Omar Benson Miller (born October 7, 1978) is getting ready to break out in a big way with no pun intended over the fact that the actor who most recently appeared in CBS's drama, Eleventh Hour, is 6-foot, 6-inches tall and weighs somewhere in the vicinity of 300 pounds.

(Image of Omar Benson Miller in CBS Eleventh Hour - Photo: Sonja Flemming/CBS

Don't let his size fool you, he is handsome, charming and wears his hair short and neatly cropped.  He also has soulful eyes that can easily melt women and children.

Although he did not show up at the beginning of the series, Omar Benson Miller was brought into the Eleventh Hour TV series playing Special Agent Felix Lee as back up to FBI agent Rachel Young (Marley Shelton) and to assist the main character of the show, Dr. Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell).

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In fact, it was revealed the reason Agent Lee was brought into a case was that he begged to help Dr. Jacob Hood on a case.

After solving the case, Agent Lee asked to work with Hood full time, stating that the work they do is amazing.

(Dr. Hood (Rufus Sewell, left), Agent Lee (Omar Benson Miller, center) and Agent Young (Marley Shelton, right) to find out what triggered it all, on ELEVENTH HOUR,

©2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Right Reserved)

He is given the job and works as somewhat of a scout, helping out the team with heading to the location and gathering the material they need by the time Dr. Hood and Agent Young get there. Though he likes the job, Felix mentions he feels a little contempt due to the lack of praise for the amount of work he does.

The tall, dark and definitely handsome Omar Benson added a nice layer to the existing coupling of Rachel and Dr. Hood.

Unfortunately the show which was initially compared to a new version of the X Files failed to win a large enough audience to keep it rolling.  CBS canceled the series at the end of the Spring 2009 Season.

(Dr. Jacob Hood (Rufus Sewell, left) and new rookie Agent Felix Lee (Omar Benson Miller, right) are sent in to investigate, on ELEVENTH HOUR, Thursday, February 19 (10:01-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network. Photo: Adam Taylor/ Warner Bros. ©2009 Warner Bros. Television. All Rights Reserved)

Although the appearance of supernatural or SciFi elements were not obvious there were many hints of those elements interwoven into the various plots which involved the eccentric Dr. Hood's investigation into a series of crimes and events without clear scientific explanation.

Most of the various episodes did involve life and death events and often put Dr. Hood, Rachel and the newly added Agent Lee (Miller) at risk.

(Image of Omar Benson Miller (center) next to Halle Berry in film Things We Lost In The Fire - 2007 - Dreamworks Pictures - All Rights Reserved).

The topics combined scientific, mathematical and philosophical topics and most fans did see lots of parallels to the original X Files series with Mulder and Scully.

Eleventh Hour debuted after CSI at 10:00 but at 11.6 million viewers retained only 50% of CSI's audience. The show came in second in its timeslot after the premiere of Life on Mars. However, where Life on Mars lost 27% of its audience in its second week, Eleventh Hour gained numbers and saw a further gain in its third week, leading CBS to increase its script order. On December 2, 2008, TV Guide reported that CBS has ordered five additional scripts bringing the series' total number of first season episodes to 18.  Sadly, the show was cancelled in May of 2009.

From Basketball to Acting

As the story goes, Omar was a college basketball player at San Jose State University.  The world of sports didn't seem to be working out as Omar had planned so he decided to investigate campus theater and found his true calling in life.   Once he started acting there was no turning back.

(Image of Omar Benson Miller in film Miracle At St. Anna - Private First Class Sam Train - All Rights Reserved).

Omar Benson has appeared in a wide range of small but notable roles since he appeared in the 2002 comedy Sorority Boys followed the same year with a role in 8 Mile with Eminem, Kim Basinger, Brittany Murphy and Mekhi Phifer.

In 2007 Omar appearred as Halle Berry's brother in Things We Lost In The Fire.  Although Eleventh Hour was canceled, Omar Benson Miller has five active film projects including playing the complicated character of Sam Train in Spike Lee's Mircle At St. Anna and The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Mircle At St. Anna

Although Miracle At St. Anna was not well received by the critics, it was a noteworthy film and Omar Benson Miller made a mark on many in his role.  He told Essence.com in an interview about his part in "Miracle at St. Anna" that his character Train "can be interpreted by some as slow or dumb, and that's not the approach I took. I just felt like he had a different sort of intelligence and had country smarts. I felt his naivety and innocence were his saving grace."  He also loved working with Spike Lee and said "Spike's ingenuity is unmatched. It's beautiful to work with someone who is so passionate about the art and the project."

(Image of Omar Benson Miller in film Miracle At St. Anna with Michael Ealy - Private First Class Sam Train - All Rights Reserved).

No Roles Writter Specifically For Omar

As far as his size and height Omar told Essence.com "none of the roles I get are actually written for me. As a 6-foot, 6-inch, 300-pound Back man, I've done everything I can to stay out of that box that Hollywood tries to put me in. I've been able to play a variety of roles, like the character of Vern in "Shall We Dance?" with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez to the character of Neal in "Things We Lost in the Fire." I've been blessed."

Size Discrimination In The World

Omar is also aware of size discrimination in the world.  He said "people think that somehow size makes you uncoordinated or incompetent. There is a lot of size discrimination out there, and I see the difference in the way people treated me when I was 360 pounds versus how they treat me when I'm 290-from the industry to day-to-day people on the street."

Omar said "everything is catered to normal-sized people. It's hard to find a size 15 shoe, cars [to accommodate my size], clothes and all of that. I think it's a great situation that I get to overcome and break down stereotypes and represent the oversized man in society. I'm big-sexy. Women know what's up because they love to be protected. My mother loves big men so she boosted my confidence level through the roof (laughs)!"

Eleventh Hour Big-Sexy Vibe

Indeed Omar definitely provided that big-sexy vibe in Eleventh Hour.  Although there is talk of some other network picking up Eleventh Hour from CBS, no news has been released on that goal.  Hopefully if Eleventh Hour is continued Omar Benson Miller will be part of the cast because he was a winning addition to the cast and crew.

Regardless whether Eleventh Hour and Omar return, there is no doubt that this fabulous actor will continue to make his mark on Hollywood as a talented supporting actor.

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