Born in 1972 in Chicago, Illinois, Lonnie Lynn Jr. would become the underground rapper Common, making his album debut with Can I Borrow a Dollar? An artist known for often thoughtful, verbose lyricism and exploring varied sounds, his later albums included Like Water for Chocolate, Electric Circus, and Be, among others. A Grammy winner, Common has also turned to acting, as seen with roles in projects like Just Wright, The Odd Life of Timothy Green and Selma. For the latter film, he and vocalist/musician John Legend have won a Golden Globe and an Oscar for the song "Glory."
Known For
Credits
Cast Credits
Silo (2023)
Starring as Robert Sims
(9 episodes)
- Episode 1x10: Outside (Jun 30, 2023)
- Episode 1x09: The Getaway (Jun 23, 2023)
- Episode 1x08: Hanna (Jun 16, 2023)
- Episode 1x07: The Flamekeepers (Jun 9, 2023)
- Episode 1x06: The Relic (Jun 2, 2023)
- Episode 1x05: The Janitor's Boy (May 26, 2023)
- Episode 1x04: Truth (May 19, 2023)
- Episode 1x03: Machines (May 12, 2023)
- Episode 1x02: Holston's Pick (May 5, 2023)
Storybots: Answer Time (2022)
Guest starring as Various Characters
- Episode 1x03: Glue (Nov 21, 2022) [Special Guest Star]
CBS Mornings (2021)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2024-07-12: Common, Pete Rock, Johnnyswim (Jul 12, 2024)
Bookmarks (2020)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 1x09: Common Reads Let's Talk About Race (Sep 1, 2020)
Never Have I Ever (2020)
Guest starring as Dr. Chris Jackson
(4 episodes)
- Episode 2x09: ...stalked my own mother (Jul 15, 2021)
- Episode 2x07: ...begged for forgiveness (Jul 15, 2021)
- Episode 2x06: ...betrayed a friend (Jul 15, 2021)
- Episode 2x01: ...been a playa (Jul 15, 2021)
Jim Henson's Fraggle Rock Rock On! (2020)
Starring as Common
(2 episodes)
- Episode 1x06: Party Down in Fraggle Rock! (May 26, 2020)
- Episode 1x04: A Common Connection (May 12, 2020)
The Kelly Clarkson Show (2019)
Guest starring as Common
(2 episodes)
- Episode 5x60: Common, Alaqua Cox (Jan 23, 2024)
- Episode 2x03: Common (Sep 23, 2020)
Activate: The Global Citizen Movement (2019)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 1x02: Ending Cash Bail (Sep 12, 2019)
The Chi (2018)
Guest starring as Rafiq
(4 episodes)
- Episode 2x05: Feeling the Heat (May 5, 2019) [Special Guest Star]
- Episode 1x08: Wallets (Mar 4, 2018) [Special Guest Star]
- Episode 1x06: Penetrate a Fraud (Feb 18, 2018) [Special Guest Star]
- Episode 1x04: Quaking Grass (Jan 28, 2018) [Special Guest Star]
The Beat with Ari Melber (2017)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2023-09-11: Episode 177 (Sep 11, 2023)
Chelsea (2016)
Guest starring as Common
(2 episodes)
- Episode 1x89: We Got to See a Beacon of Light (Dec 15, 2016)
- Episode 1x34: Dinner Party: The God Question (Aug 3, 2016)
The Lion Guard (2016)
Guest starring as Kiburi
- Episode 3x01: Battle for the Pride Lands (Aug 3, 2019)
The Daily Show with Trevor Noah (2015)
Guest starring as Common
(2 episodes)
- Episode 2020-08-18: Common & Veronica Chambers (Aug 18, 2020)
- Episode 2017-10-16: Common (Oct 16, 2017)
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert (2015)
Guest starring as Common
(5 episodes)
- Episode 2024-01-18: Common, Steven Wright (Jan 18, 2024)
- Episode 2020-12-04: Common, Andrea Bocelli (Dec 4, 2020)
- Episode 2019-05-06: Common, Rachel Dratch, Maren Morris (May 6, 2019)
- Episode 2018-11-30: Michelle Obama, Common (Nov 30, 2018)
- Episode 2018-01-08: Liam Neeson, Michael Wolff, Andra Day & Common (Jan 8, 2018)
The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore (2015)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2015-02-04: Black Fatherhood (Feb 4, 2015)
Late Night with Seth Meyers (2014)
Guest starring as Common
(4 episodes)
- Episode 2024-01-22: Common, Tom Hollander, Dave Hidalgo Jr. (Jan 22, 2024)
- Episode 2023-01-17: Common, Jonathan Lemire, Cast of Some Like It Hot, Daniel Fang (Jan 17, 2023)
- Episode 2018-01-30: Glenn Howerton, Common, Chloe Benjamin, Nikki Glaspie (Jan 30, 2018)
- Episode 2016-11-01: Common, Pamela Adlon, John Prine, Iris Dement, Hannah Welton (Nov 1, 2016)
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2014)
Guest starring as Common
(9 episodes)
- Episode 2024-07-10: Common, Pete Rock, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, Posdnuos; Bilal, Keith Robinson (Jul 10, 2024)
- Episode 2021-08-19: Octavia Spencer, Common, Black Thought, Seun Kuti (Aug 19, 2021)
- Episode 2020-11-04: Sarah Silverman, Dua Lipa, Steve Kornacki, Common ft. Black Thought & PJ (Nov 4, 2020)
- Episode 2020-08-03: Common, Matisse Thybulle, Rufus Wainwright (Aug 3, 2020)
- Episode 2019-08-12: Common, Kate Upton, Swizz Beatz (Aug 12, 2019)
- Episode 2018-09-28: Paul Giamatti, Common, Shin Lim (Sep 28, 2018)
- Episode 2017-02-10: Lena Dunham, Common, Kate Berlant & John Early (Feb 10, 2017)
- Episode 2016-10-27: Martin Short, Steve Martin, Ruth Negga, Common (Oct 27, 2016)
- Episode 2016-04-11: Ben Kingsley, Common, Ice Cube (Apr 11, 2016)
Live! with Kelly & Michael (2012)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 4x158: Common, Saoirse Ronan (Apr 15, 2016)
Live! with Kelly (2011)
Guest starring as Co-Host
- Episode 2x12: Common, Maya Rudolph, the winner of the Scripps National Spelling Bee (May 31, 2016)
Hell on Wheels (2011)
Starring as Elam Ferguson
(30 episodes)
- Episode 3x10: Get Behind the Mule (Oct 5, 2013)
- Episode 3x09: Fathers and Sins (Sep 28, 2013)
- Episode 3x08: It Happened in Boston (Sep 21, 2013)
- Episode 3x07: Cholera (Sep 14, 2013)
- Episode 3x06: One Less Mule (Sep 7, 2013)
- Episode 3x05: Searchers (Aug 31, 2013)
- Episode 3x04: The Game (Aug 24, 2013)
- Episode 3x03: Range War (Aug 17, 2013)
- Episode 3x02: Eminent Domain (Aug 10, 2013)
- Episode 3x01: Big Bad Wolf (Aug 10, 2013)
- Episode 2x10: Blood Moon Rising (Oct 7, 2012)
- Episode 2x09: Blood Moon (Oct 7, 2012)
- Episode 2x08: The Lord's Day (Sep 30, 2012)
- Episode 2x07: The White Spirit (Sep 23, 2012)
- Episode 2x06: Purged Away with Blood (Sep 16, 2012)
- Episode 2x05: The Railroad Job (Sep 9, 2012)
- Episode 2x04: Scabs (Sep 2, 2012)
- Episode 2x03: Slaughterhouse (Aug 26, 2012)
- Episode 2x02: Durant, Nebraska (Aug 19, 2012)
- Episode 2x01: Viva La Mexico (Aug 12, 2012)
- Episode 1x10: God of Chaos (Jan 15, 2012)
- Episode 1x09: Timshel (Jan 8, 2012)
- Episode 1x08: Derailed (Jan 1, 2012)
- Episode 1x07: Revelations (Dec 18, 2011)
- Episode 1x06: Pride, Pomp and Circumstance (Dec 11, 2011)
- Episode 1x05: Bread and Circuses (Dec 4, 2011)
- Episode 1x04: Jamais je ne t'oublierai (Nov 27, 2011)
- Episode 1x03: A New Birth of Freedom (Nov 20, 2011)
- Episode 1x02: Immoral Mathematics (Nov 13, 2011)
- Episode 1x01: Pilot (Nov 6, 2011)
Watch What Happens Live (2009)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 11x116: Liv Tyler & Common (Jul 16, 2014)
Late Night with Jimmy Fallon (2009)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2013-08-02: Bryan Cranston, Common, Miranda Hart, Robin Thicke (Aug 2, 2013)
Jimmy Kimmel Live (2003)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2018-02-22: Oprah Winfrey, Timothee Chalamet, Andra Day and Common (Feb 22, 2018)
The View (1997)
Guest starring as Common
(3 episodes)
- Episode 27x88: Common, Jamie Oliver (Jan 23, 2024)
- Episode 26x177: Common, Dr. Jennifer Ashton (Jun 9, 2023)
- Episode 21x153: Andra Day, Common, Jenifer Lewis (Nov 13, 2017)
Screen Actors Guild Awards (1995)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2016 Special: SAG Nominations (Dec 14, 2016)
The Simpsons (1989)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 28x12: The Great Phatsby, Part One (Jan 15, 2017)
Good Morning America (1975)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2024-01-22: Common, Robert Downey Jr., Tom Kostigen, Tom Hollander, Naomi Watts (Jan 22, 2024)
Bayou Classic (1974)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2023-11-25: The 50th Annual Bayou Classic: Southern Jaguars vs. Grambling State Tigers (Nov 25, 2023)
Grammy Awards (1959)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2020-01-26: The 62nd Annual Grammy Awards (Jan 26, 2020)
Tony Awards (1957)
Guest starring as Common
(2 episodes)
- Episode 2023-06-11: The 76th Annual Tony Awards (Jun 11, 2023)
- Episode 2016-06-12: The 70th Annual Tony Awards (Jun 12, 2016)
Oscars (1953)
Guest starring as Common
(3 episodes)
- Episode 2018-03-04: The 90th Annual Academy Awards (Mar 4, 2018)
- Episode 2016-02-28: The 88th Annual Academy Awards (Feb 28, 2016)
- Episode 2015-02-22: The 87th Annual Academy Awards (Feb 22, 2015)
Today (1952)
Guest starring as Common
- Episode 2023-06-08: Mike Tirico, Tom Holland, Common (Jun 8, 2023)