Collins Pennie

{{Short description|American actor}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Collins Curtis Pennie

| image = Collins Pennie The Ugly Truth Premier.jpg

| caption = Collins Pennie in 2010

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1985|6|20}}

| birth_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S.

| occupation = Actor

| years_active = 2002–present

| website =

}}

Collins Pennie (born June 20, 1985) is an American actor. He is known for his roles in Prom Night as Ronnie Heflin, and in In Time as Time Keeper Jaeger. He also starred in the films Fame and Stomp the Yard: Homecoming.

Early life

Pennie was born in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. He is of Trinidadian descent.

Career

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Pennie began his career with roles on NBC's hit drama Law & Order and as a drug-addicted thief on Without a Trace. His television work quickly caught the eye of Ford Model Management, who signed Pennie, leading him to a successful "ck one" fragrance campaign for Calvin Klein.

Pennie currently resides in Los Angeles, New York and Atlanta. While not on camera, he spends most of his time dancing, writing and mastering his many crafts.

Pennie hit the stage in the summer of 2010, appearing in Rent with actors Neil Patrick Harris and Wayne Brady, performing in a three-day limited engagement at the Hollywood Bowl. Pennie's prolific dance moves also landed him the lead male role in Beyonce's "Run the World (Girls)" video, which was released May 18, 2011.

Pennie has also continued to work in film, appearing in Ryan Fleck's award-winning Half Nelson (2007) opposite Ryan Gosling and Shareeka Epps. He had lead roles in Prom Night (2008) and the musical Fame (2009), an adaptation of the 1980 cult classic. In 2010, Collins had the lead role in Stomp the Yard: Homecoming, in which he played Chance Harris, a college student struggling to balance between his school, work, relationships and opportunity to perform in the national step competition. On television, Collins starred on the hit series hospital drama Hawthorne, where he worked alongside Jada Pinkett Smith and Michael Vartan. He also appeared in the Fox Feature film In Time, starring opposite Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfried and Cillian Murphy. In early 2013 Collins made his return to television in Regina King's directorial debut, Let The Church Say Amen. The film was based on ReShonda Tate Billingley's 2005 novel of the same name. Royal Ties, the company King runs with her sister, Reina King, produced this film for BET Networks alongside Queen Latifah's Flava Unit Company.

= Television =

In 2004, Pennie made his television debut on the long-running NBC crime-drama Law & Order. He has since starred on other television shows such as Without a Trace, and played Marcus Leeds in the hospital drama Hawthorne.{{cite web

|title=TNT Press Release Teases Season Two of Hawthorne

|date=2010-06-21

|url=http://www.tv.com/tnt-press-release-teases-season-two-of-hawthorne/webnews/102445.html

|accessdate=2010-11-04

}}{{Dead link|date=December 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

= Film =

Pennie has appeared in Half Nelson (2007),

{{cite news

|newspaper=The Age

|title=Half Nelson

|first=Jake

|last=Wilson

|date=2007-04-25

|url=http://www.theage.com.au/news/film-reviews/half-nelson/2007/04/25/1177459750662.html

}} the 2008 version of Prom Night,

{{cite news

|title=Prom Night

|date=2008-06-05

|newspaper=RTÉ

|url=http://www.rte.ie/ten/2008/0605/promnight.html

}} and the musical Fame, an adaptation of the 1980 cult classic.

{{cite news

|newspaper=Herald Sun

|title=Leigh Paatsch Movie Review - Fame

|first=Leigh

|last=Paatsch

|date=2009-09-30

|url=http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/special-reports/leigh-paatsch-movie-review-fame/story-e6frf8r6-1225781236639

}} In 2010, he had the lead role in Stomp the Yard: Homecoming.{{citation needed|date=May 2020}} In 2011, he appeared in the film In Time, starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Seyfried.

In September 2012, Pennie will star in actress Regina King's directorial debut Let The Church Say Amen which is adapted from ReShonda Tate Billingsley's 2005 best-selling novel. The film will premiered on BET in 2013.

= Theater =

In the summer of 2010, Pennie appeared in Rent with actors Neil Patrick Harris and Wayne Brady in a three-day limited engagement at the Hollywood Bowl.

{{cite news

|newspaper=Broadway World

|author=BWW News Desk

|title=RENT Plays the Hollywood Bowl, 8/6-8/8

|date=2010-08-06

|url=http://broadwayworld.com/article/RENT_Plays_the_Hollywood_Bowl_8688_20100806

}}

== Music video ==

Pennie played the lead male role in Beyoncé's "Run The World (Girls)" video, which was released 18 May 2011 on Beyoncé's website and American Idol.

Filmography

class="wikitable"
colspan=3 | Film
Year

! Film

! Role

2005

| God's Forgotten House

| Dwain

2006

| Half Nelson

| Mike

2008

| Prom Night

| Ronnie Hefflin

2009

| Fired Up!

| Adam

2009

|Fame

| Malik Washburn

2010

| Stomp the Yard: Homecoming

| Chance Harris

2011

| In Time

| Timekeeper Jaeger

2013

| Reckless

|

class="wikitable"
colspan=4 |Television
Year

! Title

! Role

! Notes

2002

| As the World Turns

| Sean

| 2 episodes

rowspan=2|2004

| Law & Order

| Jimmy Gordon

| 1 episode

All Falls Down

| Tyronw

| TV movie

2005

| Without a Trace

| Chris

| 1 episode

rowspan=2|2007

| Shark

| Lewis Beamon

| 1 episode

Hell on Earth

| Jared

| TV movie

2008

| CSI: Miami

| Tommy

| 2 episodes

2010

| Hawthorne

| Marcus Leeds

| 9 episodes

2010

| CSI: Miami

| Shane Newsome

| 1 episode

2013

| Let the Church Say Amen

| Jonathan Jackson

| A BET original movie

2013

| Revenge

| Eli

| 2 episodes

References

{{reflist}}