Born Andre Lauren Benjamin in Atlanta in 1975, it didn’t take long for Andre to find his musical inclinations. He met “Big Boi” Patton while a sophomore in high school and joined forces to create Outkast. Combining different musical elements in the hip-hop genre, Andre took the nickname Andre 3000 at the time of the Stankonia album release.
Releasing a fifth record a couple years later, it was only a matter of time before Andre found himself leaning towards movies. Though he had bit roles for years, leave it to the Harrison Ford action/comedy “Hollywood Homicide” to put Andre in a substantial role as rapper Silk Brown in 2003. By 2005, he was Dabu in the John Travolta vehicle “Be Cool.” A notable performance as Percival in the musical crime drama “Idlewild” saw a reunion of sorts with his former recording partner, Big Boi, while he also spearheaded the cast of the animated comedy series “Class of 3000” on the Cartoon Network for two seasons as the voice of Sunny Bridges.
In “Semi-Pro,” Andre tried his comedic talents alongside Woody Harrelson and Will Ferrell in the 1970s basketball comedy. The mix of a period piece and Andre’s sharp attention to his wardrobe will undoubtedly be explored in later works as he matures in his acting. He has a son with Erykah Badu who was born in 1997 and was voted the sexiest male vegetarian in 2004.
Andre on the Screen
He’s billed as a Street Radical in his screen debut in 1995 on the sci-fi show “Sliders.” Later, he would have another bit role on an episode of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” the TV show, and later on in an episode of “The Shield.” He’s in “Hollywood Homicide,” “Be Cool,” one of the “Four Brothers” in 2005, a major player in the Guy Ritchie picture “Revolver,” the voice of Elwyn the Crow in “Charlotte’s Web,” and Clarence “Coffee” Black in “Semi-Pro.”
Andre Says
On something essential:
“The world doesn’t need another clothing company. But it does need a certain funk.”
On packing heat:
“’I would want my son to carry a gun when he gets older. It’s just something you have got to have if you want to be safe.”