Musical artist Common will be among the presenters on tonight's 88th ANNUAL ACADEMY AWARDS. On tonight's red carpet, the Oscar winner told E!'s Ryan Seacrest that one of his goals in the near future is to do live theater. He went on to explain that he has many friends now performing on stage and is "looking forward" to performing in front of a live audience.
Common recently portrayed the Bouncer, the gatekeeper of the entrance to the Emerald City in NBC's THE WIZ LIVE! Common and
John Legend won Academy Awards in 2015 for Best Original Song for their composition of the single "Glory" from the 2014 film "Selma." He also co-starred in the movie - about the 1965 voting rights marches from Selma to Montgomery, Ala. - as 1960s civil rights movement leader James Bevel.
As an actor, Common is also known for his role as recently freed slave Elam Ferguson on the
AMC series "Hell on Wheels." Other roles include work on the films "American Gangster," "Terminator Salvation," "New Year's Eve" and voice-over support in "Happy Feet 2."
An accomplished musical artist, Common is a two-time Grammy Award winner for the singles "Love of My Life" (with
Erykah Badu) and "Southside" (featuring Kayne West), respectively. Common has released 10 albums, his most recent being "Nobody's Smiling," which debuted at #6 on the Billboard 200 Chart upon its release in 2014. It's his highest-charting album since his 2007 disc "Finding Forrester," which debuted at #1.
Photo Credit: Walter McBride / WM Photos
