Evan Olav Ross-Naess (born August 26, 1988), is an American actor and musician. He made his acting debut in the comedy-drama film '' ATL'' (2006), and has since starred in the films ''

Pride Pride is defined by Merriam-Webster as "reasonable self-esteem" or "confidence and satisfaction in oneself". A healthy amount of pride is good, however, pride sometimes is used interchangeably with "conceit" or "arrogance" (among other words) wh ...

'' (2007), ''

According to Greta ''According to Greta'' (released as ''Surviving Summer'' in the United Kingdom) is a 2009 American drama film directed by Nancy Bardawil and starring Hilary Duff, Evan Ross, Melissa Leo, Michael Murphy and Ellen Burstyn. Plot Greta is 17, a bri ...

'' (2009), '' Mooz-lum'' (2010), '' 96 Minutes'' (2011), '' Supremacy'' (2014), and '' The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1'' (2014) and '' Part 2'' (2015). On television, Ross had a recurring role as Charlie Selby in the season 3 of

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

's teen drama series '' 90210'' and a regular role as Angel Rivera in the season 2 of

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

's musical drama series ''

Star A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...

.'' Ross also starred on

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's procedural drama series '' Wicked City'' as Diver Hawkes. As a musician, he released his first single "Yes Me" in February 2011, and his second single "How To Live Alone" in May 2015. Ross is the son of the late mountaineer Arne Næss Jr. and

the Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group and a premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s. Founded as the Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful ...

lead singer

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. She rose to fame as the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown's most successful act during the 1960s and one of the world's best-selling girl groups o ...

. He has been married since 2014 to singer-songwriter

Ashlee Simpson Ashley Nicolle Ross ( Simpson; born October 3, 1984), known professionally as Ashlee Simpson, is an American singer and actress. The younger sister of singer and actress Jessica Simpson, she began her career as a back-up dancer for her sister ...

, with whom he has two children.

Early life

Ross was born Evan Olav Næss in

Greenwich, Connecticut Greenwich (, ) is a New England town, town in southwestern Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. At the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census, the town had a total population of 63,518. The largest town on Connecticut's Gold Coast (Conne ...

, to businessman and mountaineer Arne Næss Jr. and entertainer

. His father was of German and Norwegian descent and his mother is African-American. His paternal great-uncle was Norwegian philosopher

Arne Næss Arne Dekke Eide Næss (; 27 January 1912 – 12 January 2009) was a Norwegian philosopher who coined the term " deep ecology", an important intellectual and inspirational figure within the environmental movement of the late twentieth centur ...

. Ross has one older full brother, Ross Næss. His parents divorced in 2000. Ross has three older maternal half-sisters, Rhonda, whose biological father is

Berry Gordy Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record la ...

, and Tracee and Chudney from his mother's marriage to

Robert Ellis Silberstein Robert Ellis Silberstein (also known as Bob Ellis; born January 5, 1946) is an American music executive and businessman. During his career, he managed many musicians, including Billy Preston, Diana Ross, Rufus, the Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood ...

. He also has three older paternal half-siblings from his father's first marriage, Christoffer, Katinka, and

Leona Leona is a female given name derived from the Latin word ''leo'' for "lion". People and fictional characters named Leona include: People *Leona (wrestler) (born 1980), Japanese professional wrestler *Leona Aglukkaq, Canadian politician *Leona B ...

, and two younger paternal half-brothers from his father's third marriage, Nicklas and Louis. In January 2004, Ross' father was killed at age 66 in a mountain climbing accident near

Cape Town Cape Town ( af, Kaapstad; , xh, iKapa) is one of South Africa's three capital cities, serving as the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. It is the legislative capital of the country, the oldest city in the country, and the second largest ...

Career

Acting

Ross began his career as an actor while a student at

Greenwich High School Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students. It offers over 295 courses and a wide variety of co-cu ...

. His first major role was in the film, '' ATL'', released in March 2006, in which he co-starred with rappers T.I. and

Big Boi Antwan André Patton (born February 1, 1975), better known by his stage name Big Boi, is an American rapper, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is best known for being a member of the southern hip hop duo Outkast alongside André 3000. ...

. Ross received rave reviews for his role as troubled teenager Amare McCarter in the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

television film ''

Life Support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform basic ...

'', starring alongside

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

and his real-life half-sister

Tracee Ellis Ross Tracee Joy Silberstein (born October 29, 1972), known professionally as Tracee Ellis Ross, is an American actress. She is known for her lead roles in the television series ''Girlfriends (2000 TV series), Girlfriends'' (2000–2008) and ''Black- ...

, who portrayed his elder sister in the film. Ross later co-starred in the biographical film ''

'', in which he portrayed a good-natured teen with a

speech impediment Speech disorders or speech impairments are a type of communication disorder in which normal speech is disrupted. This can mean stuttering, lisps, etc. Someone who is unable to speak due to a speech disorder is considered mute. Speech skills are ...

. He also appeared (uncredited) in an episode of '' Girlfriends''. The episode, titled "What's Black-A-Lackin'?", also guest-starred

Chrisette Michele Chrisette Michele Payne (born December 8, 1982) is an American R&B and soul singer. She won a Grammy Award for Best Urban/Alternative Performance in 2009 for her song " Be OK" (featuring will.i.am). She was previously signed to Motown Record ...

, and was directed by his half-sister Tracee. Evan Ross 2008

Ross has appeared in several other films, including the thriller ''

Linewatch ''Linewatch'' is a 2008 American thriller film starring Cuba Gooding Jr., and directed by Kevin Bray. The film was released on direct-to-DVD in the United States on October 21, 2008. Plot Michael Dixon (Cuba Gooding Jr.) is an agent working l ...

'' with

Cuba Gooding, Jr. Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appeare ...

(2008), the drama '' Gardens of the Night'' (2008), and the crime drama film ''

Life Is Hot in Cracktown ''Life Is Hot in Cracktown'' is a 2009 crime drama film based on Buddy Giovinazzo's 1993 collection of short stories with the same title. Giovinazzo directed and wrote the film. Plot The film intertwines several unsettling stories of people in a ...

'' (2009). He then starred as Julie, the love interest of

Hilary Duff Hilary Erhard Duff (born September 28, 1987) is an American actress and singer. She is the recipient of various accolades, including seven Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, four Teen Choice Awards and two Young Artist Awards. She began her act ...

's character, in the 2009 comedy-drama film ''

''. Ross has also appeared in

The Notorious B.I.G. Christopher George Latore Wallace (May 21, 1972 – March 9, 1997), better known by his stage names the Notorious B.I.G., Biggie Smalls, or simply Biggie, was an American rapper. Rooted in East Coast hip hop and particularly gangsta ...

music video for the song " Nasty Girl" (2005), and the

Lionel Richie Lionel Brockman Richie Jr. (born June 20, 1949) is an American singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He rose to fame in the 1970s as a songwriter and the co-lead singer of funk band the Commodores; writing and recordi ...

music video for the song " Just Go" (2009). In 2010, Ross joined the cast of

's teen drama series '' 90210'' in its third season, portraying Liam Court's (

Matt Lanter Matthew MacKendree Lanter (born April 1, 1983) is an American actor and model. He began his modeling career in 2004. The same year, he acted in the film '' Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius'' and the television series '' Point Pleasant''. He went ...

) half-brother and the love interest to

Annie Wilson This is a list of the characters that have appeared on '' 90210'', an American teen drama. The series introduces Annie Wilson (Shenae Grimes) and her adopted brother Dixon (Tristan Wilds), who move from Kansas to Beverly Hills with their father H ...

, played by

Shenae Grimes Shenae Grimes-Beech (; born October 24, 1989), previously credited as Shenae Grimes, is a Canadian actress. She portrayed Annie Wilson on The CW series '' 90210'', a spin-off of Fox's ''Beverly Hills, 90210''. Prior to that, she had a recurring ...

. That same year, he appeared in '' Case 219'', and the critically acclaimed film festival winner '' Mooz-lum'', also starring

Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the ''Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films include ...

and

Nia Long Nia Talita Long (born October 30, 1970) is an American actress. Best known for her work in Black cinema, Long rose to prominence after starring in the film ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), and for her portrayal of Beullah "Lisa" Wilkes on the NBC sit ...

. He then starred in the comedy-drama '' The Family Tree'' (2011) and co-starred alongside

Brittany Snow Brittany Anne Snow (born March 9, 1986) is an American actress. She rose to prominence after appearing in the CBS soap opera ''Guiding Light'' (1998–2001), for which she won a Young Artist Award for Best Young Actress and was nominated for two ...

in the thriller '' 96 Minutes'', which was released April 28, 2012, in select theaters. Ross won the Breakout Acting Award at

SXSW South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, Te ...

for his performance in the film. In 2012, Ross had a supporting role in the

Jay A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For example, the Eurasian m ...

and

Mark Duplass Mark David Duplass (born December 7, 1976) is an American filmmaker, actor, writer, and musician. With his brother Jay Duplass, he started the film production company Duplass Brothers Productions in 1996. Duplass has written and directed films, ...

-directed comedy-drama ''

Jeff, Who Lives at Home ''Jeff, Who Lives at Home'' is a 2011 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass, starring Jason Segel and Ed Helms, and co-starring Judy Greer and Susan Sarandon. The film premiered on September 14, 2011, at the 20 ...

''. The following year, he portrayed music producer

Dallas Austin Dallas L. Austin (born December 29, 1970) is an American musician, songwriter, record producer, and film producer. Biography Early life During a 2019 interview with DJ Vlad, Dallas Austin detailed previously unknown or unconfirmed events inv ...

in the VH1 biopic '' CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story'', about the 1990s

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

girl group

TLC TLC may refer to: Arts and entertainment Television * ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2 * TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network ** TLC (Asia), an A ...

(the film was named after their second album ''

CrazySexyCool ''CrazySexyCool'' is the second studio album by American girl group TLC, released on November 15, 1994, by LaFace and Arista Records. Following the group's record deal, they released their debut album '' Ooooooohhh... On the TLC Tip'' in 1992 ...

''). He then appeared in the drama film '' All the Wilderness'' (2014), which premiered at SXSW; the

Courteney Cox Courteney Bass Cox (previously Courteney Cox Arquette; born June 15, 1964) is an American actress and filmmaker. She gained international recognition for her starring role as Monica Geller on the NBC sitcom '' Friends'', which aired from 1994 ...

-directed comedy-drama ''

Just Before I Go ''Just Before I Go'', previously entitled ''Hello I Must Be Going'', is a 2014 American black comedy drama film directed by Courteney Cox, in her second directorial effort (following her debut with the Lifetime original film ''TalhotBlond''), fro ...

'' (2014), which premiered at the

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by TriBeCa Productions, Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive progra ...

; and the drama film '' Supremacy'' (2014), which premiered at the

Los Angeles Film Festival The LA Film Festival was an annual film festival that was held in Los Angeles, California, and usually took place in June. It showcased independent, international, feature, documentary and short films, as well as web series, music videos, episod ...

. Also in 2014, Ross portrayed the role of Messalla in '' The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1'', released on November 21. He reprised the role in '' Mockingjay – Part 2'', which was released on November 20, 2015. In July 2015, he joined the cast of

's crime drama series '' Wicked City'', portraying crime scene paparazzo Diver Hawkes, replacing

Darrell Britt-Gibson Darrell Hadari Britt-Gibson (born August 4, 1986) is an American actor, known for his role as Darius "O-Dog" Hill on the HBO series ''The Wire''. He has also appeared on the Showtime series ''Californication'', the Starz series ''Power'', the ...

in the role. Ross has a major role as Angel Rivera in the second and third seasons of

's drama series ''

''. In 2018, Ross starred in a reality show alongside his wife Ashlee Simpson Ross called '' Ashlee+Evan'', which lasted 6 episodes.

Music

In 2007, Ross began recording his debut album, which will encompass R&B and pop. After four years in the studio, Ross released his single "Yes Me" on February 25, 2011, which was produced by Tony DeNiro and written by DeNiro and Ross. Ross released a sneak preview of another song, "How To Live Alone", on his

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

on December 5, 2014. On May 14, 2015, Ross released the song as a single, featuring rapper T.I. In 2016, Ross was featured on DJWS & Hero's song, "They". Ross is one-half of the duo, Ashlee + Evan, with his wife. Ross recorded the duets, "Don't Look At Me" and "All I Want" for the series ''Star'' with Brittany O'Grady. In 2017, Ross was featured on "Restricted" by Kronic. Ross and his wife released a duet collaboration, '' Ashlee + Evan'', on October 12, 2018.

Personal life

Ross became engaged to singer-songwriter

in January 2014, and the two married on his mother's estate in

Connecticut Connecticut () is the southernmost state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. Its cap ...

on August 30, 2014. They have two children together, a daughter named Jagger Snow Ross (born July 30, 2015) and a son named Ziggy Blu Ross (born October 29, 2020), and Ross is the step-father of Bronx Mowgli Wentz (born November 20, 2008), Simpson's son by her previous husband, musician

Pete Wentz Peter Lewis Kingston Wentz III (born June 5, 1979) is an American musician best known as the bassist and lyricist for the rock band Fall Out Boy since 2001. Before Fall Out Boy, Wentz was a fixture of the Chicago hardcore scene and was the lea ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Evan Olav 1988 births Living people 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American musicians African-American male actors American male film actors American male television actors American people of German descent American people of Norwegian descent Male actors from Greenwich, Connecticut Musicians from Greenwich, Connecticut 21st-century American male musicians Greenwich High School alumni 21st-century African-American musicians 20th-century African-American people