Athlete/musician-turned-actor Antwon Tanner, originally from the south side of Chicago, developed a flourishing screen career that started out with roles in the films The Wood, Never Die Alone, and
Coach Carter. Tanner is good-humored and his likable persona plays as well on the small screen as the silver screen. He became a familiar face to television viewers thanks to prominent supporting roles in such shows as Boston Public, as a series regular on One Tree Hill, and now in BLACK JESUS.

Though the streets of Chicago offered little in the way of creative inspiration during Tanner’s formative years, the athletically inclined young man made a name for himself in the two-guard position during his time at both Corliss and King high schools as well as playing at DePaul University. Tanner eschewed sports in favor of developing his musical talents following a chance meeting with an agent who started represent him. It didn’t take the aspiring talent long to parlay his musical abilities into an acting career. A role opposite former Cheers star Rhea Pearlman in the 1996 basketball drama Sunset Park served as an ideal introduction to the screen along with Terrance Howard and Gary Dourdan.

In 1997 Tanner received the chance of a lifetime when he received the opportunity to appear on screen opposite personal role model Samuel L. Jackson in the drama One Eight Seven. A successful run of film and TV roles had Tanner coming into his own as an actor, and following an appearance in the Takeshi Kitano gangster drama as a wisecracking thug in Never Die Alone opposite DMX, David Arquette and Michael Ealy. Once again, Tanner could be seen opposite Jackson — basketball in hand — in 2005’s Coach Carter. The small screen came knocking when he got the offer to play Skills on One Tree Hill for over 100 episodes, from the pilot through the end of the series for nearly 10 years. Most recently Tanner has been working on the Cartoon Network series, BLACK JESUS, as well as other feature films coming down the pipeline.