he started his acting career in the late 1990s. he appeared in off-broadway stage productions. among his first movie roles were "bad company" and "kissing jessica stein". his breakout role was in 2002's "barbershop", in which he played a reformed street criminal named ricky nash. he played that role again in the sequel, "barbershop 2: back in business", in 2004. in 2003, he played slap jack in "2 fast 2 furious". later in 2004, ealy appeared in "never die alone" with dmx. he appeared in mariah carey's music video for her hit single "get your number". he played dominic in "think like a man" in 2012.