Education
University of Southern California.
University of Southern California.
He is known for his role as esoteric Doctorate.J., Tone Def, in the 1994 satirical rap mockumentary, Fear of a Black Hat. He has co-starred in popular films such as Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Tales From the Hood, Planet of the Apes, Lost Treasure and The Pursuit of Happyness. Lawrence is best known for his role as Big Mike on the National Broadcasting Company series Chuck.
He has made guest appearances on many television programs, most notably Heroes, My Name Is Earl, Crossing Jordan, Dharma & Greg, Malcolm in the Middle, Touched by an Angel, Malcolm & Eddie, Men Behaving Badly, Seinfeld, Murphy Brown, Good Luck Charlie and Martin.
He is also featured on the Radio Series Adventures in Odyssey as "Editor Washington". In tenth grade, he became involved with his high school’s debate team—immersing himself in forensics competitions and theater.
There he went on to capture the collegiate Bovero-Tabor Award, awarded to the top junior college speaker in the country. Lawrence gained the attention of the University of Southern California’s debate team coaches, and was awarded a full scholarship to attend the university.
While at University of Southern California, he traveled the nation competing in tournaments.
Meanwhile, he was gaining valuable experience in his craft by moonlighting at the Los Angeles Theater Center. There, a Hollywood talent agent noticed his skill and landed Lawrence his first job in television, a role on Hill Street Blues. After graduation from University of Southern California, he worked with the San Francisco Mime Troupe while also performing standup comedy throughout the United States, Australia, and Canada, opening for major acts, such as Jerry Seinfeld and Rodney Dangerfield.
Lawrence"s work in live theater led to a Dramalogue Award for his performance in Reza Abdoh’s, Minimanta.
lieutenant was this role which attracted the attention of director, James Cameron, who then cast him as the "burly insane asylum attendant" in Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
After winning his school district’s Literary Olympiad competition, Lawrence went on to compete at the state and national levels as a member of the Cerritos Community College forensics squad.