Donald Faison

Donald Adeosun Faison (; born June 22, 1974) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his leading role as Dr. Chris Turk in the ABC/NBC comedy-drama Scrubs (2001–2010; 2026), and a supporting role as Murray in both the film Clueless and the subsequent television series of the same name. He also starred as Phil Chase in the TV Land sitcom The Exes (2011–2015). Faison has also co-starred in the films Waiting to Exhale (1995), Remember the Titans (2000), Uptown Girls (2003), Something New (2006), Next Day Air (2009), Skyline (2010), and Kick-Ass 2 (2013).

Early life, family and education Donald Adeosun Faison was born on June 22, 1974, in Harlem, New York City, to talent agent Shirley and building manager Donald Faison. His parents were active with the National Black Theatre in Harlem. Actor Julian Horton is their first cousin. Despite sharing a surname, Faison is not related to fellow actor Frankie Faison.

Faison attended the Professional Children's School in Manhattan, and actor Dash Mihok was his classmate and best friend.

Career Faison first appeared in a 1989 commercial for Folgers coffee at age 15, in which he played the younger brother of a soldier. In 1992, he appeared with Malik Yoba in the ABC News special Prejudice: Answering Children's Questions, hosted by Peter Jennings. He had a small role in the feature film Sugar Hill starring Wesley Snipes.

Faison's breakout role was Murray Duvall in the 1995 feature film Clueless and the subsequent television series, which ran from 1996 to 1999. In 1995, he also appeared in Waiting to Exhale as Tarik, the son of Loretta Devine's character, Gloria. He was featured in New Jersey Drive. He also starred in Big Fat Liar alongside Frankie Muniz, Paul Giamatti, and Amanda Bynes. He had a recurring role as Tracy on Felicity, appeared in Remember the Titans as the running back turned safety Petey Jones, and provided voice work for various characters in the MTV animated series Clone High. He had minor roles in the sitcoms Sister, Sister and Sabrina, the Teenage Witch, and in the film Josie and the Pussycats. In 2005, Faison produced one episode of MTV's Punk'd involving his Scrubs co-star Zach Braff. He appears in music videos for Brandy's "Sittin' Up in My Room," Fall Out Boy's cover of Michael Jackson's "Beat It," and Gavin Degraw's "Chariot."

In 2008, Faison voiced Gary the Stormtrooper in Robot Chicken: Star Wars Episode II. Afterwards, he interned on the Robot Chicken show to learn more about stop motion animation, and started a Star Wars-themed Lego stop-motion show, BlackStormTrooper, on his YouTube channel, shundigga.

On February 13, 2009, Faison participated in the NBA All-Star Weekend Celebrity Game. Other celebrities participating included NBA Hall of Famers Clyde Drexler and Dominique Wilkins, NFL wide receiver Terrell Owens, actor Chris Tucker, and four Harlem Globetrotters.

In 2010, Faison starred in the Brothers Strause science fiction thriller Skyline. Faison was in the 2010 CBS comedy pilot The Odds.

As of March 2011, Faison appeared in commercials for The Sims Medieval. In 2012, he made a cameo appearance in the movie Pitch Perfect. In 2013, Faison hosted the short-lived TBS comedy sketch show Who Gets the Last Laugh?. From 2016 to 2018, he hosted the Game Show Network game show Winsanity.

From 2018 until 2020, Faison voiced pilot Hype Fazon, a character written and named for him by Dave Filoni, in Star Wars Resistance. Faison had caught Filoni's attention via his stop motion Star Wars cartoons.

Faison and Scrubs co-star Zach Braff co-host the rewatch podcast Fake Doctors, Real Friends, which launched in March 2020, sharing their stories and experiences of shooting the show. The podcast is distributed by iHeartRadio.

Faison created the web series Alabama Jackson for Adult Swim's YouTube channel, which premiered in 2022. Faison stars as the title character.

Personal life

He had his first son, Sean Faison-Ince (born 1996), with ex-girlfriend Audrey Ince.

In 1997, Faison started dating Lisa Askey, a nursing student. They married in 2001 and had three children, twins Kaya and Dade (born 1999), and Kobe (born 2001). They divorced in 2005.

Faison married his second wife, CaCee Cobb, on December 15, 2012, after six years of dating. They have two children, Rocco (born 2013) and Wilder Francis (born 2015). The wedding was held at the home of Faison's best friend, and Scrubs co-star Zach Braff, who also served as a groomsman. Serving as a bridesmaid was singer Jessica Simpson, for whom Cobb formerly worked as a personal assistant.

When Askey, Faison's first wife, died in 2017, their children moved in with Faison and Cobb.

Filmography Film Year Title Role Notes 1992 Juice Student 1994 Sugar Hill Kymie Daniels 1995 New Jersey Drive 'Tiny Dime' Credited as Donald Adeosun Faison Clueless Murray Duvall Waiting to Exhale Tarik Matthews Credited as Donald Adeosun Faison 1996 The Quest Robber Uncredited 1997 Academy Boyz Glen Lewis 1998 Butter Khaleed Can't Hardly Wait Dan 1999 Trippin' June Nelson 2000 Remember the Titans Petey Jones 2001 Double Whammy Cletis Josie and the Pussycats D.J. Uncredited 2002 Big Fat Liar Frank Jackson 2003 Ravedactyl: Project Evolution Gunner Short film Uptown Girls Huey Good Boy! Wilson Voice only 2005 King's Ransom Andre 2006 Something New Nelson McQueen Bachelor Party Vegas Ash Homie Spumoni Renato Molina / Leroy 2007 Venus & Vegas Stu 2009 Next Day Air Leo 2010 Skyline Terry 2012 Pitch Perfect Older Acapella Man 2013 Kick-Ass 2 Samuel Keers / Doctor Gravity A Snow Globe Christmas Ted Stag Ken 2014 Wish I Was Here Anthony Let's Kill Ward's Wife Ward Wonderland Ted 2016 The Perfect Match Rick Hot Bot Mr. Huffington 2017 Little Evil Larry 2018 Game Over, Man! Himself 2019 The Wave Jeff 2020 Embattled Mr. Dan Stewart

Television

Web

Music videos Year Title Artist 1995 "Sittin' Up in My Room" Brandy 1996 "Kissin' You ("Oh, Honey" Remix)" Total, Puff Daddy & Notorious B.I.G 1999 "No Doubt" Imajin "Flava" "Da Bomb" DJ Fury and RX Lord 2003 "Chariot" Gavin DeGraw 2008 "Beat It" Fall Out Boy featuring John Mayer 2013 "More Champagne" DJ Whoo Kid featuring A$AP Ferg, Problem and Wiz Khalifa 2015 "Time Machine" Ingrid Michaelson

Video games A dance that Faison performs during an episode of Scrubs is featured in the video game Fortnite. Faison's permission was not sought before including the dance, and he did not receive royalties for it.

Awards and nominations Year Award Category Nominated work Result 2002 6th OFTA Television Awards Best Actor in a New Comedy Series 2004 6th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick 1st BET Comedy AwardsOutstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series 2005 36th NAACP Image Awards 7th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick 9th Prism Awards Performance in a Comedy Series 2nd BET Comedy Awards Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series 2006 37th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series 8th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick 2007 38th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series 9th Teen Choice Awards Choice TV: Sidekick 2008 39th NAACP Image AwardsOutstanding Actor in a Comedy Series 2009 40th NAACP Image Awards 2010 41st NAACP Image Awards 2013 44th NAACP Image Awards 6th L.A. Comedy Film Festival and Screenplay Competition Awards Best Actor in a Feature Film