Wesley Snipes stars as Mr. Johnson in the new NBC drama The Player.

Snipes has an extensive film background and may be best known for his role as Blade, a human with vampire genes, in the comic book-based trilogy of the same name. The films earned more than a combined $415 million at the box office.

A master of martial arts, Snipes was born in Orlando, Florida, and got his big career break with a role in the 1986 Goldie Hawn film "Wildcats." He then landed a role on an episode of the hit NBC series "Miami Vice," and a year later was cast by iconic director Martin Scorsese in the Michael Jackson music video "Bad."

Larger roles quickly followed, including co-starring turns in such films as "Passenger 57," "Demolition Man," "Money Train," "The Fan," "Rising Sun," "New Jack City," "White Men Can't Jump" and "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar." Previous TV roles include "The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd," "America's Dream" and "The Bernie Mac Show."

Snipes has won two NAACP Image Awards for "New Jack City" and "America's Dream." He also won the best actor prize at the Venice Film Festival for his role in the film "One Night Stand."