Why Lucinda From Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins Looks So Familiar

"Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" is the 2008 Martin Lawrence comedy that we'd hesitate to call a critical darling — check out its Rotten Tomatoes page at your own risk — but it's still a crowd-pleaser with a lot of laughs and a strong cast that includes James Earl Jones, Mike Epps, Michael Clarke Duncan, Mo'Nique, Cedric the Entertainer, Joy Bryant, and Margaret Avery. Those are some of the reasons why "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" is trending on Netflix right now.

The story follows Roscoe "R.J." Jenkins (Lawrence), a celebrity talk show host who's distanced himself from his family and his hometown since making it big. When Roscoe returns home for a family reunion, he's determined to prove that he's no longer the punching bag he once was. Over the next 114 minutes of embarrassment, Roscoe and his family finally patch things up.

Along the way, Roscoe reconnects with his childhood crush, Lucinda, who's played by Nicole Ari Parker. It was the second time Parker and Lawrence collaborated, after 1999's "Blue Streak." But those are just two roles in a long career that began in 1993 and continues today.

Here's where you may know her from.

Nicole Ari Parker's breakout role came in 1997 when she co-starred in Paul Thomas Anderson's "Boogie Nights" as Becky Barnett, the adult film star who ended up leaving the business when she found her eventual husband. It was one of Parker's earliest film roles, but as she told Celebrity Page TV in 2018, she knew the movie would be iconic. "I knew, I could feel it. I mean, the vision, the scope, the shots, the authenticity, every detail, everyone's clothes, '70s vintage clothing. It was one of those jobs where you're like, 'This is gonna be epic.'"

Some of her other notable film roles include Carol Boone, wife of Denzel Washington's Coach Herman Boone in "Remember the Titans"; Sonya, wife of Romany Malco's Christian in the 2016 comedy-drama "Almost Christmas"; and Paula Sutherland, mother to Kat Graham's Sam in the 2018 thriller "How It Ends."

The "Soul Food" TV series is the Showtime family drama that continues the story of the 1997 film of the same name. It aired on the cable network from 2000 to 2004 and was one of the first network dramas about an African American family, via The Los Angeles Times. Parker played Teri Joseph, the oldest daughter of the Joseph family and a successful lawyer. (The role was originally played by Vanessa Williams in the movie).

For Parker, the role was a pivotal one in her career because it was different from what she'd previously been offered, a complex character with multiple dimensions. "'Soul Food' was great and that was a great example of Black women behind the scenes in decision-making positions because the stories that were told were given a lot of depth and humanity, and weren't this one-sided strong Black woman narrative," Parker later told REVOLT. "There was a strong Black woman who hurt, a strong Black woman who loved, a strong Black woman who's not always strong. That really trained me and it was really eye-opening for me about how television can do it when it wants to. It can really shape the visibility and understanding of people when you give the full picture in the writing."

Parker was nominated for five NAACP Image Awards for her work on the show, one for each season (via Apple TV).

Nicole Ari Parker joined the Fox drama series "Empire" during the show's fourth season in 2017 and quickly became a key member of the cast. She played Giselle Barker, ex-wife of the legendary music producer Eddie (Forest Whitaker), who took over Lucious and Cookie's Empire Entertainment record label. After Eddie was killed off at the end of Season 4, Giselle stepped into his role and ran his music-producing business. She became a series regular during Season 5 and remained one through the sixth and final season (via Deadline).

For Parker, Giselle Barker is a meaningful character, a woman in charge who has to work harder than her male peers and winds up betrayed anyway. "In some ways that's great because when we win, we're unstoppable. You know, we're unshakable," she later told Bossip. "But unfortunately, it's exhausting. I see it in every industry. I'm glad that Empire is tackling some of those things. They're sneaking it in inside of the fun and the drama."