Lamman Rucker

Lamman Rucker (born October 6, 1971) is an American actor. Rucker began his career on the daytime soap operas As the World Turns and All My Children, before roles in The Temptations and Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married? and Why Did I Get Married Too?. He played Will Brown in the 2008 film Meet the Browns and its television adaptation. In 2016, he began starring as Jacob Greenleaf in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. As of 2022[update], he stars in the BET+ drama series The Black Hamptons.

Rucker was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Malaya (née Ray) and Eric Rucker. He has partial ancestry from Barbados. Rucker spent his formative years in the greater Washington, DC, Maryland area. He developed an interest in acting after he was placed in several child pageants. His first acting role was a portrayal of Martin Luther King in the 4th grade. He joined the drama club in 7th grade and attended high school at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C. Rucker then studied at Carnegie-Mellon University and Duquesne University.

Rucker has appeared in a number of short films and television movies. His first major acting role came in 2002 when he assumed the role of attorney T. Marshall Travers on the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns opposite Tamara Tunie. He left the series the following year and portrayed Garret Williams on ABC soap opera All My Children in 2005. During this time, he also had recurring roles on the UPN sitcoms All of Us and Half & Half.

Rucker is best known for his co-starring roles in the Tyler Perry films Why Did I Get Married? (2007) and Why Did I Get Married Too? (2010). He played Will Brown in Perry's 2008 film Meet The Browns, and later had a starring role on the television series of the same name, reprising his role as Will from 2009 to 2011. In 2012, Rucker was cast as the male lead opposite Anne Heche in the NBC comedy series Save Me, but left after the pilot episode. He later starred opposite Mena Suvari in the short-lived WE tv drama series, South of Hell.

In 2015, Rucker was cast as one of the leads in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Greenleaf. For five seasons, he played Jacob Greenleaf, the only son of Bishop James Greenleaf (Keith David) and his wife, First Lady Daisy Mae Greenleaf (Lynn Whitfield).

On August 29, 2019, he shared personal life experiences that he credits for his success with the Hampton University football team.[10]