Shining through that film in the role of the double-crossing crime lieutenant Mac, Isaiah Washington was still a few years away from fame when "Romeo Must Die" came out in 2000.

Despite his well-earned breakout performance, there was still a forest of small parts and direct-to-video thrillers between him and "Grey's Anatomy," which is where he would truly find the spotlight in 2005.

It was a slow build for him, but that time in the light would end much, much faster. He was famously fired from that series in 2007 after using a pretty nasty word to refer to his gay castmate T.R. Knight. Prior to that he was poised to be a huge star, but since then he's struggled a little to find work.

He did a brief guest arc on NBC's almost-as-brief "Bionic Woman" remake in 2007 (only eight episodes of the show actually aired, with Washington "guest" starring in five). In 2009, he appeared in a semi-notable big-screen effort, part of an ensemble cast in the heartwarming post-Katrina basketball film "Hurricane Season."

But on the horizon is potentially bigger news. He's reportedly signed on to star as legendary soul singer Lou Rawls in a biopic based on a book penned by Lou Rawls Jr. This news is a little old -- it first leaked in 2009 -- but it could still happen. If it does, it would reportedly be directed by Washington's "Hurricane Season" co-star Forest Whitaker.

However, Whitaker may be sating his biopic appetite otherwise, as he's slated to direct and star in a Louis Armstrong bio, "What a Wonderful World," this next spring.

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