Mo'nique

Mo'Nique began her career in her hometown of Baltimore, Maryland, when she took to the stage for the first time on a dare from her brother and received a standing ovation. Encouraged by the overwhelming response, she began pursuing comedy as a profession. Her career began to skyrocket with performances on "Showtime at the Apollo," HBO's Russell Simmons "Def Comedy Jam," "Apollo Comedy Hour," HBO's "Snaps," Uptown Comedy Club, BET "Comic View" and The Montreal Comedy Festival.

Mo'Nique's bold and sarcastic stand-up routine landed her a starring role in the hit stand-up comedy film "The Queens of Comedy," which was released by Paramount Pictures and also aired on the Showtime Network. "The Queens of Comedy" also toured the country as a live comedy concert, which became a hit album, of the same title, and went on to earn a GRAMMY® nomination for Best Spoken Comedy Album.

During hiatus from The Parkers, Mo'Nique performs her stand-up routine in cities across the country. For her performance as Nikki Parker (in The Parkers), Mo'Nique won NAACP Image Awards for Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series, in 2001 and 2002.

She has also appeared in feature films including "3 Strikes," with David Alan Grier and George Wallace II, John Singleton's "Baby Boy" and opposite Vivica A. Fox in the Screen Gems production "Two Can Play That Game," which earned her an NAACP Image Award Nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture.

Mo'Nique has become a role model for voluptuous women everywhere, proving that you don't have to be a size 0 to be sexy and fabulous. Her musings on life are featured in her book titled Skinny Women are Evil! published by Atria Books, a division of Simon & Schuster, due for release this spring. In addition, she has a signature fragrance making its debut at Christmas.