Lisa Bonet - Career

Career

After being in beauty pageants and appearing in guest spots on television series as a child, Bonet landed the role of Denise Huxtable on The Cosby Show alongside Bill Cosby and Phylicia Rashād. In 1987, she briefly left The Cosby Show to star in the spin-off series A Different World, which focused on Denise Huxtable's life at college. That year, Bonet accepted the role of Epiphany Proudfoot in the movie Angel Heart opposite Mickey Rourke, directed by Alan Parker. In the film, she appeared in an explicit sex scene with Rourke from which several seconds were edited to ensure an R-rating, though later an uncut X-rated version was released. The movie plot itself dealing with voodoo did not rub Bill Cosby the right way. After announcing her pregnancy during the run of A Different World, Bonet left the series. The following year, she returned to The Cosby Show, but was fired in 1991 for constant tardiness and unprofessional behavior.

After The Cosby Show, Bonet began to accept jobs on straight-to-video releases and made-for-TV movies. In 1998 she had a supporting role in Enemy of the State with Will Smith. In 2000, she appeared in the movie High Fidelity. In 2003, she played the role of Queenie in Biker Boyz, which reunited her with former co-star Kadeem Hardison of A Different World.

Bonet also co-starred in the 2006 film Whitepaddy alongside Sherilyn Fenn, Hill Harper, Debra Wilson, Karen Black, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. She resurfaced two years later in the US adaptation of the British television series, Life on Mars.