Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in Boyz n the Hood (1991), he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor playing a football star in Jerry Maguire (1996). His other notable films include A Few Good Men (1992), Judgment Night (1993), Lightning Jack (1994), As Good as It Gets (1997), Men of Honor (2000), Pearl Harbor (2001), Snow Dogs (2002), Radio (2003), Norbit (2007), Linewatch (2008), and he played Dr. Ben Carson in the film Gifted Hands (2009). He played in Red Tails (2012), and The Butler (2013). He has done voice acting in Home on the Range (2004) and The Land Before Time XIII: The Wisdom of Friends (2007).
For his portrayal of O. J. Simpson in the FX drama series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016), he earned a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie. He also co-starred that year in the FX series American Horror Story: Roanoke (2016). Gooding made his Broadway debut playing Ludie Watts in the 2013 revival of the Horton Foote play The Trip to Bountiful.