Khaleed "Khleo" Leon Thomas (born January 30, 1989) is an American actor and rapper. First garnering recognition as a child actor with his portrayal Hector "Zero" Zeroni in the film Holes (2003), he has since appeared in films including Walking Tall, Roll Bounce, Remember the Daze, and Hurricane Season, and on television shows including ER, The Bernie Mac Show, House, Sons of Anarchy, Bones, Being Mary Jane, Major Crimes, and Shameless. As a rapper, he has released two EPs and toured alongside Bow Wow, Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Sean Kingston and Chris Brown.[1]

Khleo Thomas
Thomas in 2019
Born
Khaleed Leon Thomas

(1989-01-30) January 30, 1989 (age 35)
Occupation(s)Actor, rapper
Years active1998–present
Height6'1
Musical career
GenresHip hop, R&B
LabelsSlick Living, Executive Dream, Executive Music, Fontana, UMG (current)
The Plus (former)
Websitewww.khleothomas.com

Thomas created and runs the lifestyle brands Slick Living and Goddess Living Among Men (GLAM).[2][3] He appeared in the video game NBA 2K19, voicing the Nike representative. Since 2020, he has hosted a Twitch channel dedicated to gaming and pop culture.[4]

Early life

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Thomas was born in Anchorage, Alaska, and lived in Germany until the age of four. His mother is a Moroccan Jew and his father is African-American.[5] After his family settled in Southern California, he began acting in commercials at age six.[6]

Career

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In 1998, Thomas's first television appearance was on an episode of Bill Cosby's Kids Say the Darndest Things.[citation needed]

He has since starred in such films as Friday After Next (2002), Holes (2003), Going to the Mat (2004), Walking Tall (2004), and Roll Bounce (2005).

Thomas starred in the 2003 Disney film Holes, adapted from Louis Sachar's book of the same name. Thomas had not read the book before he was cast as Zero.[6] To adapt to the desert climate for filming Holes, Thomas was required to participate in physical conditioning training. He recalls, "We had to climb rope, dig holes, run, go hiking, do sit-ups and push-ups. The whole time we were thinking, why do we need this? Then we get to the desert and we understood. It was so hot, you could only be in a hole for 20 minutes at a time."[6] Thomas sang on one of the movie soundtrack's songs, "Dig It", which originated on the six-hour round-trip bus rides that transported the actors to the set.[6]

In 2005, Thomas became more involved in music via an association with fellow rapper/actor Bow Wow and his label LBW Entertainment. He was featured on Bow Wow's fifth studio album, The Price of Fame, as well as on numerous mixtapes. He made cameo appearances in Bow Wow's "Fresh Azimiz" and "Outta My System" music videos.[citation needed]

In 2006, Thomas guest-starred in "Poppin' Tags", an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation; and in the season four episode of House, "Ugly" in 2007. He co-starred in the first episode of the television series Teachers, which was canceled after six episodes. He starred in movies such as Remember the Daze (2007) and Hurricane Season (2009). In 2010, Thomas starred in the action film Boogie Town.[citation needed]

Thomas started a Twitch channel in 2020. He plays games, hosts Disney trivia contests, cosplays as the character Powerline from A Goofy Movie, and interacts with followers.[7]

 
Khleo Thomas in September 2012 during Perez Hilton's One Night In... L.A.

Filmography

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Film
Year Title Role Notes
2002 Friday After Next Bad Kid Supporting role
2003 Holes Hector "Zero" Zeroni Main role
2004 Baadasssss! Mario Supporting role
Time Out Khalid Short film
Going to the Mat Vincent "Fly" Shu Supporting role; television film
Walking Tall Pete Vaughn Supporting role
2005 The Golden Blaze Jason Fletcher/Sure Shot (voice)
Roll Bounce Mixed Mike Main role
Dirty Splooge Supporting role
2007 Remember the Daze Dylan Supporting role
2009 Boogie Town Gizmo Supporting role; unreleased film
Bob Funk Cupcake Main role
Hurricane Season David Willis Supporting role
Breathe Dante Short film
2010 Krews Tom Tom
The Company We Keep Young Raheem Supporting role
2015 Victor Randy Supporting role
2016 Soy Nero Mohammed
2017 Clockwork Beau Cartermore Short film
2019 Anywhere with You Danny Supporting role
Paint It Red Eduardo
2022 Scrap Marcus
Television
Year Title Role Notes
1998 Kids Say the Darndest Things Himself Episode: "Oatmeal"
1999 Family Law Lanny Brass Episode: "Games"
2001 City Guys Jordan Episode: "Skips, Lies and Radiotapes"
2003 Super Short Show Himself
2004 ER Brian Episode: "Forgive and Forget"
The Wayne Brady Show Himself Episode: "March 19, 2004"
Frankie Muniz HoopLA Celebrity Basketball Event Himself
The Story Behind Baadasssss!: The Birth of Black Cinema
2005 The Bernie Mac Show Curtis Episode: "Car Wars"
Scream Tour IV Himself
2006 Teachers Patrick Episode: "Substitute"
CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Dante Episode: "Poppin' Tags"
Gettin' Dirty
2007 On Location with Remember the Daze Himself
House Kenny Arnold Episode: "Ugly"
2009 Kids' Inaugural Himself
2010 90210 Purse Guy Episode: "I see London/I see France"
2011 Parenthood Guy in Cage Episode: "Amazing Andy and His Wonderful World of Bugs"
Sons of Anarchy Frecks Episode: "Dorylus"
2013 Bones Marcos Herrera Episode: "The Blood from the Stones"
2016 Shameless Dylan Oswald 2 episodes
2017 Being Mary Jane D-Razor Episode: "Getting Schooled"
Major Crimes Lewis Wilks 2 episodes
Relationship Status Billy
2019 UA:LA Veil
2021 5150 Vlogger Television short film
Video games
Year Title Role Notes
2018 NBA 2K19 Kai Donaldson/Nike Rep (voice)

Discography

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Year Title
2012 After Everything Fades[8]
(with Chris Batson)
2014 Raised in the 90s[9]
  • Release date: December 28, 2014
  • Label: Slick Living, Executive Dream, Executive Music, Fontana
  • Format: Digital download

Mixtapes

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Title Mixtape details
The World Is A Cartoon[10]
  • Released: January 11, 2010
The Next Episode[11]
Slick Living[12]
  • Released: December 23, 2011
  • Hosted by Coast 2 Coast
  • Label: Slick Living

Singles

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As lead artist

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Year Song Album
2012 "So Many Girls"[13] Non-album single
"Slick"[14] Slick Living
"Sweat It Out"[citation needed]
"Becoming"[citation needed]
(with Chris Batson)
After Everything Fades
2013 "Ride"[citation needed]
(with Chris Batson)
2014 "Side Ni**a / Don't Catch Feelings"[citation needed] Non-album single
"No Questions"[citation needed]
"Tonight"[citation needed]
(featuring Sean Roxs)
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Year Song Album
2013 "Now Forever" (Sofia Reyes featuring Khleo Thomas) Non-album single

Guest appearances

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Year Song Performer(s) Album
2006 "How You Move It" Bow Wow The Price of Fame
"Bet That" Bow Wow Non-album single
2009 "Ain't I Freestyle" Bow Wow The Greenlight
"Do I Love Her" Bow Wow
2010 "Freak Show" JBar aka Ja-Bar In the Club
"Victory" Soulja Boy none
"Never Change Remix (I'll Never Change)" Indigo Charlie
"Not My Girl" The Good Boys
"Light the Speakers on Fire" Malachi Mott
2013 "Now Forever" Sofia Reyes
"Fade Away" Social Club Summer of George
2014 "In'n'Out" Sean Roxs none
"Face Down" Flip Major

Videography

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As lead artist

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  • "In My Soul" (2010)
  • "I'm Still" (2010)
  • "Lost" (2010)
  • "I Got Me" (2010)
  • "Feel Good Music" (2010)
  • "Halloween" (2010)
  • "Lights Out" (2011)
  • "Floyd Mayweather" (2011)
  • "Motivation Remix" (2011)
  • "You Don't Fight Fair" (2011)
  • "Monster & A Beat" (2011)
  • "Slick" (2012)
  • "Sweat It Out" (2012)
  • "Fly Me Out To Cali" (2012)
  • "So Many Girls" (2012)
  • "Slick Music" (2012)
  • "5 On It" (2014)
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  • Eric Mora - "Ain't I Freestyle" (2009)
  • Indigo Charlie - "Never Change Remix (I'll Never Change)" (2010)

Cameo video appearances

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References

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  1. ^ Rohn, Jake (July 29, 2014). "Khleo Thomas Talks Early Days Tour With Shad Moss". BET. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  2. ^ Reilly, Kaitlin (25 January 2017). "Zero From "Holes" Grew Up & Has A Perfect Instagram". www.refinery29.com. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  3. ^ Mondor, Brooke (2021-04-19). "What Zero From Holes Looks Like Today". Looper.com. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  4. ^ "Khleo Thomas Shares His Love For Gaming at E3". Cheddar. Retrieved 2022-02-27.
  5. ^ "It's My Life". pbskids.org. Archived from the original on 2004-03-17. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  6. ^ a b c d Olsen, Mark (April 17, 2003). "Young actors get into 'Holes'". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on 2011-02-23. Retrieved May 19, 2018.
  7. ^ "khleothomas". Twitch. Retrieved December 29, 2021.
  8. ^ "Khleo Thomas x Chris Batson - After Everything Fades Interview - OnSMASH". Freeonsmash.com. 9 January 2013. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  9. ^ "Khleo Thomas - Raised In The 90s [EP] - OnSMASH". Freeonsmash.com. 28 December 2014. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  10. ^ "The World Is A Cartoon Mixtape By Khleo". datpiff.com. Retrieved 7 January 2023.
  11. ^ "Khleo - The Next Episode". HNHH. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Slick Living". Hotnewhiphop.com. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  13. ^ Khleo Thomas (2 August 2012). "Khleo Thomas - So Many Girls - OFFICIAL VIDEO (Extended Version)". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 29 May 2018.
  14. ^ Khleo Thomas (17 December 2011). "Khleo Thomas - Slick Music Video". YouTube.
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