There's a lot of lessons you can take away from Lifetime movies. Don't walk home alone in the dark. If he seems too good to be true, he probably is. And often times, the man of your dreams is in the last place you expect. That last one is definitely the case for the main character in Lifetime's With This Ring , premiering Saturday night. Trista (played by Regina Hall) makes a pact with her friends: They must be married or engaged within the next year — and off they go, looking for love in many places. One of Trista's suitors is her competitive Hollywood agent co-worker Nate, who is played by actor and former baseball player Stephen Bishop. So, who is Stephen Bishop? So glad you asked.
The 43-year-old Chicago native currently stars in the BET series Being Mary Jane, starring Gabrielle Union (who executive produced With This Ring), Lisa Vidal, and Richard Roundtree. Bishop has also guest starred in Lost, The Game, Hart of Dixie, The Mentalist, CSI: Miami, Grey's Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, Friday Night Lights, Girlfriends, and more. He is an advocate for green buildings as well, working toward making all buildings environmentally efficient.
Here's what you need to know about Bishop before you put With This Ring on your TV.
TV and Movie Roles
Since he used to play pro baseball, it's only natural that one of Bishop's best known roles is as player David Justice in the Oscar-nominated hit movie Moneyball, starring Brad Pitt and Jonah Hill. He's continued to appear in notable movies, including Battleship, Safe House, The Company We Keep, and The Rundown.
On Being Mary Jane, Bishop plays David Paulk, the titular Mary Jane's playboy love interest. He could end up her Mr. Right — or be her Mr. Wrong. Uh oh.
Baseball Career
Bishop was a decorated football and baseball player in college, but chose to pursue college baseball on scholarship at the University of California at Riverside. As the right fielder for the UCR Highlanders, Bishop was an all-star who led the team to the College World Series. He earned a bachelor's degree in business and signed a free agent contract with the Atlanta Braves.
Bishop bounced around the minor leagues in the affiliate teams for the Braves and the Baltimore Orioles. He also scouted for the Braves for two years before decided to head to Los Angeles and start his acting career.
Causes
Bishop is very involved in making sure buildings are getting greener and better for the environment. He made sure that MGM’s City Center Las Vegas, the largest LEED project in history, used wood from Parquet by DIAN, the world’s greenest wood flooring manufacturer. He's also a board member of #RAKE (Random Acts of Kindness Everywhere).
In 2013, Bishop participated in the "I Am Rising" V-Day campaign to prevent violence against women (see video above).
Image: Bob Mahoney/Lifetime
