Dourdan played in several bands in New York City in the early 1990s and acted in regional theatre in the New York metropolitan area. He acted in music videos, including playing
Janet Jackson's love interest in the video for her 1993 hit "
Again", and had a cameo in the music video "Move the Crowd" by
Eric B. & Rakim.
Debbie Allen cast him as Shazza Zulu on
A Different World, based on a tape of him in an
avant-garde play. In 1996, Dourdan appeared in the
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman episode "Never on Sunday" playing Ziggy, an assistant to Baron Sunday. In 1997, he played Christie, the first mate and second in command of the spaceship
Betty in the film
Alien Resurrection. He also appeared in the films
Playing God and
Thursday, and on television, he starred in the
Dick Wolf production
Swift Justice and played a recurring role on the series
Soul Food. Dourdan joined hip-hop artist
DMC (of
Run–D.M.C.) onstage at the
Live 8 concert in Barrie, Ontario, and sang alongside
Macy Gray at the 2005
Emmy Awards. He is an
alternative musician and a record producer. In 2007, he played the character Cameron, the boyfriend of Rowena Price (
Halle Berry), in the film
Perfect Stranger. Dourdan's most popular role was as a cast member of the series
CSI, which debuted on October 6, 2000. He played analyst
Warrick Brown, who has a checkered past fraught with gambling problems. By working in Las Vegas, the character uses his personal experiences to help his career. In 2008, there was media speculation surrounding Dourdan's
CSI contract negotiations with CBS. The parties could not reach a resolution, and as a result, his contract was not renewed. It was reported on April 14, 2008 that Dourdan was leaving the show. In the Season 8 finale, Dourdan's character was shot and left for dead at the episode's end. The Season 9 premiere revealed Dourdan's character dying in the arms of his colleague and friend
Gil Grissom. After leaving
CSI, he took recurring roles as Stephan in the series
Christine, and Sheldon DeWitt in the series
Being Mary Jane. He made his
Broadway debut in
Hadestown as Hades on March 3, 2026. ==Personal life==