Miguel Nunez Jr. was born in New York City, is of African American and Dominican descent, and was raised by his grandparents in Wilson, North Carolina. One of his first major screen roles was the supporting role of Spider in The Return of the Living Dead, and his first major starring role was that of Marcus Taylor on the CBS series Tour of Duty, where he was a main cast member for all three seasons of the show. He later appeared on the short-lived Fox series My Wildest Dreams, as well as the short-lived UPN show Sparks as well as in movies such as Juwanna Mann. Núñez also held the recurring role of Zach in the second season of the Friends spinoff/sequel, Joey alongside Matt LeBlanc and Drea de Matteo, and portrayed Dee Jay as a supporting villain in Street Fighter opposite Jean-Claude Van Damme and Raul Julia.

Nunez also co starred alongside Arsenio Hall and Eddie Murphy in Harlem Nights and again working with Eddie Murphy, Martin Lawrence, and Bernie Mac in Life.

Nùñez was also an executive producer of the 2014 comedy-drama musical film, School Dance, directed and written by Nick Cannon.