Jesse Williams (actor)

In 2006, Williams appeared in an episode of Law & Order, portraying the character Kwame. He also appeared in the role of Drew Collins, in two episodes of the ABC Family series Greek.[13]

On October 15, 2009, Williams began appearing as surgical resident Jackson Avery, in the ABC television series Grey's Anatomy.[14] On June 8, 2010, it was announced Williams would be a series regular, starting in season 7.[15] BuddyTV ranked him No. 6 on its "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2010" list[16] and No. 11 in 2011.[17]

Jesse was named the TV Actor of the Year at the 2011 Young Hollywood Awards. [18]

Williams appeared in revival joint-productions of The American Dream (1961) and The Sandbox (1959) at Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village in New York City. This production was directed by their playwright Edward Albee.

Williams has also served as a guest director for student productions at the Urban Arts Partnership 24 Hour Plays Off-Broadway, at the request of Rosie Perez and Anna Strout.[8][19] His theater work includes an off-Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie.

Until the 2019 coronavirus pandemic hit, Williams was set to star as Darren Lemming in the Second Stage Broadway revival of Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out at the Hayes Theater. Williams would portray a Major League Baseball star who decides to come out of the closet.

In 2008, Williams made his film debut in the supporting role of Leo in the sequel to the 2005 film The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. Two years later, he appeared in Brooklyn's Finest (2010), starring Don Cheadle, Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, Wesley Snipes and Ellen Barkin. In 2008, Williams signed on for his first leading role, as Holden McCrea in the MGM/United Artists horror film The Cabin in the Woods. Produced by Joss Whedon and directed by Drew Goddard, it was released April 13, 2012.[19]

On June 9, 2015, Variety announced Jamie Bamber, Kellan Lutz, Jesse Williams, and Jess Weixler had joined the cast of the thriller film Money, directed by Martin Rosete and produced by Atit Shah.[20]

In May 2016, Williams was executive producer of the documentary film Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement.[21]

Williams is the youngest member of the board of directors at The Advancement Project, a civil rights think tank and advocacy group. He is also the executive producer of Question Bridge: Black Males, a multifaceted media project, art exhibition, student and teacher curriculum and website,[22] focused on the black male identity and the diversity within the demographic. He has written articles for CNN[23] and The Huffington Post,[24] and has been a guest on Wolf Blitzer's The Situation Room.

In June 2016, Williams won the humanitarian award at the 2016 BET Awards, delivering a speech highlighting racial injustice, police brutality, and the invention of whiteness.[25] As a result of his speech, dueling petitions were circulated: one to have Williams fired from Grey's Anatomy and one to keep him on the series.[26]

Williams occasionally worked as a model during college, but never considered pursuing it as a career. He modeled for Kenneth Cole Productions, Levi's, and Tommy Hilfiger Corporation.[1][27] He can be seen as the love interest of R&B singer Rihanna in the music video for her single "Russian Roulette" from her 2009 album Rated R. He also appears in the music video for Estelle's song "Fall In Love", from the album All of Me.[19] In 2018, Williams appeared in the video for "Tell Me You Love Me" By Demi Lovato.

Williams did the voice acting and performance capture for Markus in the video game Detroit: Become Human, which first released on May 25, 2018 for the PlayStation 4.

More recently, Williams also did the voice acting and performance capture for Duke in the video game NBA 2K21, which released worldwide on September 4, 2020 for multiple consoles.