Wood Harris
Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He has portrayed the drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO crime drama The Wire, cocaine dealer Ace in Paid in Full and high school football player Julius Campbell in the 2000 film Remember the Titans. He is also known for playing Brooke Payne on the BET miniseries The New Edition Story in 2017. From 2016 to 2017, he played Barry Fouray on VH1 miniseries The Breaks. Most recently, Harris portrayed Damon Cross on the Fox series Empire for its fifth and final sixth season.
Wood Harris | |
|---|---|
| Born | Sherwin David Harris October 17, 1969 |
| Education | Northern Illinois University (BA) New York University (MFA) |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1993–present |
| Height | 6'3" |
| Spouse(s) | Rebekah Harris (m. 2001) |
| Children | 2 |
| Relatives | Steve Harris (brother) |
Early life
Harris was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of seamstress Mattie and bus driver John Harris.[1][2] He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts from Northern Illinois University (NIU) and a Master of Arts from New York University.[3][4][5] He is the younger brother of actor Steve Harris.[6]
Career
While enrolled in NIU, Harris starred in his first major film role in the basketball drama Above the Rim, starring opposite Tupac Shakur,[3] and appeared in many theatrical stage productions of various off-Broadway plays. Harris subsequently guest-starred in a variety of television and film venues before portraying legendary rock guitarist Jimi Hendrix in Showtime's 2000 film, Hendrix.[3]
Later that year, Harris received his first NAACP Image Award nomination for "Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture" along with the Blockbuster Movie Award nomination for "Favorite Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture" for his role as Julius "Big Ju" Campbell in Remember the Titans.[7] In 2002, he starred in the Dame Dash produced cult-classic film Paid in Full, based on the true story of three Harlem drug dealers with Harris playing the real-life kingpin Azie Faison.[8]
He starred as Avon Barksdale, loosely based on the real-life Nathan Barksdale, in the first three seasons of HBO's original series The Wire, as well as one episode in the fifth season.[4][5][9] He also produced his own debut album, Beautiful Wonderful, which was intended for release in 2005.
In June 2008, director Martin Guigui revealed that Harris was cast as Nate "Sweetwater" Clifton in Sweetwater, a movie about the first black player in the NBA.[10] As of March 2018, it is still in pre-production.[11]
In 2009, Harris starred in the film Just Another Day, as a successful fictional rapper named A-maze.[12] The film centers on a clash between a young up-and-coming rapper and an older one at the top of his game, the former played by Jamie Hector (whose character Marlo Stanfield had a similar role with respect to Harris's character in The Wire).
In 2012, Harris narrated the ESPN 30 for 30 film Benji. In the same year he also played Harold "Mitch" Mitchell in the Broadway revival of A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams; alongside Blair Underwood, Nicole Ari Parker, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.[3]
In 2015, he reunited with The Wire cast member Michael B. Jordan for Creed, the latest installment of the Rocky franchise, reprising the role in its sequel.
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | Above the Rim | Motaw | as Sherwin David Harris |
| 1997 | As Good as It Gets | Cafe 24 Busboy | |
| 1998 | Celebrity | Al Swayze | |
| 1998 | The Siege | Officer Henderson | |
| 2000 | Train Ride | Will | |
| 2000 | Rhapsody | Billy Dixon | |
| 2000 | Committed | Chicky | |
| 2000 | Are You Cinderella? | ||
| 2000 | Remember the Titans | Julius Campbell | |
| 2000 | The Gold Cup | Clayton | |
| 2002 | Paid in Full | Ace | |
| 2004 | Joy Road | Tony Smalls | |
| 2005 | Dirty | Brax | |
| 2006 | Southland Tales | Dion Element | |
| 2006 | The Heart Specialist | Dr. Sidney Zachary | |
| 2007 | 4 Life | Dayvon | |
| 2008 | Jazz in the Diamond District | Gabriel Marx | |
| 2009 | Not Easily Broken | Darnell Gooden | |
| 2009 | Dough Boys | Julian France | |
| 2009 | Next Day Air | Guch | |
| 2009 | Just Another Day | A-Maze | |
| 2012 | The Babymakers | Darrell | |
| 2012 | Dredd | Kay | |
| 2012 | Benji | Himself | Documentary |
| 2015 | Ant-Man | Gale | |
| 2015 | Creed | Tony "Little Duke" Evers | |
| 2017 | Once Upon a Time in Venice | Prince | |
| 2017 | 9/11 | Michael | |
| 2017 | Blade Runner 2049 | Nandez | |
| 2018 | Creed II | Tony "Little Duke" Evers |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | NYPD Blue | Hector | Episode: "Hector" |
| 1997 | Oz | Officer Gordon Wood | Episode: "Plan B" |
| 1997 | Cosby | Tony | Episode: "The Rules" |
| 1998 | New York Undercover | Shadow | Episode: "Going Native" |
| 1999 | Spenser: Small Vices | Ellis Alves | TV film |
| 2000 | Hendrix | Jimi Hendrix | TV film |
| 2003 | The Twilight Zone | Marvin Gardens / Dwayne Grant | Episode: "Another Life" |
| 2007 | Numb3rs | Murphy 'Pony' Fuñez | Episode: "The Art of Reckoning" |
| 2002–08 | The Wire | Avon Barksdale | 33 episodes |
| 2008 | House | Bowman | Episode: "Last Resort" |
| 2009 | Played by Fame | Episode: "The Jealous Boyfriend" | |
| 2010 | Southland | Trinney Day | 3 episodes |
| 2010 | Hawaii Five-0 | Russell Ellison | Episode: "Nalowale" |
| 2013 | The Watsons Go to Birmingham | Daniel Watson | TV film |
| 2014 | Justified | Jay | 4 episodes |
| 2017 | The Breaks | Barry Fouray | 8 episodes |
| 2017 | The New Edition Story | Brooke Payne | TV miniseries; 3 episodes |
| 2018–20 | Empire | Damon Cross | Seasons 5–6 |
| 2019 | Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television | Vince Vincetti | Season 2, Youtube Premium |
References
- "Steve Harris Biography (1965-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- "Wood Harris Biography (1969-)". Filmreference.com. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- "Daphne Rubin-Vega, Wood Harris Join Broadway's A Streetcar Named Desire". Broadwayworld.com. August 23, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- Mooney, Jake (January 11, 2008). "New York Connections to 'The Wire'". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- Myerberg, Paul (December 11, 2012). "Ten things you need to know about Northern Illinois". USA Today. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- "Hendrix' Blazing Career Highlighted". Star-News. September 16, 2000. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- Braxton, Greg (December 8, 2000). "'Basketball,' 'Titans' Lead NAACP Nominations". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
- Norman-Culp, Sheila (October 24, 2002). "'Paid in Full' is high in '80s drug-scene street value". Seattle Post-Intelligencer. The Associated Press. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- James, Caryn (September 19, 2004). "The Television Show That Thinks It's a Novel". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- Martinez, Vanessa (January 4, 2013). "Exclusive: Wood Harris Confirmed for 'Sweetwater' Biopic; 2014 Playoffs Target Release Date". IndieWire. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
- Sweetwater, IMDB.com, retrieved 2019-03-20
- Business Wire (June 16, 2011). "Image Entertainment Acquires the North American Rights to Soulja Boy – The Movie". Business Wire. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
External links
- Wood Harris at IMDb
