Wood Harris

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Wood Harris
Harris (white jersey) during a basketball game
Born
Sherwin David Harris

(1969-10-17) October 17, 1969 (age 54)
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
EducationNorthern Illinois University (BA)
New York University (MFA)
OccupationActor
Years active1993–present
Spouse
Rebekah Harris
​
(m. 2001)​
Children2
RelativesSteve Harris (brother)

Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his role as Motaw in the Jeff Pollack film Above the Rim (1994), prior to portraying high school football player Julius Campbell in the Walt Disney Pictures film Remember the Titans (2000) and Jimi Hendrix in the Showtime television film Hendrix (2000). He attained further recognition for his portrayal of drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO crime drama The Wire (2002–2008). Harris also played the role of cocaine dealer Ace, based on the life of Azie Faison, in the crime film Paid in Full in 2002.

On television, Harris is known for playing Avon Barksdale in The Wire and Brooke Payne on the BET miniseries The New Edition Story in 2017. In addition, Harris starred as Barry Fouray on the VH1 miniseries The Breaks (2016–2017), Damon Cross on the Fox series Empire for its fifth and sixth season, and currently portrays the drug lord "Pat" in the Starz series BMF.

He has also starred in films such as the 2009 dark comedy film Next Day Air, the 2015 Marvel Studios superhero film Ant-Man, the science fiction films Dredd (2012) and Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and the sports drama Creed (2015), along with its sequels Creed II (2018) and Creed III (2023).

Early life and education

Harris was born in

Theater Arts from Northern Illinois University (NIU) and a Master of Arts from New York University.[2][3][4] He is the younger brother of actor Steve Harris.[5]

Career

While enrolled in NIU, Harris starred in his first major film role in the basketball drama Above the Rim, opposite Duane Martin and co-starring Tupac Shakur,[2] 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.[2]

Later that year, Harris received his first

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.[7]

He starred as

HBO's original series The Wire.[3][4][8] He also produced his own debut album, Beautiful Wonderful, which was intended for release in 2005.[citation needed
]

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.[9] As of March 2018, it is still in pre-production.[citation needed
]

In 2009, Harris starred in the film Just Another Day, as a successful fictional rapper named A-maze.[10] 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

A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams; alongside Blair Underwood, Nicole Ari Parker, and Daphne Rubin-Vega.[2]

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 sequels.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1994 Above the Rim Motaw
1997 As Good as It Gets Cafe 24 Busboy
1998 Celebrity Al Swayze
The Siege Officer Henderson
2000 Committed Chicky
The Gold Cup Clayton
Are You Cinderella? - Short
Remember the Titans Julius Campbell
Train Ride Will
2002 Paid in Full Ace
2004 Joy Road Tony Smalls
2005 Dirty Brax
2006 Southland Tales Dion Element
The Heart Specialist Dr. Sidney Zachary
2007 4 Life Dayvon Video
2008 Jazz in the Diamond District Gabriel Marx
2009 Not Easily Broken Darnell Gooden
Dough Boys Julian France
Next Day Air Guch
Just Another Day A-Maze
2012 The Babymakers Darrell
Dredd Kay
2015 Ant-Man Gale
Creed Tony "Little Duke" Evers
2017 Once Upon a Time in Venice Prince
9/11 Michael
Blade Runner 2049 Nandez
2018 Creed II Tony "Little Duke" Evers
Gangland: The Musical Reeby
2020 Always and Forever Danny
2021 Ransun Games Henchman #1
Space Jam: A New Legacy Coach C
2023 Creed III Tony "Little Duke" Evers
Shooting Stars Dru Joyce II
TBA Untitled film TBA Filming

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1996 NYPD Blue Hector Episode: "Moby Greg"
1997 Oz Officer Gordon Wood Episode: "Plan B"
Cosby Tony Episode: "The Rules"
1998 New York Undercover Shadow Episode: "Going Native"
1999
Spenser: Small Vices
 		Ellis Alves TV movie
2000 Hendrix Jimi Hendrix TV movie
Rhapsody Billy Dixon TV movie
2002 Def Poetry Jam Himself Episode: "Episode #2.7"
2002–08 The Wire Avon Barksdale Main cast (season 1–3), guest (season 4)
2003 The Twilight Zone Marvin Gardens/Dwayne Grant Episode: "Another Life"
2007 Numb3rs Murphy 'Pony' Fuñez Episode: "The Art of Reckoning"
2008 Black Poker Stars Invitational Himself Main guest
House Bowman Episode: "Last Resort"
2009 Played by Fame - Episode: "The Jealous Boyfriend"
2010 Southland Trinney Day Recurring cast (season 2)
Hawaii Five-0 Russell Ellison Episode: "Nalowale"
2012 30 for 30 Himself Episode: "Benji"
2013
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
 		Daniel Watson TV movie
2014 Justified Jay Recurring cast (
season 5
)
2016 The Breaks Barry Fouray TV movie
2017 The New Edition Story Brooke Payne Main cast
The Breaks Barry Fouray Main cast
2017–21 Bronzeville Everett Copeland Recurring cast (season 1), guest (season 2)
2018–20 Empire Damon Cross Recurring cast (
season 6
)
2019 Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television Vince Vincetti Recurring cast (season 2)
2021 Soul of a Nation Himself Episode: "Shut Up And..."
BMF Pat Recurring cast
The Last O.G. Percy Recurring cast (season 4)
2022-2023 Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty Spencer Haywood Recurring cast

Documentary

Year Title
2012 Benji

References

  1. user-generated source
    ]
  2. ^ a b c d "Daphne Rubin-Vega, Wood Harris Join Broadway's A Streetcar Named Desire". Broadwayworld.com. August 23, 2011. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  3. ^ a b Mooney, Jake (January 11, 2008). "New York Connections to 'The Wire'". The New York Times. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  4. ^ a b Myerberg, Paul (December 11, 2012). "Ten things you need to know about Northern Illinois". USA Today. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  5. ^ "Hendrix' Blazing Career Highlighted". Star-News. September 16, 2000. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  6. ^ Braxton, Greg (December 8, 2000). "'Basketball,' 'Titans' Lead NAACP Nominations". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 25, 2013.
  7. The Associated Press
    . Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  8. ^ James, Caryn (September 19, 2004). "The Television Show That Thinks It's a Novel". The New York Times. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  9. ^ Martinez, Vanessa (January 4, 2013). "Exclusive: Wood Harris Confirmed for 'Sweetwater' Biopic; 2014 Playoffs Target Release Date". IndieWire. Retrieved April 29, 2013.
  10. ^ Business Wire (June 16, 2011). "Image Entertainment Acquires the North American Rights to Soulja Boy – The Movie". Business Wire. Retrieved April 29, 2013. {{cite web}}: |author= has generic name (help)

External links

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