Trai Byers (born July 19, 1983)[1] is an American actor. He is best known for playing Andre Lyon in the Fox television series Empire (2015–2020).
Trai Byers | |
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![]() Byers in 2022 | |
Born | (1983-07-19) July 19, 1983 (age 39) Kansas City, Kansas, U.S. |
Education | University of Kansas (BA) Yale University (MFA) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 2009–present |
Spouse | Grace Gealey (m. 2016) |
Trai Byers was born in Kansas City, Kansas.[2] After a year of high school in Kansas City, he completed his high-school education in Georgia. Byers then graduated from Andrew College with an associate degree in Theater and graduated from the University of Kansas with a bachelor's degree in communications.[2] He also attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles, and the Yale School of Drama.[2]
In 2011, Byers made his television debut with the recurring role on the ABC daytime soap opera, All My Children, and the following year had a role in The CW teen soap, 90210.[3][4] He played civil rights activist James Forman in the 2014 historical epic film, Selma directed by Ava DuVernay.[5] He plays Andre Lyon in Fox's 2015 music-industry primetime soap opera, Empire.[6][7]
During the October 7, 2015 episode of the daytime talk show, FABLife, Byers's costar Grace Gealey confirmed that they were engaged.[8] He and Gealey married on Grand Cayman Island on April 14, 2016.[9][10]
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2009 | Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre | Chip | |
2013 | Destination Planet Negro | B-12 | |
2014 | Jayhawkers | Nathan Davis | |
Selma | James Forman | ||
2017 | Americons | Theo Jones | |
2018 | Bent | Chuck | |
2020 | The 24th | Boston | Also co-writer and producer |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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2011 | All My Children | Mookie | 11 episodes |
2012 | 90210 | Alec Martin | 6 episodes |
2015–2020 | Empire | Andre Lyon | 102 episodes |
Year | Award | Category | Nominated work | Result |
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2015 | 17th Teen Choice Awards | Choice TV: Scene Stealer | Nominated | |
Choice TV: Chemistry (shared with the others) | Nominated | |||
2017 | 48th NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
1st Black Reel Awards for Television | Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama Series | Nominated | ||
2018 | 49th NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series | Nominated | |
Byers was born in 1983 in Kansas City, Kan.
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