Denny Love (born Denzel Irby, circa 1993)[1][2] is an American actor. His biggest roles were Barry on Empire and Chip "the Colonel" Martin in the miniseries Looking for Alaska. He also had minor roles on Chicago P.D. and Lucifer,[3][4] and appeared in the 2020 film Unpregnant.[2][5]
Love is from Madison, Wisconsin.[1] He was raised by his grandmother,[3] and belonged to the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County.[6] He attended Madison West High School,[6] then studied theater at DePaul University, graduating in 2015.[6][7]
Love appeared in three episodes of Empire as Barry.[8][6][9]
Though Love was unfamiliar with John Green's work he read the novel Looking for Alaska in preparation, and for his audition he recited a monologue from the book.[10] He received a phone call of congratulations from him upon getting the role.[1][10]
Love appeared in all eight episodes of Looking for Alaska as Chip "the Colonel" Martin, a Black scholarship student at Culver Creek Academy.[10] In the novel, the Colonel's race is not specified but is assumed to be white.[11][12][13] Nasim Mansuri, writing for Hypable, says, "In no part of the novel does it say that the Colonel is Black, and being Black doesn’t particularly change his character… but [...] his race brings a lot more meaning to every interaction. It also makes the Colonel’s rage a lot more understandable, even if his actions aren’t always justified.[11]