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. Currently, Wood Harris is starring as drug lord "Pat" in the Starz series BMF alongside Demetrius Flenory Jr. and his older brother, Steve Harris.
Wood Harris | |
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Born | Sherwin David Harris (1969-10-17) October 17, 1969 (age 53) |
Education | Northern Illinois University (BA) New York University (MFA) |
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1993–present |
Spouse | Rebekah Harris (m. 2001) |
Children | 2 |
Relatives | Steve Harris (brother) |
Harris was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of seamstress Mattie and bus driver John Harris.[citation needed] He was given the nickname "Wood" by friends in his neighborhood, because "Sherwin" was too difficult for some to pronounce.[1] He holds a Bachelor of Arts 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]
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 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.[6] 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.[7]
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.[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[update], 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 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.[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 sequel.
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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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 | ||
Benji | Himself | Documentary | |
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 | Post-production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
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1996 | NYPD Blue | Hector | 1 episode |
1997 | Oz | Officer Gordon Wood | 1 episode |
1997 | Cosby | Tony | 1 episode |
1998 | New York Undercover | Shadow | 1 episode |
1999 | Spenser: Small Vices | Ellis Alves | Television film |
2000 | Hendrix | Jimi Hendrix | Television film |
2002–2008 | The Wire | Avon Barksdale | Main role, 38 episodes |
2003 | The Twilight Zone | Marvin Gardens / Dwayne Grant | 1 episode |
2007 | Numb3rs | Murphy 'Pony' Fuñez | 1 episode |
2008 | House | Bowman | 1 episode |
2010 | Southland | Trinney Day | 3 episodes |
2010 | Hawaii Five-0 | Russell Ellison | 1 episode |
2013 | The Watsons Go to Birmingham | Daniel Watson | Television film |
2014 | Justified | Jay | 4 episodes |
2016 | The Breaks | Barry Fouray | Television film |
2017 | The New Edition Story | Brooke Payne | Miniseries, 3 episodes |
2017 | The Breaks | Barry Fouray | Main role, 8 episodes |
2018–2020 | Empire | Damon Cross | Main role, 22 episodes |
2019 | Ryan Hansen Solves Crimes on Television | Vince Vincetti | Recurring role, 8 episodes |
2021 | BMF | Pat | 4 episodes |
2021 | The Last O.G. | Percy | 2 episodes |
2022 | Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty | Spencer Haywood | Recurring role, 6 episodes |
Black Reel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor, Drama Series | |
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Black Reel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor, TV Movie or Limited Series | |
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General | |
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National libraries | |
Other |
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