# Wood Harris

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 Chicago, Illinois, the son of seamstress Mattie and bus driver John Henry Harris. He was given the nickname "Wood" by friends in his neighborhood, because "Sherwin" was too difficult for some to pronounce. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts from Northern Illinois University (NIU) and a Master of Fine Arts from New York University. He is the younger brother of actor Steve Harris.

## 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, 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.
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. 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.
He starred as Avon Barksdale, loosely based on the real-life Nathan Barksdale, in the HBO's original series The Wire. 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. As of March 2018, it is still in pre-production.
In 2009, Harris starred in the film Just Another Day, as a successful fictional rapper named A-maze. 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.
In 2015, he reunited with The Wire cast member Michael B. Jordan for his role as Tony "Little Duke" Evers in Creed, the latest instalment 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 | |
| 1998 | The Siege | Officer Henderson | |
| 2000 | Committed | Chicky | |
| 2000 | The Gold Cup | Clayton | |
| 2000 | Are You Cinderella? | - | Short |
| 2000 | Remember the Titans | Julius Campbell | |
| 2000 | Train Ride | Will | |
| 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 | Video |
| 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 | |
| 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 | |
| 2018 | Gangland: The Musical | Reeby | |
| 2020 | Always and Forever | Danny | |
| 2021 | Ransun Games | Henchman #1 | |
| 2021 | Space Jam: A New Legacy | Coach C | |
| 2023 | Creed III | Tony "Little Duke" Evers | |
| 2023 | Shooting Stars | Dru Joyce II | |
| 2025 | One Battle After Another | TBA | Post-production |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1996 | NYPD Blue | Hector | Episode: "Moby Greg" |
| 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 movie |
| 2000 | Hendrix | Jimi Hendrix | TV movie |
| 2000 | 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 5) |
| 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 |
| 2008 | House | Bowman | Episode: "Last Resort" |
| 2009 | Played by Fame | - | Episode: "The Jealous Boyfriend" |
| 2010 | Southland | Trinney Day | Recurring cast (season 2) |
| 2010 | 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 |
| 2017 | 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 5), main 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..." |
| 2021 | BMF | Pat | Recurring cast |
| 2021 | The Last O.G. | Percy | Recurring cast (season 4) |
| 2022–23 | Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty | Spencer Haywood | Recurring cast |

### Documentary

| Year | Title |
| 2012 | Benji |