# Boris Kodjoe

Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe (/ˈkoʊdʒuː/; born March 8, 1973) is an Austrian-born German actor and former model, based in the United States. His breakthrough role was as sports-courier agent Damon Carter on the Showtime drama series Soul Food (2000-2004). His other notable television roles include Dr. Will Campbell on CBS's Code Black, Phil Miller on The Last Man on Earth, Robert Sullivan on Station 19, and a fictionalized version of himself on Real Husbands of Hollywood.
Kodjoe has also appeared in films such as Love & Basketball (2000), Brown Sugar (2002), Surrogates (2009), Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) and its sequel Resident Evil: Retribution (2012), and the animated film Ferdinand (2017). He is a two-time NAACP Image Award nominee, Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series for Soul Food and Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for Real Husbands of Hollywood.

## Early life and education

Kodjoe was born in Vienna, Austria, the son of Ursula, a German psychologist of Jewish descent, and Eric Kodjoe, a Ga-Dangme Ghanaian physician. His namesake is the Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak. Kodjoe's matrilineal great-grandmother was Jewish and was murdered in the Holocaust; his maternal grandmother survived the war in hiding.
Kodjoe's parents divorced when he was six years old, and he moved to Germany at that time. He grew up in the town of Gundelfingen, near Freiburg im Breisgau.
He attended Virginia Commonwealth University on a tennis scholarship and graduated with a bachelor's degree in marketing in 1996. A four-year letterman on the Rams' men's tennis team, he is currently ninth in school history with 75 career singles wins. Tied for third in doubles victories with 66, he was paired with Jonas Elmblad on 37 of them, also third all-time. His brother Patrick Kodjoe played for VCU's basketball team. A back injury ended Boris' tennis aspirations, but he was quickly signed as a model and, soon after, entered acting. In 1995, he was featured in TLC's music video for "Red Light Special".

## Career

Named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine in 2002, Kodjoe is perhaps best known as one of the 7 regular cast members from the Showtime drama Soul Food, which aired from 2000 to 2004. He appeared in the 2002 film Brown Sugar and starred in the short-lived sitcom Second Time Around with his Soul Food co-star Nicole Ari Parker, whom he eventually married. He played the role of David Taylor, the wayward son of Pastor Fred Taylor, in the October 2005 film The Gospel. He performed in a play called Whatever She Wants, starring Vivica A. Fox, and made an appearance on the fifth season of Nip/Tuck. He had a supporting role in the 2009 science fiction film Surrogates. Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw starred as a husband-and-wife secret agent team in 2010 J. J. Abrams-produced the NBC TV series Undercovers, but the show lasted less than one season. That year, he also appeared as Luther in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife. He had a guest appearance on the TV show Franklin & Bash in 2012.
From 2013 to 2016, Kodjoe starred as a fictional version of himself in the BET comedy parody series Real Husbands of Hollywood. In 2014, he was cast as a regular on the ABC primetime soap opera Members Only created by Susannah Grant, but the show never aired. In 2015, Kodjoe began a recurring guest role on Fox's The Last Man on Earth television series. Kodjoe was part of the ensemble cast for all three seasons of the CBS medical drama Code Black playing surgeon Dr. Will Campbell from 2016 to 2018.
In July 2018, Kodjoe landed a recurring role in the second season of the Grey's Anatomy spin-off series Station 19. In October, he was promoted to a series regular after his appearance in the season premiere as the new fire captain, Robert Sullivan. In "Eulogy", he is promoted to Battalion Chief.

## Personal life

Kodjoe married his Soul Food: The Series co-star Nicole Ari Parker on May 21, 2005, in Gundelfingen, Germany. She gave birth to their first child, Sophia, in March 2005, who was diagnosed with spina bifida at birth. Parker gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy, in October 2006. Kodjoe and his wife are members of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia. The family resides in Los Angeles, California. Parker and Kodjoe competed against one another on a February 2019 episode of Lip Sync Battle.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2000 | Love & Basketball | Jason | |
| 2002 | Brown Sugar | Kelby Dawson | |
| 2004 | Doing Hard Time | Michael Mitchell | Direct-to-video |
| 2005 | The Gospel | David Taylor | |
| 2006 | Madea's Family Reunion | Frankie Henderson | |
| 2007 | All About Us | Edward Brown | |
| 2007 | Alice Upside Down | Mr. Edgecombe | |
| 2008 | Starship Troopers 3: Marauder | General Dix Hauser | Direct-to-video |
| 2009 | Surrogates | FBI Special Agent-in-Charge Andy Stone | |
| 2010 | The Confidant | Nigel Patterson | |
| 2010 | Resident Evil: Afterlife | Luther West | |
| 2012 | Resident Evil: Retribution | Luther West | |
| 2013 | Baggage Claim | Graham | |
| 2013 | Nurse 3D | Det. John Rogan | |
| 2014 | Addicted | Jason Reynard | |
| 2017 | Ferdinand | Klaus (voice) | |
| 2025 | The Juice | O.J. Simpson | Principal photography is incomplete. |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1998 | The Steve Harvey Show | Dexter | Episode: "Every Boy Needs a Teacher" |
| 2000 | For Your Love | Terrence | Episode: "The French Lesson" |
| 2003 | Boston Public | Coach Derek Williams | 3 episodes |
| 2003 | Street Time | Bowman Calloway | Episodes: "High Holly Roller" and "Cop Killer" |
| 2003 | All of Us | Marcus | Episode: "Uncle Marcus Comes to Dinner" |
| 2004 | Eve | Kevin | Episode: "Valentine's Day Reloaded" |
| 2000–04 | Soul Food | Damon Carter | Series regular, 27 episodes Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (2002–2004) |
| 2004–05 | Second Time Around | Jackson Muse | Series regular, 13 episodes |
| 2006 | If You Lived Here, You'd Be Home Now | Brad | Failed pilot |
| 2007 | Crossing Jordan | Detective Elliot Chandler | Episodes: "Post Hoc..." and "In Sickness & in Health" |
| 2007 | Women's Murder Club | Simon Perry | Episode: "Blind Dates and Bleeding Hearts" |
| 2007 | Nip/Tuck | Elton Forrest | Episode: "Chaz Darling" |
| 2010 | Undercovers | Steven Bloom | Series regular, 13 episodes |
| 2012 | Scruples | Josh Hillman | TV pilot |
| 2012 | Franklin & Bash | Nolan Tate | Episode: "Last Dance" |
| 2012 | A Killer Among Us | Detective Joe Moran | TV movie Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Supporting Actor |
| 2013–16 | Real Husbands of Hollywood | Himself | Series regular Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series (2014) |
| 2013 | The Real Housewives of Atlanta | Himself | Episode: "Praise the Pageant" |
| 2014 | Members Only | Deacon | Series regular |
| 2014 | The Chase | Himself | 1 episode: "Starry Eyed: Celebrity Episode" |
| 2014 | Unforgettable | Agent Francis Simms | Recurring, 2 episodes |
| 2015–16 | The Last Man on Earth | Philip Stacy "Phil" Miller | Recurring, 12 episodes |
| 2015 | The Boris & Nicole Show | Himself (co-host) | Main role, 20 episodes |
| 2016 | Cape Town | Sanctus Snook | Main role, 6 episodes |
| 2016–18 | Code Black | Dr. Will Campbell | Guest star (season 1), main role (season 2-3) 33 episodes |
| 2017 | Tales | Ray Vance | Episode: "Fuck the Police" |
| 2018–24 | Station 19 | Robert Sullivan | Series regular, Main role (season 2-7) ; 95 episodes |
| 2018 | House of Cards | Brett Cole | Recurring; 4 episodes |
| 2019 | Lip Sync Battle | Himself | Episode: "Boris Kodjoe vs. Nicole Ari Parker" |
| 2019 | Grey's Anatomy | Robert Sullivan | Episode: "What I Did For Love" Episode: "Thunderstruck" |
| 2022 | Real Husbands of Hollywood: More Kevin, More Problems | Himself | Series regular |