# Demetrius Grosse

Demetrius Grosse (born February 26, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Rock in the film Straight Outta Compton, Emmett Yawners in the Cinemax television series Banshee, Errol in the FX television series Justified, and Baron Samedi in NBC's Heroes.
He is currently set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Eric Williams / Grim Reaper in the Disney+ series Wonder Man.

## Early life

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Grosse began honing his performance skills at the age of ten. Spending time at the Summer Musical Theater Workshop, Grosse was able to practice singing, acting, and dancing. As a theater actor, he honed his craft on the stage, starring in more than five plays with SMTW. Through training and performance, acting, singing, and dance were all elements of performance that were developed early on as Grosse began to build his repertoire. Grosse was not always considering acting, though. For a time, he was interested in veterinary medicine, coding, and even cut hair as a barber at Legends, a well-known LA barber shop. By 17, Grosse had pursued his dreams of acting and studied at Gonzaga College High School. Grosse then went on to achieve an award for the Andrew Carnegie Undergraduate Grant for artistic merit and later graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree from its School of Drama. In 2002, Grosse completed a visiting student program in which he completed two semesters of intensive study at the Howard University College of Fine Arts in his home city of Washington DC. During July, Grosse took his craft to the international arena, studying and performing both classical and contemporary drama with the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. In the summer of 2007, Grosse joined Shakespeare Santa Monica. He had performed on the stages of Oxford, England with the BADA group, in Washington DC with The Shakespeare Theatre, and in Cape Town, South Africa with UCT.

## Career

Grosse appeared in the HBO series Westworld based on the 1973 film of the same name. He also appeared in Michael Bay's feature film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016). Grosse is known for taking on many characters from various backgrounds and from all different genres. He made his acting debut in Numbers (2005) and is well known for his roles in Straight Outta Compton (2015), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), This Is Martin Bonner (2013), and Banshee (2013). His other television credits include Justified, Criminal Minds, ER, NCIS, Heroes, Bones, Dexter, CSI: Miami and Frontier. Grosse also made appearances in The Inheritance (2011), and Hollywoo (2011). Grosse has credits for producing Last Cry for Katrina (2013), Moonshiners, and A Quiet Fire (2009).

### Banshee

On Banshee, Grosse portrayed series regular character Deputy Emmett Yawners for the first two seasons. Grosse's character was the Deputy for the Banshee County Sheriff's Department in the town of Banshee, Pennsylvania. Known as a family man and the moral compass of the show, Deputy Yawners fought until the end protecting his pregnant wife in the season 2 finale episode "Bullets & Tears".

### Justified

On Justified, Grosse portrayed recurring character Errol Butler who is Ellstin Limehouse's right-hand man in Noble's Holler. Errol's hand is also shown to be badly burned from lye, possibly by Limehouse for disobeying him at some point. In Season 3, Errol is shown to resemble Boyd's own former right-hand Johnny Crowder, as he is willing to turn on his leader any chance he gets and attempts to make several power plays to increase Limehouse's wealth and power, all without his boss's permission. These plays eventually get Errol kicked out of Noble's Holler in the finale "Slaughterhouse", but he returns to defend Limehouse when he sees Robert Quarles returning with Raylan Givens and another hostage. Errol takes a bullet for Limehouse and his fate is left ambiguous as the season ends. In the Season 6 episode "Sounding", Errol is revealed to be alive and on better terms with Limehouse and is ordered by him to accompany Ava into gathering supplies at a hardware store in order to excavate Boyd's money from a bank robbery to pay off Limehouse for a car. Bob Sweeney and Raylan approach the hardware store, Bob having tracked down Errol from Noble's. Bob and Errol have a stand-off as Bob attempts to lure Errol out of the store on a bogus charge so that Raylan can get Ava back into his custody. Bob then tases Errol when he refuses to cooperate and leaves with him out of the store.

### Heroes

On Heroes, Grosse portrayed recurring character Baron Samedi. "Baron Samedi" was the alias used by a warlord in Haiti who escaped from Level 5. Baron Samedi has impenetrable skin, which grants him a greater resistance to physical injury than an average human. His skin is a virtually indestructible armor, impenetrable by bullets, blades, or any other known weapon. When flown into a car by Nathan, Samedi is able to stand up unscathed. According to his assignment tracker profile, Samedi's control index is 82%. His data analysis show his biological level at 80, cerebral at 45, elemental at 15 and temporal/spatial at 25.

### Allegations on the set of The Rookie

Afton Williamson alleged that she was sexually harassed by guest star Demetrius Grosse, who portrays Kevin Wolfe in a recurring role, as well as an incident of bullying that escalated into sexual assault at a party. Williamson claimed that she had gone to the showrunners multiple times with these allegations, but was ignored.
Everyone involved in the allegations denied them. An investigation was commissioned through the law firm Mitchell Sillerberg and Knupp along with a third-party firm, EXTTI, which conducted nearly 400 hours of interviews and examined video and other evidence. The results of the investigation were published on September 17, 2019, which found that the allegations made by Williamson had no merit and could not be proven. Williamson stood by her claims, calling the results of the investigation "heartbreaking" and postulated that the producers had lied to cover up the truth of what happened.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Sofia For Now | Postal Clerk | |
| 2007 | Studio | Mr. Banks | |
| 2009 | A Quiet Fire | The Stranger/David | Winner of the Sirrocco Award at the AOF Film Festival. AOF nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film |
| 2010 | Cartel War | Eric Carter | |
| 2011 | The Inheritance | Ancestor Henry | |
| 2011 | Slice | Detective Love | |
| 2011 | Hollywoo | Gangsta | |
| 2013 | This Is Martin Bonner | Locy | |
| 2013 | Battle of the Year | Scott | |
| 2013 | Saving Mr. Banks | Bartender | |
| 2014 | Never a Neverland | Narrator | |
| 2014 | Counter | Bayard Rustin | |
| 2015 | Samaria | Bug | 2015 Student Academy Award Nomination (Short Film) |
| 2015 | Straight Outta Compton | Rock | |
| 2016 | 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi | DS Agent Dave Ubben | |
| 2018 | Rampage | Colonel Blake | |
| 2018 | Love Jacked | Mtumbie | |
| 2020 | Body Cam | Gary | |
| 2022 | Strong Enough | Shane | Short film |
| 2024 | Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot | Reverend W.C. Martin | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Numb3rs | US Marshal | 2 episodes |
| 2005 | Close to Home | Public Defender | Episode: "The Rapist Next Door" |
| 2006 | The Unit | Guard #1 | Episode: "Force Majeure" |
| 2006 | Dexter | Assassin | 2 episodes |
| 2007 | Dirt | Kenny the Assistant | 2 episodes |
| 2007 | CSI: Miami | Chuck Greene | Episode: "A Grizzle Murder" |
| 2007 | NCIS | Atif Nukunda | Episode: "Designated Target" |
| 2008 | Bones | Tucker Payne | Episode: "The Finger in the Nest” |
| 2008 | Heroes | Baron Samedi | Recurring role (season 3) 3 episodes |
| 2008–2009 | ER | Officer Newkirk | Recurring role (seasons 14–15) 5 episodes |
| 2010 | House M.D. | Hacinte | Episode: "A Pox on Our House" |
| 2011 | The Cape | Marty's Guard | Episode: "Endgame" |
| 2011 | Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior | Barry Vernon / Lieutenant Beasley | 2 episodes |
| 2011 | How to Be a Gentleman | Officer Sims | Episode: "How to Have a One-Night Stand 2" |
| 2011 | Shameless | Eddie Murphy | Episode: "Uncle Carl" |
| 2012, 2015 | Justified | Errol | Recurring role (season 3) Guest role (season 6) 13 episodes |
| 2013–2014 | Banshee | Deputy Emmett Yawners | Main cast (season 1–2) 16 episodes |
| 2015 | Complications | Dan Brennan | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2016 | Westworld | Deputy Foss | Recurring role (season 1) 4 episodes |
| 2016 | Game of Silence | Terry Bausch | Main cast 10 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | Frontier | Charleston | Main cast (seasons 2–3) 8 episodes |
| 2017–2018 | The Brave | CPO Ezekiel "Preach" Carter | Main cast 13 episodes |
| 2018–2019 | The Rookie | Det. Kevin Wolf | Recurring role (season 1) 5 episodes |
| 2020 | Lovecraft Country | Marvin Baptiste | Episode: "Sundown" |
| 2020–2022 | Fear the Walking Dead | Emile LaRoux | Guest role (season 6, Episode: "The End Is the Beginning") |
| 2020–2022 | Fear the Walking Dead | Josiah LaRoux | Recurring role (season 7, 3 episodes) |
| 2020 | NCIS: Los Angeles | Raymond Lewis | Episode: "If the Fates Allow" |
| 2021–2023 | Swagger | Grant Carson | 4 episodes |
| 2022 | Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities | Eddie | Episode: "Lot 36" |
| 2023 | Spring Breakthrough | Clark Randall | Television film (Hallmark) |
| 2025 | Law & Order | Darryl Moore | Episode: "A Price to Pay" |
| 2025 | Wonder Man | Eric Williams / Grim Reaper | Disney+ series Main cast |

### Video games

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2011 | L.A. Noire | Jermaine Jones |
| 2016 | NBA 2K17 | Washington Falls |
| 2019 | Call of Duty: Modern Warfare | Sergeant Marcus Griggs (multiplayer only) |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Title | Award | Nomination |
| 2009 | A Quiet Fire | Winner of the Sirrocco Award at the AOF Film Festival. AOF nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film. | Nominated for the Sirrocco Award at the AOF Film Festival. AOF nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film. (WIN) |
| 2013 | This Is Martin Bonner | 2013 Sundance Awards: Audience Award Winner for Best of NEXT for This Is Martin Bonner. | 2013 Sundance Awards: The Audience Award: Best of NEXT. (WIN) |
| 2014 | Counter | Idyllwild IIFC 2015 | Awards for Acting - Best Actor In A Short Film (WIN) & Cinematography -Best Cinematography – Short. (WIN) |
| 2014 | The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry | 24TH Annual NAACP Theatre Awards: “The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry.” | Best Lead Male |
| 2015 | Samaria | 2015 Student Academy Awards Samaria (Short Film) | Best Narrative |

## Producing

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2009 | A Quiet Fire | Short Film, Producer |
| 2010 | Moonshiner | Short Film, Associate Producer |
| 2013 | Last Cry For Katrina | Documentary, Executive Producer |
| 2015 | Godfrey | Just Announced, Executive Producer, Director |