Brian Tyree Henry

***Brian Tyree Henry*** (March 31, 1982, Fayetteville, North Carolina, USA) is an American actor. He rose to prominence for his role as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta (2016–2022), for which he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

On television, he is known for his performances in Boardwalk Empire, This Is Us and How to Get Away with Murder. Henry made his film breakthrough in 2018 with roles in Steve McQueen's heist film Widows, Barry Jenkins' romantic drama film If Beale Street Could Talk, and the animated superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. He's since appeared in Child's Play (2019), Joker (2019), Godzilla vs. Kong (2021), The Woman in the Window (2021), and Bullet Train (2022). He portrayed Phastos in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Eternals (2021). In 2022, he starred in Causeway, which earned him a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He has also appeared on stage, making his debut performance in the Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet (2007), and acting in various plays at the Public Theatre, before appearing in the original Broadway cast of The Book of Mormon (2011). In 2014 he appeared in the off-Broadway musical The Fortress of Solitude. For his performance in the 2018 Broadway revival of Kenneth Lonergan's play Lobby Hero, he received a nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

Henry was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina and raised partly in Washington, D.C. His father was in the military, and his mother, Willow Dean Kearse, was an educator. Henry attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia as a business major-turned-actor in the early 2000s, and received his master's degree from the Yale School of Drama.

Henry began his career on stage, with roles in numerous plays and musicals. In 2007, he starred as Tybalt in Shakespeare in the Park's production of Romeo and Juliet. Henry also appeared in Tarell Alvin McCraney's trilogy of plays, titled The Brother/Sister Plays. In 2011, he received further success in his Broadway debut as a part of the original cast of the musical The Book of Mormon opposite Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells.

Henry made guest appearances in television series such as NBC's Law & Order, and CBS's The Good Wife. In 2013 he had a brief but recurring role as Winston Scrapper in HBO's Boardwalk Empire appearing in the episodes "Havre de Grace" and "Farewell Daddy Blues". The following year he appeared in Steven Soderbergh's Cinemax series The Knick as Larkin in the episode "The Busy Flea". He made his feature film debut in the 2015 comedy film Puerto Ricans in Paris.

In 2016, Henry received critical acclaim and recognition for his starring role as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta. For his performance in the series, he received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance in the episode "Woods". Chase Hutchinson of Collider declared Henry the "show's best character" writing, "Uniting [Atlanta] is the irreplaceable Henry's sense of presence and vulnerability he conveys as an actor, an element of the show that would not be the same without him. It makes him one of the best parts of the series and one of the best actors working today for all he manages to do in even the simplest of moments."

McQueen's acclaimed heist film Widows portraying Jamal Manning, a crime boss and politician in the Chicago. Alissa Wilkinson of Vox declared "Brian Tyree Henry continues his run as the actor to watch, thanks to his appearance here as a charismatic and menacing political candidate." He also appeared in Barry Jenkins' romantic drama film If Beale Street Could Talk based on the 1974 James Baldwin novel of the same name. For his performances in both films he received a nomination from the National Society of Film Critics Award for Best Supporting Actor. That same year he portrayed Jefferson Davis in the animated superhero film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse which received the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature. That same year he also starred in the dystopian thriller film Hotel Artemis, and the crime drama White Boy Rick.