Bokeem Woodbine

Woodbine was born on April 13, 1973, in Harlem, New York. He attended the Dalton School on Manhattan's Upper East Side, before transferring to the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in the city.{{cite web | url = http://www.metacritic.com/person/bokeem-woodbine | title = Bokeem Woodbine Profile - Metacritic | publisher = Metacritic}}

He made his TV acting debut in the CBS Schoolbreak Special entitled "Love Off Limits". His appearance was noticed by casting director Jaki Brown-Karman, who later recommended him to Forest Whitaker for the latter's directorial effort, the HBO television movie Strapped (1993). Since then, he has worked with other major African-American filmmakers such as Spike Lee, Mario Van Peebles and the Hughes Brothers in the films Crooklyn (1994), Panther (1995), and Dead Presidents (1995), respectively.{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2016/tv/news/fargo-bokeem-woodbine-mike-milligan-fx-1201791499/|title=Scene Stealer Bokeem Woodbine on Life he was also in Jason's Lyric. Before and After 'Fargo'|first=Geoff|last=Berkshire|magazine=Variety|date=June 9, 2016}}

In 1996, he appeared in Tupac Shakur's music video for "I Ain't Mad at Cha" and formed a friendship with the rapper. They subsequently reunited in Vondie Curtis-Hall's directorial debut, Gridlock'd, which was released four months after Shakur's death.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.xxlmag.com/news/2011/09/bokeem-woodbine-remembers-working-with-pac/|title=Tupac Month: Bokeem Woodbine Remembers Working With 'Pac|magazine=XXL|date=September 14, 2011}} In 1999, Woodbine appeared in an episode of HBO's The Sopranos as New Jersey gangster rapper Massive Genius.

Woodbine was featured as a regular on the NBC midseason sitcom Battery Park and played Dr. Damon Bradley, who later turned out to be a serial rapist,{{cite book|title=The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present|year=2003|publisher=Ballantine Books|isbn=0-345-45542-8|pages=224}} in the short-lived CBS medical drama City of Angels, the latter of which earned him a nomination for the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.{{citation needed|date=August 2016}} Additionally, he appeared in the Wu-Tang Clan's music videos for their songs "Protect Ya Neck II (The Jump Off)", "Gravel Pit", and "Careful (Click, Click)".{{cite interview|url=http://uproxx.com/tv/bokeem-woodbine-fargo-interview/|title=Bokeem Woodbine On Life After 'Fargo,' His Mysterious 'Sopranos' Character, And His Hazy Wu-Tang Memories|first=Brett|last=Michael|website=Uproxx|date=February 25, 2016}} Woodbine went to portray saxophonist David "Fathead" Newman in the Oscar-winning Ray Charles biopic Ray.

Over the next few years, Woodbine made minor appearances in both film and television. On the small screen, he could be seen in an episode of Fox's crime drama Bones and ABC's short-lived cop drama The Evidence, as well as two episodes of Spike TV's Blade: The Series, based on Marvel Comics' character and popular film series. The next year, Woodbine appeared with his Blade: The Series co-star Sticky Fingaz in his musical drama film A Day in the Life, starring Omar Epps and Mekhi Phifer, and two films by Jesse V. Johnson: the low-budget sci-fi/action movie The Last Sentinel (alongside Don "The Dragon" Wilson and Katee Sackhoff), and the action film The Butcher, opposite Eric Roberts. He also became a series regular, as Leon Cooley, an inmate on death row, in the TNT crime/drama series Saving Grace alongside Holly Hunter.

In 2009, Woodbine appeared in the blaxploitation film Black Dynamite{{cite news|url=http://www.pajiba.com/fargo/8-times-youve-seen-bokeem-woodbine-and-didnt-know-it.php|title=8 Times You've Seen Fargo's Bokeem Woodbine And Didn't Know It|first=Dustin|last=Rowles|website=Pajiba|date=November 16, 2015}} and followed it up the next year with the M. Night Shyamalan-produced supernatural thriller Devil.{{cite news|url=http://www.fangoria.com/new/bokeem-woodbine-rides-with-the-devil/|title=Bokeem Woodbine Rides with the "DEVIL"|website=Fangoria|date=July 10, 2010|access-date=August 11, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160911031341/http://www.fangoria.com/new/bokeem-woodbine-rides-with-the-devil/|archive-date=September 11, 2016|url-status=dead}} He has also appeared as a police officer on the critically acclaimed series Southland (2011). He next appeared in the 2012 remake of Total Recall{{cite news|url=http://movieweb.com/total-recall-wants-bokeem-woodbine/|title=Total Recall Wants Bokeem Woodbine|first=Brian|last=Gallagher|website=MovieWeb|date=May 3, 2011|access-date=August 10, 2016}} and then Riddick the next year.{{cite news|url=http://movieweb.com/riddick-wants-katee-sackhoff-and-bokeem-woodbine/|title=Riddick Wants Katee Sackhoff and Bokeem Woodbine|first=Brian|last=Gallagher|website=MovieWeb|date=November 3, 2011|access-date=August 10, 2016}}

In December 2015, he received a Critics' Choice Television Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Movie/Miniseries and a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for his role as Mike Milligan in Fargo.{{cite news|url=https://variety.com/2015/film/awards/critics-choice-award-nominations-2016-nominees-full-list-1201660235/|title=Critics' Choice Award Nominations: Complete List|first=Tim|last=Gray|magazine=Variety|publisher=Penske Media Corporation|location=Los Angeles, California|date=December 14, 2015}}[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-news/bokeem-woodbine-his-perfect-fargo-848551/ Bokeem Woodbine on His Perfect ‘Fargo’ Role: “It Was Like I’d Written It for Myself”]

In 2017, Woodbine appeared in the Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios film Spider-Man: Homecoming, as Shocker, one of four villains, alongside Michael Keaton, Logan Marshall-Green and Michael Chernus.{{cite web|first=Nicole|last=Carpenter|url=http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/06/23/spider-man-homecoming-casts-third-villain-in-fargos-bokeem-woodbine/|title=Spider-Man: Homecoming Casts Third Villain in Fargo's Bokeem Woodbine|website=IGN|publisher=j2 Global|location=San Francisco, California|date=June 23, 2016}} In 2018, Woodbine starred in the series Unsolved. He played Daryn Dupree, who was part of a police task force that investigated the murders of rappers Notorious BIG and Tupac Shakur. In 2021, Woodbine played Sheriff Domingo in Ghostbusters: Afterlife.[https://www.radiotimes.com/movies/ghostbusters-afterlife-cast/ Ghostbusters: Afterlife Cast]

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{{Black Reel Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor, TV Movie or Limited Series}}

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Category:1973 births

Category:Living people

Category:20th-century African-American male actors

Category:21st-century African-American male actors

Category:20th-century American male actors

Category:21st-century American male actors

Category:American male film actors

Category:American male television actors

Category:American male voice actors

Category:Dalton School alumni

Category:Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School alumni

Category:Male actors from Manhattan

Category:People from Harlem