Wood Harris
Sherwin David "Wood" Harris is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his role as Motaw in the Jeff Pollack film Above the Rim, before portraying high school football player Julius Campbell in the Walt Disney Pictures film Remember the Titans and Jimi Hendrix in the Showtime television film Hendrix. He attained further recognition for his portrayal of drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO crime drama The Wire. Harris also played the role of cocaine dealer Ace, based on the life of Azie Faison, in the crime film Paid in Full.
His other notable film work includes the dark comedy Next Day Air, the science fiction films Dredd and Blade Runner 2049, the Marvel Studios superhero film Ant-Man, and the sports drama Creed, along with its sequels Creed II and Creed III. In 2025, he portrayed Laredo in the film One Battle After Another.
On television, Harris starred as Barry Fouray on the VH1 miniseries The Breaks, Brooke Payne on the BET miniseries The New Edition Story, Damon Cross on the Fox series Empire during its fifth and sixth seasons, and the drug lord "Pat" in the Starz series BMF.
Early life and education
Harris, who is of African American heritage, was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of seamstress Mattie and bus driver John Henry Harris. He is the younger brother of actor Steve Harris. He was given the nickname "Wood" by friends in his neighborhood because "Sherwin" was too difficult for some to pronounce. Harris discovered a passion for the arts as early as age twelve when he focused on drawing and painting. He played basketball for St. Joseph's School, the subject of the award-winning documentary, Hoop Dreams.He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts from Northern Illinois University, where he also played on the school's basketball team. Harris earned a Master of Fine Arts from New York University. At one point, Harris was dismissed from NYU for tardiness; however, his classmates successfully petitioned to have him reinstated.
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; however, the movie was not released until 2023 with another actor in the starring role.
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. 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, reprising the role in its sequels.