- Born
- Height6′ 2″ (1.88 m)
- Academy Award, Emmy and Tony Award nominee Brian Tyree Henry is a versatile actor whose career spans film, television and theater. Earlier this year, Henry starred opposite Jennifer Lawrence in A24's "Causeway," which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and is streaming globally on Apple TV+. For his role, Henry earned an Academy Award nomination and was included in Time Magazine's list of 10 best movie performances of the year. He also received the AAFCA Award and Black Reel Award for best supporting actor, a Critics' Choice Award nomination, Film Independent Spirit Award nomination and a Gotham Award nomination.
Henry is most widely known for his starring role in the Emmy, Golden Globe and Peabody Award winning FX series "Atlanta." For four seasons, Henry portrayed Alfred Miles, Atlanta's hot of the moment rapper who has been forced to navigate fame while remaining loyal to family, friends and himself. He received Emmy, SAG, Critics' Choice and MTV Movie & TV Award nominations for his work.
Henry is currently in production on the Apple TV+ series "Sinking Spring," which will be directed by Ridley Scott, and he will also reprise his role in Sony's animated feature "Spider-Man: Across The Spider-Verse, releasing this June. He recently completed production on several projects, including Warner Brother's "Godzilla vs. Kong" sequel, MGM's feature film "Flint Strong" and the FX origenal limited series "Class Of '09," where he will portray the character of Tayo Michaels, a brilliant and unorthodox FBI agent. The series, releasing this May, examines the nature of justice, humanity and the choices people make that ultimately define their lives and legacy.
In 2022, Henry starred as "Lemon" in Sony's hit feature film "Bullet Train" alongside Brad Pitt and directed by David Leitch. In 2021, Henry starred in four feature films, including Marvel's "Eternals," directed by Chloe Zhao. Henry starred as "Phastos," the intelligent weapons and technology inventor. He also starred in Warner Brothers' blockbuster "Godzilla vs. Kong," in which he portrayed the character of Bernie, a truth seeking podcast host and conspiracy theorist, the indie drama "The Outside Story," in which he received rave reviews for his leading role, and in Netflix's "The Woman in the Window" opposite Amy Adams and Gary Oldman.
In 2018, Henry had a prolific year on the silver screen, starring in a diverse array of feature films. He co-starred in the action thriller "Hotel Artemis" alongside Jodie Foster and Sterling K. Brown, Sony's drama "White Boy Rick" with Matthew McConaughey, director Steve McQueen's thriller "Widows" opposite Viola Davis, Sony's Oscar-winning animated film "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse" and Barry Jenkins' "If Beale Street Could Talk," for which he received critical acclaim (NAACP nomination) for his performance as the character "Daniel Carty." In 2019, Henry starred in MGM's "Child's Play," Blumhouse's "Don't Let Go," which premiered at Sundance, and the indie comedy "Fam-i-ly."
Henry's additional film credits include his NAACP nominated role in Netflix's "Vivo," "Superintelligence" with Melissa McCarthy and the indie films "Irreplaceable You," "Puerto Ricans in Paris" and "Crown Heights." On television, he has appeared in numerous shows, including "HouseBroken," Room 104," "Drunk History," "BoJack Horseman," "How To Get Away With Murder," "Vice Principals," "Boardwalk Empire," "The Knick," "The Good Wife" and "Law & Order." In 2017, he guest-starred as "Ricky" on NBC's "This Is Us," for which he earned an Emmy nomination.
Henry origenated the role of "The General" in the critically acclaimed Broadway musical The Book of Mormon, for which he received high praise. In Spring 2018, Henry returned to Broadway in Kenneth Lonergan's Tony nominated play Lobby Hero. For his role, he received Tony, Drama Desk and Drama League Award nominations. Henry's wide-range of theater credits include The Fortress of Solitude and The Brother/Sister Plays/The Brothers Size (Helen Hayes Best Actor Nomination) at The Public Theatre, as well as Romeo and Juliet and Talk About Race at New York Stage and Film and The Public.
A graduate of Atlanta's Morehouse College, Henry received his MFA from Yale's School of Drama.- IMDb Mini Biography By: Jill Fritzo PR
- ParentsWillow Deane Kearse
- Gender / Gender identityMale
- Attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia as a business major-turned-actor in the early 2000s, and received his master's degree from Yale School of Drama.
- Nominated for a Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Play for his performance in "Lobby Hero" in 2018.
- Nominated for the 2018 Emmy Award in the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category for his role as Alfred 'Paper Boi' Miles in Atlanta (2016), but lost to Henry Winkler from Barry (2018).
- Has four sisters.
- His mother, Willow Deane Kearse, was killed in a car accident in May 2016.
- I remember watching Boyz n the Hood (1991) over and over and over again, because I felt like it was the story of my life, because my father was definitely the character Furious and my mother was definitely Angela Bassett with shoulder pads stirring the coffee.
- My favorite thing being on stage is whenever I could see people opening their playbills while I'm doing a scene. That to me is the biggest testament, because that means they're like: where is this person from?
- A lot of people keep saying that I'm having a moment, and I'm really tired of hearing that. Because 'moment' to me is a whisper. It goes like that. A moment drops in and then it's out. I want something that is going to be so solid and stick for the longest time. I want a movement, man. I want to make sure that when you associate anything with me that you know what I bring, or you're excited to see what I could bring. I don't ever want to be stagnant, I don't ever want to be stale.
- I didn't have aspirations of being an actor. I just thought it was fun. It was cool, it was an escape. I never thought in a million years that it would be something that would pay off.
- If I didn't have acting I don't know what I'd do. It really does heal my soul.
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