Brian Tyree Henry

Brian Tyree Henry was born on March 31, 1982, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and raised partly in Washington, D.C. He pursued his education at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, initially as a business major before switching to acting. He later earned his Master of Fine Arts degree from the Yale School of Drama. Henry began his professional career on stage, appearing in numerous plays and musicals. His early theatre work included playing Tybalt in Shakespeare in the Park’s 2007 production of “Romeo and Juliet” and roles in Tarell Alvin McCraney’s “The Brother/Sister Plays.” In 2011, he made his Broadway debut in the original cast of “The Book of Mormon,” performing alongside Josh Gad and Andrew Rannells. His early television appearances included guest roles in series such as “Law & Order” and “The Good Wife.” He further expanded his television presence with recurring roles as Winston Scrapper in HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” in 2013 and Larkin in Cinemax’s “The Knick” in 2014. His feature film debut was in the 2015 comedy “Puerto Ricans in Paris.”

Henry’s career achieved significant recognition with his starring role as Alfred ‘Paper Boi’ Miles in the FX series “Atlanta,” which premiered in 2016. For this performance, he received critical acclaim and an Emmy Award nomination. Concurrently, he appeared as Dascious Brown in the HBO comedy “Vice Principals” from 2016 to 2017. In 2017, he earned another Emmy nomination for his guest appearance as Ricky in NBC’s “This Is Us.” The year 2018 marked a major breakthrough in his film career, featuring roles in seven movies. He returned to Broadway that year to star in Kenneth Lonergan’s “Lobby Hero,” for which he was nominated for a Tony Award. His film roles in 2018 included the action thriller “Hotel Artemis,” the crime drama “White Boy Rick,” Steve McQueen’s acclaimed “Widows,” and Barry Jenkins’ “If Beale Street Could Talk,” earning him a National Society of Film Critics Award nomination. He also voiced Jefferson Davis in the Academy Award-winning animated film “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.”

Continuing his diverse work, Henry appeared in films like “Child’s Play” and “Joker” in 2019. In 2021, he joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Phastos in “Eternals” and also starred in “Godzilla vs. Kong.” He reunited with director David Leitch in the 2022 action comedy “Bullet Train” alongside Brad Pitt. Later in 2022, he starred opposite Jennifer Lawrence in A24’s “Causeway,” delivering a performance that earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, along with nominations for Critics’ Choice, Gotham, and Independent Spirit Awards. In 2024, he returned as Bernie Hayes in “Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire” and voiced a young Megatron in the animated film “Transformers One.” He also took on the role of the new voice for Smokey Bear. Henry is currently in production for the Apple TV+ series “Sinking Spring,” directed by Ridley Scott, and is set to reprise his voice role in “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.”