Movies Gallery 35 Photos of Jesse Williams For His 35th Birthday By Madeline Boardman Madeline Boardman Madeline Boardman is a former digital features director at Entertainment Weekly. She left EW in 2017. EW's editorial guidelines Published on August 5, 2016 02:27PM EDT Close 01 of 36 Jesse Williams Through The Years Kevin Parry/Getty Images; Bob D'Amico/ABC via Getty Images Happy birthday, Jesse Williams! Born in Chicago on August 5, 1981, the Grey's Anatomy star turns 35 Friday. In honor of Williams' big day, see the actor through the years, ahead. 02 of 36 Jesse Williams and Sanaa Hamri in Los Angeles on May 7, 2008 Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images 03 of 36 Jesse Williams at the Premiere of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 in New York City on July 28, 2008 Jim Spellman/WireImage 04 of 36 Jesse Williams in New York City on August 21, 2008 Mark Von Holden/WireImage 05 of 36 Jesse Williams in Beverly Hills, Calif. on November 10, 2009 Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic 06 of 36 Jesse Williams in Los Angeles on November 11, 2009 Jason Merritt/Getty Images 07 of 36 Jesse Williams at a Celebration for the American Music Awards on November 20, 2009 Kevin Parry/Getty Images 08 of 36 Jesse Williams at the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010 Jason Merritt/Getty Images 09 of 36 Jesse Williams at the Brooklyn's Finest Press Conference in Beverly Hills, Calif. on March 4, 2010 Vera Anderson/WireImage 10 of 36 Jesse Williams at MTV Tr3s's Rock N' Gol World Cup Kick-Off on March 31, 2010 Michael Buckner/Getty Images 11 of 36 Jesse Williams at the Clash Of The Titans Premiere in Los Angeles on March 31, 2010 Jeff Kravitz/FilmMagic 12 of 36 Jesse Williams at the 63rd Annual International Cannes Film Festival on May 20, 2010 George Pimentel/WireImage 13 of 36 Jesse Williams at the 2010 ESPY Awards on July 14, 2010 Alexandra Wyman/Getty Images 14 of 36 Jesse Williams in Hollywood, Calif. on July 14, 2011 Michael Tullberg/Getty Images 15 of 36 Jesse Williams at the Real Steel Los Angeles Premiere on October 2, 2011 Steve Granitz/WireImage 16 of 36 Jesse Williams at the Celebrity Invitational Bowling Tournament in Los Angeles on January 12, 2012 Jesse Grant/Getty Images 17 of 36 Jesse Williams With His Wife Aryn Drake-Lee in Los Angeles on January 18, 2012 Paul Redmond/WireImage 18 of 36 Jesse Williams at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival on January 20, 2012 Frazer Harrison/FilmMagic 19 of 36 Jesse Williams in New York City on March 5, 2012 Gary Gershoff 20 of 36 Jesse Williams at the 6th Annual Asomugha Foundation Gala on April 14, 2012 Maury Phillips/WireImage 21 of 36 Jesse Williams at the 27th Anniversary Sports Spectacular on May 20, 2012 Mark Davis/Getty Images 22 of 36 Jesse Williams at the Los Angeles Film Festival Premiere of To Rome With Love on June 14, 2012 Jason Merritt/Getty Images 23 of 36 Jesse Williams at the 2012 Los Angeles Film Festival on June 17, 2012 Daniel Marin/WireImage 24 of 36 Jesse Williams at Paris Fashion Week on June 29, 2012 Antonio de Moraes Barros Filho/WireImage 25 of 36 Jesse Williams at the Premiere of Sparkle in Hollywood, Calif. on August 16, 2012 Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic 26 of 36 Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery on Grey's Anatomy on August 26, 2012 Bob D'Amico/ABC via Getty Images 27 of 36 Jesse Williams With Ellen Pompeo at the 39th Annual People's Choice Awards on January 9, 2013 Christopher Polk/Getty Images 28 of 36 Jesse Williams at the Press Conference for Lee Daniels' The Butler in New York City on August 5, 2013 Ben Gabbe/Getty Images 29 of 36 Jesse Williams at Lee Daniels' The Butler's New York Premiere on August 5, 2013 Ben Gabbe/Getty Images 30 of 36 Jesse Williams at the Special Los Angeles Screening of 12 Years A Slave on October 14, 2013 Michael Tran/FilmMagic 31 of 36 Jesse Williams at The Weinstein Company & Netflix's 2014 Golden Globes After Party on January 12, 2014 Ari Perilstein/Getty Images 32 of 36 Jesse Williams With James Pickens Jr., Ellen Pompeo, Kelly McCreary, Sarah Drew, and Camilla Luddington at the 41st Annual People's Choice Awards on January 7, 2015 Frazer Harrison/Getty Images 33 of 36 Jesse Williams With the Cast of Grey's Anatomy on August 10, 2015 Adam Taylor/ABC via Getty Images 34 of 36 Jesse Williams as Dr. Jackson Avery on Grey's Anatomy on October 5, 2015 Vivian Zink/ABC via Getty Images 35 of 36 Jesse Williams at Ebony Magazine's Power 100 Gala on December 2, 2015 Earl Gibson III/Getty Images 36 of 36 Jesse Williams at the SiriusXM Studio on May 23, 2016 Cindy Ord/Getty Images