Wood Harris

Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as the drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO crime drama The Wire and high school student Julius Campbell in the 2000 film Remember the Titans.

Early life

Harris was born in Chicago, Illinois, the son of housewife Mattie and bus driver John Harris. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Theater Arts from Northern Illinois University (NIU) and a Master of Arts from New York University. He is the younger brother of actor Steve Harris.

Career

While enrolled in NYU, Harris starred in his first major film role in the basketball drama Above the Rim, starring opposite 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 movie, 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.