Biography

Jesse Williams

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Jesse Wesley Williams, born August 5, 1981, is a former high school teacher and activist turned actor/director. He's best known for his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the ABC Television series Grey's Anatomy and his advocacy for the disenfranchised, highlighted by his internationally resonant acceptance speech for his 2016 BET Humanitarian Award. He also appears in the hit 2013 film Lee Daniels' The Butler as real-life civil rights leader Rev. James Lawson. Previous roles include Holden in The Cabin in the Woods (2012); Officer Eddie Quinlan in Brooklyn's Finest (2009); as Leo, Lena's boyfriend, in the film sequel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008); and as Isaac "Ike" Singer in Jacob's Ladder (2019).
- IMDb mini biography by: scaryofmonsters

A former high school teacher.
His father is African-American, with some Seminole ancestry. His mother is of Swedish descent.
According to Finding Your Roots, Jesse is a direct descendant of Joseph Herrick, who was the constable of Salem, Massachusetts, during the Salem witch trials. He is also a direct descendant of the Swedish singer Inga Soffia, who was part of a woman's quartet that toured America in the 1870s.
Attended Temple University (B.A.) in Philadelphia, PA
Friends with Harry Belafonte.

Coming from New York, you're kind of indoctrinated with anti-L.A. sentiment, but California is just a really dope state.
Storytelling is based on the word, being an honorable person of integrity is based on your word.
I'm kind of in a middle space, being marketed as a biracial actor. Roles are written either stereotypically black, or they're written 'normal,' which is just code for white.
There's so much material out there that's unnecessarily racist. It takes a shot at what is 'urban' or demonstrates blackness with some sassy, neck-jiving character that's not even relevant to the plot. I see it time and time again, and it doesn't move the story forward. It just kind of cryogenically freezes us in this old racial paradigm.
We often grow up being told that we can do this or that, but if you don't see anybody that looks like you doing it, you don't believe you can do it. But I had great teachers, and I wanted to be a great teacher.

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