Sherwin David "Wood" Harris (born October 17, 1969) is an American actor. He first garnered attention for his role as Motaw in the Jeff Pollack film Above the Rim (1994), prior to portraying high school football player Julius Campbell in the Walt Disney Pictures film Remember the Titans (2000) and Jimi Hendrix in the Showtime television film Hendrix (2000). He attained further recognition for his portrayal of drug kingpin Avon Barksdale on the HBO crime drama The Wire (2002–2008). Harris also played the role of cocaine dealer Ace, based on the life of Azie Faison, in the crime film Paid in Full in 2002.
On television, Harris is known for playing Avon Barksdale in The Wire and Brooke Payne on the BET miniseries The New Edition Story in 2017. In addition, Harris starred as Barry Fouray on the VH1 miniseries The Breaks (2016–2017), Damon Cross on the Fox series Empire for its fifth and sixth season, and currently portrays the drug lord "Pat" in the Starz series BMF.
While enrolled in NIU, Harris starred in his first major film role in the basketball drama Above the Rim, opposite Duane Martin and co-starring Tupac Shakur,[2] 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 film, Hendrix.[2]
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.[6] 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 kingpinAzie Faison.[7]
In June 2008, director Martin Guigui revealed that Harris was cast as Nate "Sweetwater" Clifton in Sweetwater, a movie about the first black player in the NBA.[9] As of March 2018[update], it is still in pre-production.[citation needed]
In 2009, Harris starred in the film Just Another Day, as a successful fictional rapper named A-maze.[10] The film centers on a clash between a young up-and-coming rapper and an older one at the top of his game, the former played by Jamie Hector (whose character Marlo Stanfield had a similar role with respect to Harris's character in The Wire).
In 2015, he reunited with The Wire cast member Michael B. Jordan for his role as Tony "Little Duke" Evers in Creed, the latest instalment of the Rocky franchise, reprising the role in its sequels.
