Kelvin Harrison Jr.
Harrison in 2021
Born	(1994-07-23)July 23, 1994 (age 31) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	2013–present

Kelvin Harrison Jr. (born July 23, 1994^[1]) is an American actor. He is the recipient of such accolades as aScreen Actors Guild Award and nominations for aBritish Academy Film Award,Gotham Award, anIndependent Spirit Award.

He began his career with small roles in the 2013 filmsEnder's Game and12 Years a Slave. His breakthrough performance came as Travis in the 2017 horror filmIt Comes at Night, and in 2019 he gained wider recognition for his work inLuce andWaves. He then appeared in films such asThe High Note (2020),The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020),Cyrano (2021) andElvis (2022). He plays the starring role in the 2022 filmChevalier.

Harrison was born on July 23, 1994, inNew Orleans,Louisiana, to musicians Shirlita and Kelvin Harrison.^[1] He grew up in theGarden District and later moved toThe Westbank.^[2] He studiedstudio engineering andmarketing, before moving toLos Angeles,California to pursue acting, where he began taking acting classes.^[2] He is also a skilled musician, mainly playing jazz and gospel on the piano, trumpet, as well as singing. His father was trained byEllis Marsalis and grew up withHarry Connick Jr. Harrison studied underJason Marsalis, recorded withDelfeayo Marsalis, and metWynton Marsalis.^[3][4]

Harrison attendedIsidore Newman School,^[5] where he was one of the few black students in his class and struggled to fit in.^[6] He originally went toLoyola University New Orleans to major in studio engineering as his father felt he would excel in music. Harrison ultimately transferred to theUniversity of New Orleans for film, with the goal of writing and directing his own films.^[7]

In 2012, Harrison was cast inEnder's Game, based on the1985 novel. He was upgraded to day-player and interacted with actors such asViola Davis,Harrison Ford, andBen Kingsley. Harrison credits Davis with making him take acting more seriously. He then had a small role in12 Years a Slave.^[7] Harrison would later appear in an episode ofWGN America'sUnderground and the2016 remake ofRoots, both of which were produced in his home state of Louisiana. That same year, the actor had a small role inNate Parker'sThe Birth of a Nation. Harrison was initially hesitant to participate inRoots, in part because it would be his fourth portrayal of a slave, and he did not have fond memories of watching the original as a child. In retrospect, Harrison realized just how different the projects were.^[1] In the meantime, Harrison landed a supporting role onFox miniseriesShots Fired^[8] as well as a recurring role as Touie Dacey onCrackle'sStartUp^[9]

Harrison began the year with a small supporting role in theNetflix acquiredDee Rees'Mudbound, which opened at theSundance Film Festival to critical acclaim.^[10] Later that year, he played the role of Travis inTrey Edward Shults' 2017 psychological horror filmIt Comes at Night.^[11] The film focuses on a family hiding in a forest as the Earth is taken over by a highly contagious disease. The film had its premiere at theOverlook Film Festival atTimberline Lodge inOregon on April 29, 2017 and was theatrically released on June 9, 2017 in the United States byA24, was received positively by critics^[12] and grossed over $19 million worldwide.^[13] Harrison received praise for his performance, getting nominated forBreakthrough Actor at the Gotham Awards that year.^[14] He has credited the role for giving him a reason to continue his acting career.^[8]

In 2018, Harrison notably starred in three films that premiered at theSundance Film Festival, which wereMonsters and Men,Assassination Nation &Monster.^[15] InReinaldo Marcus Green'sMonsters and Men, he portrays Zyrick, a gifted teenage baseball player that becomes politically awakened after seeing a video of a man murdered by the police. InSam Levinson'sAssassination Nation he has a smaller role as Mason, a friend of the female protagonists and inAnthony Mandler'sMonster, based on theWalter Dean Myersnovel of the same name,^[16] Harrison plays Steve Harmon, a seventeen-year-old honour student whose world comes crashing down around him when he is charged with felony murder.Assassination Nation andMonsters and Men both got releases in the same year whileMonster acquired a distribution deal with Netflix in 2021.^[17] He followed these up with supporting roles in the dramasJinn^[18] andJT LeRoy.^[19]

2019 saw Harrison starring in two films that premiered at theSundance Film Festival, social thrillerLuce^[20] and psychological thrillerThe Wolf Hour,^[21] both starringNaomi Watts. For his titular role inJulius Onah'sLuce alongsideOctavia Spencer andTim Roth, Harrison received critical acclaim as the all-star high school athlete and accomplished public speaker born in war-torn Eritrea adopted in the United States.Justin Chang of theLos Angeles Times wrote, "Harrison's performance, at once slippery and surgically precise, compounds that ambiguity in ingenious fashion. He exhibits a quality that might have seemed like mere self-consciousness in a different actor's hands.^[22]Harrison was nominated forBest Male Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards for his performance in the film.^[23]

Harrison later played Jesse inNabil Elderkin's directorial debutGully.^[24] The film had its world premiere at theTribeca Film Festival on April 27, 2019^[25] and eventually found a national theatrical release on June 4, 2021.^[26] Harrison's major breakthrough of the year came withWaves, which premiered to critical acclaim at theTelluride Film Festival on August 30, 2019 and found him reuniting withIt Comes at Night writer & director Trey Edward Shults.^[27] In the film, Harrison plays Tyler Williams, a popular high school senior and competitive wrestler whose life goes into disarray after suffering a career-ending injury. Shults stated that he wrote and tailored the role for Harrison, wanting to work with him again after their previous collaboration.^[28] Harrison's performance in the film received rave reviews, with many critics favorably comparing and contrasting it to his performance inLuce.^[29][30]IndieWire's Eric Kohn stated that the two performances pushed him forward as 'the preeminent face of disgruntled teenage life'.^[31] The film is notable for widening his international exposure, leading to aBAFTA Rising Star Award nomination.^[32] He capped off the year with a supporting performance as musician Teddy Greene in the first season ofEpix'sGodfather of Harlem alongsideForest Whitaker.^[33]

The first half of 2020 saw Harrison venturing into more lighthearted and comedic roles, ranging from his studio debut in a smaller supporting role inStella Meghie's romance filmThe Photograph^[34] to the male lead inNisha Ganatra's musical comedy-dramaThe High Note.^[35] In the latter Harrison plays David Cliff, a singer-songwriter who acts as the love interest toDakota Johnson's Maggie. To prepare for the film and its soundtrack, Harrison worked with a vocal coach for 45 minutes a day, to expand his range, and took guitar lessons.^[36] He ended the year with a portrayal ofrevolutionary socialistFred Hampton inAaron Sorkin's biographical ensemble courtroom dramaThe Trial of the Chicago 7,^[37] It was released in selected theaters on September 25, 2020, and began streaming digitally on Netflix on October 16.^[38] The film was nominated for sixAcademy Awards^[39] and Harrison and the rest of the cast won theScreen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.^[40]

In 2021, Harrison portrayed Christian inJoe Wright'sCyrano, a musical film adaptation of the Off-Broadway play byErica Schmidt, itself based on the 1897Edmond Rostand playCyrano de Bergerac.^[41] Harrison was slated to appear in the second season ofHBO'sEuphoria, which would have reunited him withAssassination Nation director Sam Levinson,^[42] but dropped out due to conflicting schedules attributed to theCOVID-19 pandemic.^[43]

Harrison portrayed the legendaryblues guitaristB. B. King inBaz Luhrmann's 2022 biopicElvis, which was not only a critical success, but also known for being a film aboutrock and roll iconElvis Presley.^[44] He then starred in the 2022 filmChevalier, directed byStephen Williams, in which he portrayedJoseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the 18th-centuryBlack Frenchviolin virtuoso andclassical composer.^[45] In August 2021, it was announced that Harrison would star inMufasa: The Lion King,Barry Jenkins's follow-up toThe Lion King, as the voice of youngScar.^[46]

Upcoming projects

In January 2022, it was reported that Harrison will portray the artistJean-Michel Basquiat inSamo Lives, a biopic that will reunite him withLuce director Julius Onah.^[47]

In May 2025, it was announced that Harrison will play a youngerBeetee Latier inThe Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, set to be released on November 20, 2026.

• Kelvin Harrison Jr. atIMDb

• 1994 births
• Living people
• 21st-century African-American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• 21st-century African-American musicians
• American male film actors
• American male television actors
• American male voice actors
• Loyola University New Orleans alumni
• Male actors from New Orleans
• Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Screen Actors Guild Award winners
• University of New Orleans alumni

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