Demetrius Grosse

Demetrius Grosse (born February 26, 1981) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for his role as Rock in the feature film Straight Outta Compton, Emmett Yawners in the Cinemax television series Banshee, Errol in the FX television series Justified, and Baron Samedi in NBC's Heroes.

Demetrius Grosse
Born (1981-02-26) February 26, 1981
Washington, D.C., U.S.
EducationCarnegie Mellon University (BFA)
OccupationActor, producer
Years active2005—present

Early life

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Grosse began honing his performance skills at the age of ten. Spending time at the Summer Musical Theater Workshop, Grosse was able to practice singing, acting, and dance. As a child actor he honed his craft on the stage starring in more than five plays with SMTW. Through training and performance, acting, singing, and dance were all elements of performance that were developed early on as Grosse began to build his repertoire.[1] Grosse was not always considering acting though. For a time he was interested in veterinary medicine, coding, and even worked in a barber shop.[2] By 17 Grosse pursued his dreams of acting and studied at Gonzaga College High School. Grosse then went on and achieved an award for the Andrew Carnegie Undergraduate Grant for artistic merit and later graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree from its School of Drama.[3][4] In 2002, Grosse completed a visiting student program in which he finished two semesters of intensive study at the Howard University College of Fine Arts in his home of Washington DC. During July, Grosse took his craft to the international arena, studying and performing both classical and contemporary drama with the British American Drama Academy in Oxford, England. In the summer of 2007, Grosse joined Shakespeare Santa Monica. He had performed on the stages of Oxford, England with the BADA group, in Washington DC with The Shakespeare Theatre, and in Cape Town, South Africa with UCT.[1]

Career

Grosse is currently filming on HBO's upcoming series Westworld based on the 1973 film of the same name. He appeared in Michael Bay's feature film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016). Grosse is known for taking on many characters from various background and of all different genres. He made his acting debut in Numbers (2005) and is well known for his roles in Straight Outta Compton (2015), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), This Is Martin Bonner (2013) and Banshee (2013). His other television credits include Justified, Criminal Minds, ER, NCIS, Heroes, Bones, Dexter, CSI: Miami and Frontier.[5] Grosse also made appearances in The Inheritance (2011), and Hollywoo (2011). Grosse has credits for producing Last Cry for Katrina (2013), Moonshiners, and A Quiet Fire (2009).[6]

Banshee

On Banshee, Grosse portrayed recurring character Deputy Emmett Yawners for the first two seasons. Grosse's character was the Deputy for the Banshee County Sheriff's Department in the town of Banshee, Pennsylvania. Known as a family man and the moral compass of the show, Deputy Yawners fought until the end protecting his pregnant wife in the season 2 finale episode "Bullets & Tears".

Justified

On Justified, Grosse portrayed recurring character Errol Butler who is Ellstin Limehouse's right-hand man in Noble's Holler. Errol's hand is also shown to be badly burned from lye, possibly by Limehouse for disobeying him at some point. In Season 3, Errol is shown to resemble Boyd's own former right-hand Johnny Crowder, as he is willing to turn on his leader any chance he gets and attempts to make several power plays to increase Limehouse's wealth and power, all without his boss's permission. These plays eventually get Errol kicked out of Noble's Holler in the finale "Slaughterhouse", but he returns to defend Limehouse when he sees Robert Quarles returning with Raylan Givens and another hostage. Errol takes a bullet for Limehouse and his fate is left ambiguous as the season ends. In the Season 6 episode "Sounding", Errol is revealed to be alive and on better terms with Limehouse and is ordered by him to accompany Ava into gathering supplies at a hardware store in order to excavate Boyd's money from a bank robbery to pay off Limehouse for a car. Bob Sweeney and Raylan approach the hardware store, Bob having tracked down Errol from Noble's. Bob and Errol have a stand-off as Bob attempts to lure Errol out of the store on a bogus charge so that Raylan can get Ava back into his custody. Bob then tases Errol when he refuses to cooperate and leaves with him out of the store.

Heroes

On Heroes, Grosse portrayed recurring character Baron Samedi. "Baron Samedi" was the alias used by a warlord in Haiti who escaped from Level 5. Baron Samedi has impenetrable skin, which grants him a greater resistance to physical injury than an average human. His skin is a virtually indestructible armor, impenetrable by bullets, blades, or any other known weapon. When flown into a car by Nathan, Samedi is able to stand up unscathed. According to his assignment tracker profile, Samedi's control index is 82%. His data analysis show his biological level at 80, cerebral at 45, elemental at 15 and temporal/spatial at 25.[7]

Sexual harassment allegations

On August 4, 2019, Grosse was publicly accused of a pattern of sexually harassing behavior by Afton Williamson, a cast member of the ABC drama series The Rookie. An independent investigation, completed within six weeks of the accusations, “cleared those accused of any inappropriate behavior.”[8]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2006 Sofia For Now Postal Clerk
2007 Studio Mr. Banks
2009 A Quiet Fire The Stranger/David Winner of the Sirrocco Award at the AOF Film Festival. AOF nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film [9]
2010 Cartel War Eric Carter
2011 The Inheritance Ancestor Henry
2011 Slice Detective Love
2011 Hollywoo Gangsta
2013 This Is Martin Bonner Locy
2013 Battle Of The Year Scott
2013 Saving Mr. Banks Bartender
2014 Never A Neverland Narrator
2014 Counter Bayard Rustin
2015 Samaria Bug 2015 Student Academy Award Nomination (Short Film)[10]
2015 Straight Outta Compton Rock
2016 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi DS Agent Dave Ubben
2018 Rampage Colonel Blake
2018 Love Jacked Mtumbie
2020 Body Cam Gary

Television
Year Title Role Network Notes
2005 Numb3rs US Marshal CBS Two episode appearance "Assassin" & "Obsession" (2005)
2005 Close To Home Public Defender CBS One episode appearance "The Rapist Next Door" (2005)
2006 The Unit Guard #1 CBS One episode appearance "Force Majeure" (2006)
2006 Dexter Assassin Showtime Two episode appearance "Return To Slender" & "Love American Style" (2006)
2007 Dirt Kenny the Assistant FX Two episode appearance "Pilot" & "Blogan"
2007 CSI: Miami Chuck Greene CBS One episode appearance "A Grizzle Murder" (2007)
2007 NCIS Atif Nukunda CBS One episode appearance "Designated Target" (2007)
2008 Bones Tucker Payne Fox One episode appearance "The Fighter In The Next" (2008)
2008 Heroes Baron Samedi NBC Recurring episodes during season 3 (2008)
2008-2009 ER Officer Newkirk NBC Recurring episodes during seasons 14 & 15 (2008-2009)
2010 House M.D. Hacinte Fox One episode appearance "A Pox on Our House" (2010)
2011 The Cape Marty's Guard NBC One episode appearance "Endgame" (2011)
2011 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior Barry Vernon and Lieutenant Beasley CBS Two episode appearances: "Jane" and "There's No Place Like Home" (2011)
2011 How To Be A Gentleman Officer Sims CBS One episode appearance "How to Have a One-Night Stand 2" (2011)
2011 Shameless Eddie Murphy Showtime One episode appearance "Uncle Carl" (2011)
2012-2015 Justified Errol FX Recurring episodes for multiple seasons (2012-2015)
2013–2014 Banshee Deputy Emmett Yawners Cinemax Series regular Season 1 & 2 (2013-2014)
2015 Complications Dan Brennan USA Network One episode appearance "Pilot" (2015)
2016 Westworld Deputy Foss HBO New HBO series airing in January 2016
2016 Game of Silence Terry Bausch NBC Mid-season show airing in January 2016 on NBC
2016 Frontier Charleston Netflix Recurring episodes during season 3 (2017-2018)
2017 The Brave CPO Ezekiel "Preach" Carter NBC Series regular Season 1
2018-2019 The Rookie Det. Kevin Wolf ABC Recurring episodes Season 1
2020 Lovecraft Country Marvin Baptiste HBO
2020 Fear the Walking Dead TBA AMC Season 6

Video games
Year Title Role
2011 L.A. Noire Jermaine Jones
2016 NBA 2K17 Washington Falls

Awards and nominations
Year Title Award Nomination
2009 A Quiet Fire Winner of the Sirrocco Award at the AOF Film Festival. AOF nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film.[9] Nominated for the Sirrocco Award at the AOF Film Festival. AOF nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film. (WIN) [9]
2013 This Is Martin Bonner 2013 Sundance Awards: Audience Award Winner for Best of NEXT for This Is Martin Bonner.[11] 2013 Sundance Awards: The Audience Award: Best of NEXT. (WIN)[11]
2014 Counter Idyllwild IIFC 2015[12] Awards for Acting - Best Actor In A Short Film (WIN) & Cinematography -Best Cinematography – Short. (WIN) [12]
2014 The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry 24TH Annual NAACP Theatre Awards: “The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry.”[13] Best Lead Male
2015 Samaria 2015 Student Academy Awards Samaria (Short Film)[10] Best Narrative

Producing
Year Title Notes
2009 A Quiet Fire Short Film, Producer
2010 Moonshiner Short Film, Associate Producer
2013 Last Cry For Katrina Documentary, Executive Producer
2015 Godfrey Just Announced, Executive Producer, Director

References
  1. "Demetrius Grosse". TVSA. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  2. "Exclusive Interview with The Brave's Demetrius Grosse". So Many Shows!. 2017-10-02. Retrieved 2018-02-11.
  3. Falconer, Daniel (2014-04-15). "Demetrius Grosse exclusive interview: talks Banshee, personal life & more". Femalefirst.co.uk. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  4. "Demetrius Grosse". TV.com. 1981-02-26. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  5. Frontier (TV Series 2016– ) - IMDb, retrieved 2019-06-28
  6. "Demetrius Grosse". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  7. "Baron Samedi". Heroes Wiki. 2010-01-21. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  8. "The Rookie investigation". latimes.com. Retrieved 2019-09-17.
  9. "A Quiet Fire (2009) : Trivia". IMDb.com. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  10. "2015 Student Academy Awards Finalists Announced | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". Oscars.org. 2015-07-30. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  11. "'Fruitvale' Wins Top Honors At The 2013 Sundance Film Festival, Read the Full List - /Film". Slashfilm.com. 2013-01-28. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  12. "Idyllwild International Festival of Cinema - Awards - IIFC 2015". Idyllwildcinemafest.com. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
  13. "NAACP Theatre Awards – 24TH ANNUAL NAACP THEATRE AWARDS ANNOUNCES NOMINATIONS". Naacptheatreawards.com. Retrieved 2015-11-15.
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