Jesse Wesley Williams is an American actor, director, producer and activist. He is best known for his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the ABC series Grey's Anatomy. He has appeared in the films The Cabin in the Woods, The Butler and Band Aid. He provided voice acting and motion capture for Markus in .
In 2005, Williams began to study acting and was chosen to participate in the New York Actors Showcase presented by ABC Television, one of 14 actors chosen from among over 800 individuals who auditioned. Since 2006, he has appeared in a number of television series, films and theatre productions. In 2012, he established a production company, farWord Inc. In May 2012, a fan campaign was organized to try to influence film executives to cast him in the role of Finnick Odair in . This news resulted in some Hunger Games fans protesting casting decisions made by the film executives. In 2013, Williams wrote an opinion piece for CNN which analyzed the film Django Unchained. Later that year, he narrated the audio version of the book The Bane Chronicles: What Really Happened In Peru, by Cassandra Clare and Sarah Rees Brennan.
Television
In 2006, Williams appeared in an episode of Law & Order, portraying the character Kwame. He also appeared in the role of Drew Collins, in two episodes of the ABC Family series Greek. On October 15, 2009, Williams began appearing as surgical resident Jackson Avery, in the ABC television series Grey's Anatomy. On June 8, 2010, it was announced Williams would be a series regular, starting in season 7. BuddyTV ranked him No. 6 on its "TV's 100 Sexiest Men of 2010" list and No. 11 in 2011. Jesse was named the TV Actor of the Year at the 2011 Young Hollywood Awards
Theatre
Williams appeared in revival joint-productions of The American Dream and The Sandbox at Cherry Lane Theatre in Greenwich Village in New York City. This production was directed by their playwright Edward Albee. Williams has also served as a guest director for student productions at the Urban Arts Partnership 24 Hour Plays Off-Broadway, at the request of Rosie Perez and Anna Strout. His theater work includes an off-Broadway production of Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie. Until the 2019 coronavirus pandemic hit, Williams was set to star as Darren Lemming in the Second Stage Broadway revival of Richard Greenberg's Take Me Out at the Hayes Theater. Williams would portray a Major League Baseball star who decides to come out of the closet.
Williams is the youngest member of the board of directors at The Advancement Project, a civil rightsthink tank and advocacy group. He is also the executive producer of Question Bridge: Black Males, a multifaceted media project, art exhibition, student and teacher curriculum and website, focused on the black male identity and the diversity within the demographic. He has written articles for CNN and The Huffington Post, and has been a guest on Wolf Blitzer's The Situation Room. In June 2016, Williams won the humanitarian award at the 2016 BET Awards, delivering a speech highlighting racial injustice, police brutality, and the invention of whiteness. As a result of his speech, dueling petitions were circulated: one to have Williams fired from Grey's Anatomy and one to keep him on the series.
Modeling
Williams occasionally worked as a model during college, but never considered pursuing it as a career. He modeled for Kenneth Cole Productions, Levi's, and Tommy Hilfiger Corporation. He can be seen as the love interest of R&B singer Rihanna in the music video for her single "Russian Roulette" from her 2009 album Rated R. He also appears in the music video for Estelle's song "Fall In Love", from the album All of Me. In 2018, Williams appeared in the video for "Tell Me You Love Me" By Demi Lovato.
Video game
Williams did the voice acting and performance capture for Markus in the video game , which first released on May 25, 2018 for the PlayStation 4
