Brian Tyree Henry was born on March 31, 1982 in Fayetteville, North Carolina and raised in Washington, D.C. His father was in the military and his late mother, Willow Dean Kearse, was an educator. Henry attended Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia as a Business major- turned-actor in the early 2000s, and received his Master’s degree from the Yale School of Drama. He began his career on stage with roles in numerous plays and musicals such as Romeo and Juliet, The Brother/Sister Plays, and The Book of Mormon. He also had many guest appearances in television series such as Law & Order, The Good Wife, and Boardwalk Empire. In 2015, he made his feature film debut in the comedy film, Puerto Ricans in Paris.
In 2016, Henry received critical acclaim and recognition for his supporting role in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta as Paper Boi. He received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series for his performance. For guest starring in the NBC drama series This Is Us, he received another nomination, but this time for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series in 2017. In 2018, he earned another nomination for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for starring in the Broadway revival of Lobby Hero. He has been in numerous supporting roles such as Hotel Artemis, Widows, If Beale Street Could Talk, and Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse. In 2019, he appeared in Joker, Don’t Let Go, and Child’s Play and in 2021 he appeared in the mega hit Godzilla vs Kong.
With another starring role in Marvel’s, The Eternals, the future for this star’s career is just beginning.