Demetrius Grosse

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Demetrius Grosse
Born (1981-02-26) February 26, 1981 (age 43)
Education Carnegie Mellon University (BFA)
OccupationActor
Years active2005–present

Demetrius Grosse (born February 26, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Rock in the 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 .

Contents

He is currently set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Eric Williams / Grim Reaper in the Disney+ series Wonder Man .

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 dancing. As a theater 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 cut hair as a barber at Legends, a well-known LA barber shop. [2] By 17, Grosse had pursued his dreams of acting and studied at Gonzaga College High School. Grosse then went on to achieve 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 completed two semesters of intensive study at the Howard University College of Fine Arts in his home city 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 appeared in the HBO series Westworld based on the 1973 film of the same name. He also 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 backgrounds and from 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 series regular 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]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2006Sofia For NowPostal Clerk
2007StudioMr. Banks
2009 A Quiet FireThe Stranger/DavidWinner of the Sirrocco Award at the AOF Film Festival. AOF nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film [8]
2010Cartel WarEric Carter
2011The InheritanceAncestor Henry
SliceDetective Love
Hollywoo Gangsta
2013 This Is Martin Bonner Locy
Battle of the Year Scott
Saving Mr. Banks Bartender
2014Never a NeverlandNarrator
CounterBayard Rustin
2015SamariaBug2015 Student Academy Award Nomination (Short Film) [9]
Straight Outta Compton Rock
2016 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi DS Agent Dave Ubben
2018 Rampage Colonel Blake
Love Jacked Mtumbie
2020 Body Cam Gary
2022Strong EnoughShaneShort film [10]
2024 Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot Reverend W.C. Martin

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2005 Numb3rs US Marshal2 episodes
2005 Close to Home Public DefenderEpisode: "The Rapist Next Door"
2006 The Unit Guard #1Episode: "Force Majeure"
2006 Dexter Assassin2 episodes
2007 Dirt Kenny the Assistant2 episodes
2007 CSI: Miami Chuck GreeneEpisode: "A Grizzle Murder"
2007 NCIS Atif NukundaEpisode: "Designated Target"
2008 Bones Tucker PayneEpisode: "The Finger in the Nest”
2008 Heroes Baron SamediRecurring role (season 3)
3 episodes
2008–2009 ER Officer NewkirkRecurring role (seasons 14–15)
5 episodes
2010 House M.D. HacinteEpisode: "A Pox on Our House"
2011 The Cape Marty's GuardEpisode: "Endgame"
2011 Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior Barry Vernon / Lieutenant Beasley2 episodes
2011 How to Be a Gentleman Officer SimsEpisode: "How to Have a One-Night Stand 2"
2011 Shameless Eddie MurphyEpisode: "Uncle Carl"
2012, 2015 Justified ErrolRecurring role (season 3)
Guest role (season 6)
13 episodes
2013–2014 Banshee Deputy Emmett YawnersMain cast (season 1–2)
16 episodes
2015 Complications Dan BrennanEpisode: "Pilot"
2016 Westworld Deputy FossRecurring role (season 1)
4 episodes
2016 Game of Silence Terry BauschMain cast
10 episodes
2017–2018 Frontier CharlestonMain cast (seasons 2–3)
8 episodes
2017–2018 The Brave CPO Ezekiel "Preach" CarterMain cast
13 episodes
2018–2019 The Rookie Det. Kevin WolfRecurring role (season 1)
5 episodes
2020 Lovecraft Country Marvin BaptisteEpisode: "Sundown"
2020–2022 Fear the Walking Dead Emile LaRouxGuest role (season 6, 1 episode)
Josiah LaRouxRecurring role (season 7, 3 episodes)
2020 NCIS: Los Angeles Raymond LewisEpisode: "If the Fates Allow"
2021 Swagger Grant Carson
2022 Guillermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities EddieEpisode: "Lot 36"
2023Spring BreakthroughClark RandallTelevision film (Hallmark)
2025 Wonder Man Eric Williams / Grim Reaper Disney+ series

Video games

YearTitleRole
2011 L.A. Noire Jermaine Jones
2016 NBA 2K17 Washington Falls
2019 Call of Duty: Modern Warfare Sergeant Marcus Griggs (multiplayer only)

Awards and nominations

YearTitleAwardNomination
2009A Quiet FireWinner of the Sirrocco Award at the AOF Film Festival. AOF nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film. [8] Nominated for the Sirrocco Award at the AOF Film Festival. AOF nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Short Film. (WIN) [8]
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]
2014CounterIdyllwild IIFC 2015 [12] Awards for Acting - Best Actor In A Short Film (WIN) & Cinematography -Best Cinematography – Short. (WIN) [12]
2014The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry24TH Annual NAACP Theatre Awards: “The Road Weeps, The Well Runs Dry.” [13] Best Lead Male
2015Samaria2015 Student Academy Awards Samaria (Short Film) [9] Best Narrative

Producing

YearTitleNotes
2009A Quiet FireShort Film, Producer
2010MoonshinerShort Film, Associate Producer
2013Last Cry For KatrinaDocumentary, Executive Producer
2015GodfreyJust Announced, Executive Producer, Director

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References

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  5. Frontier (TV Series 2016– ) - IMDb , retrieved June 28, 2019
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  7. "Baron Samedi". Heroes Wiki. January 21, 2010. Archived from the original on November 10, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
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  9. 1 2 "2015 Student Academy Awards Finalists Announced | Oscars.org | Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences". Oscars.org. July 30, 2015. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
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