Derek Luke Biography
Derek Nathanial Luke (born April 24, 1974) is an American actor. He won the Independent Spirit Award for his big-screen debut performance as the *ular character in the 2002 film Antwone Fisher, directed and produced by Denzel Washington. He is also known for his roles as Boobie Miles in Friday Night Lights (2004), Bobby Joe Hill in Glory Road (2006), Joshua Hardaway in Madea Goes to Jail (2009), Gabe Jones in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), William Wright in Baggage Claim (2013), and Kevin Porter on the Netflix original series 13 Reasons Why (2017–2020).
Early life
Luke was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, the son of Marjorie Dixon, a pianist, and Maurice Luke, a former actor. His father is from Georgetown, Guyana.
Derek attended Henry Snyder High School and graduated from Linden High School.
Career
Luke played one of the four male leads in Spike Lee's 2008 war film Miracle at St. Anna, replacing Wesley Snipes, who had to leave the film due to his highly publicized tax problems.
Luke played a small role as a nurse in the 1999 "White Collar" episode of the sitcom The King of Queens, and appeared on the NBC show Trauma. He played one of the group members of Mayhem in the Moesha episode "Mayhem at the Jam Esp" (March 19, 2001).
He played alongside American actor Laurence Fishburne as Kid in the 2003 film Biker Boyz. He played Alicia Keys' love interest in her music video for "Teenage Love Affair", and singer Monica's love interest in her music video for "So Gone". He played Sean 'Puffy' Combs in the 2009 film Notorious, and James 'Boobie' Miles in the 2004 film Friday Night Lights.
Luke was cast to play Bobby Joe in the 2006 film Glory Road.
He played Gabe Jones, a member of the Howling Commandos, in the 2011 Marvel Studios film Captain America: The First Avenger. In June 2011, he also began starring in the TNT original medical drama series Hawthorne as Miles Bourdet, an *istant surgeon from Chicago.
From February to April 2013, he played Gregory Thomas in the FX series The Americans. In 2015, he played Malcolm Devoe, head of security for Empire Entertainment and Cookie's secret love interest, on the TV series Empire. In March 2018, he was cast in the lead role of the NBC pilot Suspicion.
Personal life
Luke has been married to actress Sophia Adella Luke since 1998. They have one son.
Filmography
Film
Television
References
External links
- Derek Luke at IMDb
- Interview, 1/12/06, LIFETEEN.com
