J. D. Williams

J. D. Williams (born May 22, 1978) is an American actor known for his starring roles in the HBO television programs Oz as Kenny Wangler, The Wire as Bodie Broadus and Pootie Tang as Froggy, and in the main cast of Saints & Sinners.

J. D. Williams
Born	Newark, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1994–present
Known for	"Bodie Broadus" in The Wire and Kenny Wangler in Oz

Early life

Williams was born in Newark, New Jersey. He attended Newark Arts High School, a performing arts public school in Newark.[1] He portrayed a biracial 15-year-old dealing with racism and his father's infidelity in the play A.M. Sunday in late 2003 at Baltimore's Centerstage theater.[2] He had a number of cameos and leading roles in R&B and hip-hop music videos between 2002 and 2005.[3][4]

Career

Williams appeared in Homicide: Life on the Street, a show based on a book by The Wire creator David Simon, where he guest-starred as Casper in the episode "The Why Chromosome".[5] He had a small guest starring role in The Sopranos episode "46 Long" as Special K, an incompetent stickup man and one of Brendan Filone's goons.[4] He went on to play series regular, inmate Kenny Wangler, in the first four seasons of Oz.[6] He then appeared in HBOs The Wire as Bodie Broadus, a Barksdale Organization drug dealer who slowly rises through the ranks throughout the seasons.[6][7] In preparation for the role, he walked around Baltimore's inner city during the middle of the night a few days before the first taping; talking about this to AllHipHop, Williams stated "it was like 12 or 1:00 in the morning. I just threw on a black hoodie and walked around. I went to one of their hoods and watched that night. I learned not to do that no more, I was lucky I made it back that night."[4] He is older than his character by 8 years.[3]

According to his original HBO bio, he is credited with appearing in the film Graffiti Bridge, but a 2003 interview with AllHipHop revealed that Williams was not in the movie.[4] The page no longer exists, however. Tevin Campbell filled the cameo role with which Williams was credited.

Williams has had leading roles or cameo appearances in a number of R&B and hip-hop music videos. He has appeared as himself, a love interest, and characters resembling his role as a drug dealer on The Wire.[3][4]

In 2012, Williams had a major supporting role in the indie film Surviving Family as the ex-boyfriend of the main character. His character was a wounded veteran of the war in Iraq who had lost an eye in an IED attack and suffered from PTSD.

He has starred in a number of commercials, and played a delivery man in a FedEx commercial.[8] He appeared as Lemond Bishop's Lieutenant "Dexter" in episodes of The Good Wife.

Filmography

Films

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2017	Served Film	Uncle Q	Short film
2016	The Choir	Police Officer	Short film
	Guns and Grams	BK	Credit only
2014	Shelter	Drug Dealer
	Cymbeline	Quarry Cop 2
	An American in Hollywood	Dorian
2013	The Lost Book Of Rap	Hassen	Short film
	Chinese Puzzle	Le barman
2012	Surviving Family	Bobby
	Zoo	Red
2011	After Hours: The Movie	D.C.
	Shanghai Hotel	Thump
	Happy New Year	Jerome
2010	Code Blue	Wicked
2009	Falling Awake	D-Money
2008	Cash Rules	Spike (J.D.)	Direct-to-Video
2007	The Second Line	Natt	Short film
	4 Life	Pooh	Direct-to-Video
2005	Two Guns	Bill
2002	Durdy Game	Little Man
	Mr. Smith Gets a Hustler	Abe
2001	Snipes	J.D.
	Popcorn Shrimp	Bubba	Short film
	Pootie Tang	Froggy
1999	The 24 Hour Woman	Toy Store Clerk
1994	Death Riders	Buzz Saw

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016–present	Saints & Sinners	Jabari Morris	Main cast
2016	The Night Of	Trevor Williams	4 episodes
	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Detective Anton Jefferson	2 episodes
2015	Deadbeat	Frank	1 episode; Hulu Original Series
2014	Black Box	George	3 episodes
	The Following	Carlos	3 episodes
2012	Blue Bloods	Benjamin Banks	1 episode
2010–2015	The Good Wife	Dexter Roja	6 episodes
2010–2011	Detroit 1-8-7	Pup Clemmons	2 episodes
2009	Nite Tales: The Series	Rapper	1 episode
2007	The Kill Point	Mr. Cat/Marshall O'Brien Jr.	8 episodes
2002–2006	The Wire	Preston 'Bodie' Broadus	42 episodes
2001	Big Apple	Derrick	1 episode
	100 Centre Street	William Floyd	2 episodes
2000	Sex and the City	Sweet Sauce	1 episode
1999	Third Watch	Pee Wee	1 episode
	Homicide: Life on the Street	Damon 'Casper' Kelly	Episode: "The Why Chromosome"
	Trinity	Malik	1 episode
	The Sopranos	Special K	Episode: "46 Long"
1998	Law & Order	2nd Kid	1 episode
1997–2000	Oz	Kenny Wangler	23 episodes
1997	New York Undercover	Victor	1 episode

Video games

Year	Title	Role
2008	Midnight Club: Los Angeles	Henry
2005	True Crime: New York City[9]	N/A
	The Warriors	Additional Soldier

References

1. Colaneri, Katie (July 5, 2012). ""Super Summer" Arrives In Newark". WBGO. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
2. Marks, Peter (December 10, 2003). "In 'A.M. Sunday,' an Enigma Wrapped in a Family". The Washington Post. highBeam Research. Archived from the original on November 17, 2018. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
3. Yue, Jordan (June 12, 2012). "J.D. Williams: "I Didn't Want to Keep Doing Characters That Were Evil" ana | News". BET. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
4. Dove (September 19, 2004). "JD Williams: Walking The Wire". AllHipHop. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
5. TV.com. "Homicide: Life on the Street - Season 7, Episode 21: The Why Chromosome". TV.com. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
6. Bianculli, David (May 29, 2002). "HBO Show Arrives Under 'The Wire' - Baltimore crime drama suffers by comparison". NY Daily News. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
7. Spitz, Marc (June 4, 2012). "Maxim Interrogates the Makers and Stars of The Wire". Maxim. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
8. Rahman, Ray (September 19, 2011). "Watch The Wire's Bodie Push Weight in a FedEx Commercial". Vulture. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
9. Luxoflux. True Crime: New York City. Activision. Scene: Pause menu credits, 4:29:41 in, VOICE TALENT.

External links

• J. D. Williams at IMDb