Derek Luke

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 titular 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, 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 a small role as a nurse in the 1999 "White Collar" episode of the sitcom The King of Queens, and played one of the group members of Mayhem in the Moesha episode "Mayhem at the Jam Esp" (March 19, 2001).

Luke's breakout role was in the title role of the Denzel Washington film Antwone Fisher. The 2002 film is about a sailor who must go to a psychiatrist for assistance with his childhood trauma, which is the source of his outbursts. As the story develops, he comes to terms with his past and starts a journey to find his family. Next, he appeared alongside American actor Laurence Fishburne as Kid in the 2003 film Biker Boyz. In this film Derek Luke plays the son of a mechanic who worked for a motorcycle racer known as Smoke. As the film develops Lukes's father in the film dies while an active off-the-grid race was taking place. Later the son begins to race and shows his talent, but Smoke denies a race with him. In retaliation he decided to create a motorcycle gang to rival Smoke's gang called “Biker Boyz” which starts a conflict. Then he subsequently played James 'Boobie' Miles in the 2004 film Friday Night Lights, Bobby Joe in the 2006 film Glory Road, and Sean 'Puffy' Combs in the 2009 film Notorious.

Luke starred in the NBC show Trauma. 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 assistant 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 April 4, 1998. They have one son.

Filmography Film

Television Year Title Role Notes 1999–2000 The King of Queens Delivery Man / Orderly 2 episodes 2001 Moesha Ruckus Episode: "Mayhem at the Jam" 2009–2010 Trauma Cameron Boone 20 episodes 2011 Hawthorne Dr. Miles Bourdet 8 episodes 2013, 2018 The Americans Gregory Thomas 4 episodes 2015 Empire Malcolm DeVeaux 3 episodes 2015–2017 Rogue Marlon Dinard Series regular, 20 episodes 2016 Roots Silla Ba Dibba 2 episodes 2017–2019 13 Reasons Why Mr. Kevin Porter Main cast (Seasons 1–2); Guest (Season 3); 27 episodes 2019 God Friended Me Henry Chase Episode; "Que Sera Sera" 2019 The Purge Marcus Moore Main; 10 episodes 2023 The Crossover Chuck Bell Main role