Gaius Charles

Gaius Charles (born May 2, 1983 ) is an American actor known for his portrayal of Brian "Smash" Williams in the television drama, Friday Night Lights. He also played Dr. Shane Ross on the ABC medical drama series Grey's Anatomy and a recurring role on the NBC historical-drama series Aquarius, as Black Panther leader Bunchy Carter. He also played a role on NCISs ninth season as Jason King, an arson investigator for the Baltimore Police Department.

Early life Charles was born on May 2, 1983, in Manhattan, New York. He was raised in New York City and Teaneck, New Jersey.

Charles graduated from Teaneck High School in 2001. He attended Carnegie Mellon University's College of Fine Arts, earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in drama. He also studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in Sydney, Australia. He earned a Master of Arts degree in Religious Studies from Drew University.

Career

In 2017, Charles starred in the first season of NBC's television drama series Taken, based on the Taken film franchise. He has appeared in multiple television series, including his most notable role in Friday Night Lights, Grey's Anatomy, and Aquarius, in which he portrayed Civil Rights Activist and Black Panther Bunchy Carter, and Necessary Roughness.

Charles made guest appearances on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Blindspot, Comedy Central's Drunk History, in which he portrayed Muhammad Ali, NCIS, Pan Am, and Law & Order: SVU. His film credits include the independent features The Stanford Prison Experiment, Toe To Toe, and The Messenger. He's also worked on studio films like Salt and Takers. In addition to film and television, Charles starred in the Labyrinth Theater Company's production of Othello alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman and John Ortiz. He received positive reviews for originating the roles of “EZ” in Beau Willimon's play Lower Ninth and “Malcolm” in director Thomas Kail's Broke-ology.

Filmography

Film Year Title Role Notes 2009 Toe to Toe Kevin The Messenger Recruiter Brown 2010 Salt CIA Officer Takers Max 2015 The Stanford Prison Experiment Paul Vogel 2016 Batman: Bad Blood Luke Fox/Batwing (voice) Video 2021 Land of Dreams David 2022 Alice Joseph

Television Year Title Role Notes 2006 The Book of Daniel Carver Episode: "Betrayal" 2006–08 Friday Night Lights Brian "Smash" Williams Main cast: Season 1–2, recurring cast: Season 3 2007 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Jadon Odami Episode: "Fight" 2011 Pan Am Joe Episode: "Truth or Dare" 2012 NCIS Baltimore Detective Jason King Episode: "Rekindled" Necessary Roughness Damon Razor Recurring cast: season 2 2012–14 Grey's Anatomy Dr. Shane Ross Recurring cast: Season 9, main cast: Season 10 2015 Six Guys One Car Larry Recurring cast: season 2 Drunk History Muhammad Ali Episode: "Cleveland" 2016 Blindspot Sgt. Charlie Napier Episode: "Scientists Hollow Fortune" Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Ruben Mackenzie Episode: "Watchdogs" 2015–16 Aquarius Bunchy Carter Recurring cast 2017 Taken John Main cast: season 1 2019 Drunk History Moses Fleetwood Walker Episode: "Baseball" 2019–20 God Friended Me Rev. Andrew Carver Main cast: season 1, recurring cast: season 2 2020–22 Roswell, New Mexico Roy Bronson Recurring cast: season 2, guest: season 3–4 2022 Queens Tomas Recurring cast The Wonder Years Mr. Brady Episode: "Black Teacher" 2023–present The Walking Dead: Dead City Perlie Armstrong Main cast