Kelvin Harrison Jr. stars in GODFATHER OF HARLEM as “Teddy Greene,” a world class musician who disdains a “pop” music mentality and experiments with music designed to herald the coming age of civil rights protest. His protest anthem is a harbinger of spoken word music that truly explores the black experience in America. His dangerous romance with Stella Gigante will test the limits of his love and put him in the crosshairs of New York City’s most dangerous mobster.
A favorite among Hollywood casting directors, actor. Kelvin Harrison Jr. is bringing to life some of the most dynamic and diverse characters on screens both big and small. In 2017 Kelvin was applauded for his performance in A24’s “It Comes at Night” which received critical acclaim and earned him a 2017 Gotham Independent Film Award nomination for “Breakthrough Actor” as well as Sundance favorite and Oscar nominated “Mudbound” and the Fox television series, “Shots Fired.” 2018 is set to be an even bigger year for Harrison as audiences fell in love with him in his first leading roles in “Monster” and “Monsters And Men” at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Kelvin, who has been recognized as one of the faces of independent film, continued his festival success this year with “Jinn” which recently won a Special Jury Award at the SXSW Film Festival. He recently wrapped filming “JT Leroy” (opposite Kristen Stewart), “Luce” in which he plays the title character opposite Octavia Spencer and Naomi Watts and “The Wolf Hour” also starring Naomi Watts. He recently filmed “Gully” in which he stars opposite Jacob Latimore and Charlie Plummer. He is currently filming his second film with director Trey Edward Shults for A24 titled “Waves” in which he stars opposite Lucas Hedges and Sterling K. Brown.
Born and raised in New Orleans, Harrison grew up surrounded by the influence of music alongside his twin sisters. His family of musicians shared their passion with Kelvin at an early age, which he embraced wholeheartedly by learning to play the piano and trumpet. After studying jazz instrumental at the prestigious New Orleans Center for Creative Art, Harrison further discovered his passion for performing and began doing local theater and musicals before enrolling at the University of New Orleans to study film. Shortly after, Harrison realized that acting was what he was meant to do when he booked a small role in the action sci-fi film, “Enders Game.” Harrison continued to book projects including AMC’s “Into the Badlands,” Crackle’s “StartUp” and WGN’s “Underground” before landing the role of “Winslow” in History Channel’s epic mini-series “Roots.” In 2016, Harrison delivered an emotional performance in FOX Searchlight’s “The Birth Of A Nation” as he portrayed ‘Simon,’ the runaway slave who joins ‘Nat Turner’ in his rebellion. “The Birth of a Nation” premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival to a rapturous standing ovation and won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition. Harrison returned for season two of Crackle’s crime drama, “StartUp” alongside Martin Freeman and Adam Brody. His performance of ‘Touie,’ the son of Haitian gang leader ‘Ronald’ (Edi Gathegi), has been referred to as “a knockout” in reviews.
The young actor loves his craft and enjoys researching and prepping for characters he plays. He is inspired by the work of actor Chiwetel Ejiofor and director Mike Nichols. Besides being a gifted actor, Kelvin is also a black belt in Korean martial arts and enjoys playing music. When not working, Harrison enjoys hanging out with friends and painting.