Kelvin Harrison Jr. Biography

One of Hollywood's brightest young stars, Kelvin Harrison Jr. was born in New Orleans, Louisiana. His parents were Shirlita and Kelvin Harrison, two musicians. Kelvin's father was trained by Ellis Marsalis Jr., an American jazz pianist and educator.

Kelvin originally went to school at Loyola University New Orleans to study studio engineering before transferring to University of New Orleans to study film.
Kelvin had an early role in Ender's Game (2013), originally auditioning for an extra role before being upgraded to a principal role. During the filming process, Kelvin got to interact with legendary actors like Harrison Ford and Viola Davis. He credits Viola for her advice that helped him take acting more seriously. After the film wrapped, Kelvin, now living in Los Angeles, enrolled in acting classes.

Early in his career, Kelvin played a slave four times, including in the Oscar-winning film 12 Years a Slave (2013). The most recent was in the 2016 remake of Roots. Going into Roots, Kelvin was hesitant on playing a slave for the fourth time but felt that it was not about playing a slave over and over but telling all the different journeys these people experienced.

Kelvin's breakout came in 2017 when he starred as Travis in Trey Edward Shults' psychological horror film It Comes at Night (2017) alongside Joel Edgerton and Christopher Abbott. His performance was praised by critics, and he would receive a nomination for Breakthrough Actor at the Gotham Awards.

Kelvin's star rose even higher in 2019. He starred in Luce (2019) alongside Naomi Watts and Octavia Spencer, which earned him a nomination at the Film Independent Spirit Awards for Best Male Lead. He also teamed up again with Trey Edward Shults for the film Waves (2019), which earned him a win from the African-American Film Critics Association for Breakout Performance.

His strong year would be recognized even further with a nomination at the BAFTA Awards for the EE Rising Star Award. In 2021 Kelvin was part of an all-star cast in Aaron Sorkin's The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), which included the likes of Eddie Redmayne, Jeremy Strong, and Yahya-Abdul-Mateen II. The ensemble would go on to win Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture at the 2021 Screen Actors Guild Awards.

In 2024 Kelvin teamed up with Aaron Pierre twice. Kelvin could be heard as the voice of Taka, a young version of the infamous villain Scar, in Mufasa: The Lion King (2024) alongside Aaron's Mufasa. Kelvin would also portray Martin Luther King Jr., alongside Aaron's Malcom X in season 4 of Genius on National Geographic and Hulu.

Filmography:

Mufasa: The Lion King (2024)
Chevalier (2022)
Elvis (2022)
Cyrano (2021)
The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020)
The High Note (2020)
The Photograph (2020)
Waves (2019)
Bolden (2019)
Gully (2019)
Luce (2019)
The Wolf Hour (2019)
JT LeRoy
Jinn (2018)
Monster (2018)
Assassination Nation (2018)
Monsters and Men (2018)
It Comes at Night (2017)
Mudbound (2017)
The Birth of a Nation (2016)
Dancer and the Dame (2015)
A Sort of Homecoming (2015)
Ender's Game (2013)
12 Years a Slave (2013)