Bio: Jesse Wesley Williams born August 5, 1981 is a former high school teacher and activist turned actor/director. He's best known for his role as Dr. Jackson Avery on the ABC Television series Grey's Anatomy and his advocacy for the disenfranchised, highlighted by his internationally resonant acceptance speech for his 2016 BET Humanitarian Award. He also appears in the hit 2013 film Lee Daniels' The Butler as real life civil rights leader Rev. James Lawson. Previous roles include Holden in The Cabin in the Woods (2012), Officer Eddie Quinlan in Brooklyn's Finest (2009), as Leo, Lena's boyfriend, in the film sequel The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2 (2008) and as Isaac "Ike" Singer in Jacob's Ladder (2019).
Tivia: A former high school teacher.His father is African-American, with some Seminole ancestry. His mother is of Swedish descent.Attended Temple University (B.A.) in Philadelphia, PAFriends with Harry Belafonte.Attended Moses Brown high school in Rhode Island.He has two children with his ex-wife Aryn Drake-Lee; a daughter Sadie Williams (b. December 2013) and a son Maceo Williams (b. October 2015).Both he and Patrick J. Adams made their Broadway debut in the revival of Take Me Out in 2022, and appeared fully naked on stage.In New York shooting new movie Money (2016). (June 2015)