Brian Tyree Henry

Brian Tyree Henry is an American actor known for his roles on stage, television, and film. He achieved widespread recognition for starring as rapper Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles in the comedy-drama series Atlanta. Over the course of his career, he has earned nominations for an Academy Award, a Tony Award, an Actor Award, two Critics' Choice Awards, and three Primetime Emmy Awards.

Henry was born on March 31, 1982, in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and spent part of his childhood in Washington, D.C. His mother was an educator, and his father served in the military. He graduated from E. E. Smith High School before attending Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, where he shifted his focus from business to acting in the early 2000s. He later earned a master's degree from the Yale School of Drama.

His early acting career was centered on the stage. In 2007, he portrayed Tybalt in Shakespeare in the Park's Romeo and Juliet and appeared in The Brother/Sister Plays trilogy. In 2011, he made his Broadway debut in the original cast of the musical The Book of Mormon. During this period, he also made guest appearances on television series including Law & Order, The Good Wife, Boardwalk Empire, and The Knick, before making his film debut in Puerto Ricans in Paris in 2015.

Henry reached a wider audience through his starring role in Atlanta from 2016 to 2022, which brought him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination. He also earned an Emmy nomination for a guest role in This Is Us and appeared in the comedy series Vice Principals. On stage, he received a Tony Award nomination for his supporting role in the 2018 Broadway revival of Lobby Hero. That same year, he broke through in film with roles in Widows, If Beale Street Could Talk, Hotel Artemis, White Boy Rick, and the animated film Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.

In the following years, Henry appeared in films such as Joker, Child's Play, Don't Let Go, The Outside Story, and Superintelligence. He played Bernie Hayes in Godzilla vs. Kong, portrayed Phastos in Eternals, and starred in the action comedy Bullet Train. He also reprised his voice role in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, appeared in Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, and voiced Megatron in Transformers One, becoming the first Black actor to voice the character.

In 2022, Henry played mechanic James Aucoin in the drama film Causeway, earning critical acclaim and nominations for an Academy Award, a Critics' Choice Award, a Gotham Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. On television, his voice work includes animated series such as HouseBroken and Big Mouth, as well as a nominated lead role in the limited series Dope Thief. Additionally, he became the voice of Smokey Bear in 2024 and was cast in The Batman Part II.