Jharrel Jerome

Jharrel Jerome is an American actor and musical artist who gained international recognition for his performances in acclaimed film and television productions. He first came to prominence with his screen debut in the feature drama Moonlight and went on to deliver a critically lauded portrayal in the historical miniseries When They See Us. His achievements include a Primetime Emmy Award, marking a historic milestone for Afro-Latino and Dominican performers in television.

Jerome was born on October 9, 1997, in the borough of The Bronx in New York City, where he grew up alongside a close and supportive family. He is of Dominican and Haitian ancestry. Encouraged by his mother to explore performance arts during his eighth-grade year, he began participating in local productions through the Riverdale Children's Theatre. He subsequently attended Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School in Manhattan, commuting daily by train, before enrolling as an undergraduate student at Ithaca College.

While studying at Ithaca College, Jerome secured his first professional acting job in Barry Jenkins's 2016 independent drama Moonlight. In the film, he portrayed the younger version of the character Kevin, earning positive notice from critics and filmmakers. Shortly after his feature debut, he joined the cast of the television drama series Mr. Mercedes, which premiered on the Audience network in 2017.

Jerome achieved major critical acclaim for his performance in Ava DuVernay's 2019 Netflix miniseries When They See Us, a dramatization centered on the Central Park jogger case. Initially auditioning for the younger depiction of Korey Wise, he was selected to play Wise across both his youth and adulthood. To prepare, Jerome established a close personal connection with Wise during production. His portrayal earned him the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, making him the first Afro-Latino and Dominican actor to secure the award.

In 2023, Jerome headlined the miniseries I'm a Virgo, created by Boots Riley, playing a thirteen-foot-tall protagonist. He followed this with a starring role as wrestler Anthony Robles in the 2024 biographical sports drama film Unstoppable. Following its premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, Jerome was named a recipient of the Performer Award as part of the TIFF Tribute Awards.

Beyond acting, Jerome has cultivated a career in music, drawing stylistic comparisons to early works by Kendrick Lamar. He released his debut single, For Real, featuring rapper Kemba, in September 2020, followed by Someone I'm Not in August 2022 and Chinatown in May 2023. These tracks preceded his Sony Music release Rap Pack in August 2023, which launched a four-part musical series titled Someone I'm Not.