Kelvin Harrison Jr.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. Bio

Kelvin Harrison Jr. (born July 23, 1994) is an American actor whose career spans independent cinema, major studio releases, and prestige biopics. He is the recipient of a Screen Actors Guild Award and has earned nominations for a British Academy Film Award, a Gotham Award, and an Independent Spirit Award. Known for his thoughtful, intensely physical performances, Harrison has become one of the most distinctive actors of his generation, with a body of work that includes It Comes at Night, Luce, Waves, The Trial of the Chicago 7, Elvis, and Chevalier.

Early Life and Background

Kelvin Harrison Jr. was born on July 23, 1994, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to musicians Shirlita and Kelvin Harrison. He grew up in the Garden District of New Orleans and later moved to the Westbank. Music filled his home from an early age; his father was trained by Ellis Marsalis and grew up alongside Harry Connick Jr., shaping a household that nurtured Kelvin’s own passion for the arts. Harrison went on to study under Jason Marsalis, recorded with Delfeayo Marsalis, and met Wynton Marsalis, experiences that sharpened his craft as a skilled musician comfortable with jazz, gospel, piano, trumpet, and singing.

Harrison attended Isidore Newman School, where he was one of the few Black students in his class and struggled to fit in. He originally enrolled at Loyola University New Orleans to major in studio engineering, a path his father felt suited his talents. Harrison ultimately transferred to the University of New Orleans to study film, with the goal of writing and directing his own projects. While still in college, he moved to Los Angeles, California, to pursue acting and began taking classes that introduced him to the craft on a professional level.

Path to Celebrity

Harrison’s first on-screen credit came in 2012, when he was cast in Ender’s Game, the science fiction adaptation of the 1985 novel. He was upgraded to a day-player and interacted with actors Viola Davis, Harrison Ford, and Ben Kingsley, an experience Harrison credits with convincing him to take acting seriously. He followed that with a small role in 12 Years a Slave, working on a production that would go on to win the Academy Award for Best Picture. Those early film sets gave him an apprenticeship that few young actors ever receive.

Back home in Louisiana, Harrison began accumulating television and film credits. He appeared in an episode of WGN America’s Underground and the 2016 remake of Roots, both produced in his home state. He also took a small role in Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation. Although he was initially hesitant to participate in Roots, in part because it would be his fourth portrayal of an enslaved person, he later recognized how different each of those projects truly was. He also landed a supporting role on the Fox miniseries Shots Fired and a recurring role as Touie Dacey on Crackle’s StartUp, building the kind of steady résumé that prepared him for his breakthrough.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. Career

Early Career (2013-2016)

Harrison’s earliest years in film were defined by a string of small but meaningful parts. In 2017, he appeared in Dee Rees’ Mudbound, a Netflix-acquired drama that opened at the Sundance Film Festival to critical acclaim. He also appeared in Trey Edward Shults’ It Comes at Night, a psychological horror film released by A24 that grossed over 19 million dollars worldwide. For his role as Travis in It Comes at Night, Harrison was nominated for Breakthrough Actor at the Gotham Awards, the first major industry recognition of his talent.

That same year, Harrison starred in three films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival: Monsters and Men, Assassination Nation, and Monster. In Reinaldo Marcus Green’s Monsters and Men, he portrayed Zyrick, a gifted teenage baseball player who becomes politically awakened after witnessing a police killing. In Sam Levinson’s Assassination Nation, he played Mason, and in Anthony Mandler’s Monster, based on the Walter Dean Myers novel, he took the lead role of Steve Harmon, a seventeen-year-old honor student charged with felony murder. He followed those with supporting roles in the dramas Jinn and JT LeRoy.

Breakthrough (2017-2019)

In 2019, Harrison starred in two films that premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, the social thriller Luce and the psychological thriller The Wolf Hour, both co-starring Naomi Watts. For his titular role in Julius Onah’s Luce, opposite Octavia Spencer and Tim Roth, Harrison received widespread critical praise. Justin Chang of the Los Angeles Times wrote that Harrison’s performance, at once slippery and surgically precise, compounded the film’s ambiguity in ingenious fashion. The role earned him a nomination for Best Male Lead at the Independent Spirit Awards.

His other major 2019 project was Waves, directed by Trey Edward Shults, in which he played Tyler Williams, a popular high school senior and competitive wrestler whose life unravels after a career-ending injury. Shults wrote the role specifically for Harrison after their previous collaboration on It Comes at Night. Critics compared and contrasted the two performances, with IndieWire’s Eric Kohn calling Harrison the preeminent face of disgruntled teenage life. The film widened his international exposure and led to a BAFTA Rising Star Award nomination. He capped the year with a supporting performance as musician Teddy Greene in the first season of Epix’s Godfather of Harlem, alongside Forest Whitaker.

Breakthrough (2020-2022)

The first half of 2020 saw Harrison moving into more lighthearted and comedic territory. He made his studio debut in a supporting role in Stella Meghie’s romance The Photograph and played the male lead in Nisha Ganatra’s musical comedy-drama The High Note, opposite Dakota Johnson. To prepare, he worked with a vocal coach for 45 minutes a day to expand his range and took guitar lessons. He closed the year with a portrayal of revolutionary socialist Fred Hampton in Aaron Sorkin’s biographical courtroom drama The Trial of the Chicago 7, a film nominated for six Academy Awards. Harrison and the rest of the cast won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.

In 2021, Harrison portrayed Christian in Joe Wright’s Cyrano, a musical film adaptation of Erica Schmidt’s Off-Broadway play, itself based on the 1897 Edmond Rostand play Cyrano de Bergerac. He had been slated to appear in the second season of HBO’s Euphoria, reuniting with Assassination Nation director Sam Levinson, but dropped out due to scheduling conflicts attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, he portrayed the legendary blues guitarist B. B. King in Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis, a critical success about rock and roll icon Elvis Presley. He then starred as Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges, the 18th-century Black French violin virtuoso and classical composer, in Stephen Williams’ Chevalier. In August 2021, it was announced that Harrison would voice young Scar in Mufasa: The Lion King, Barry Jenkins’ follow-up to The Lion King.

Notable Works and Milestones

Harrison’s signature work spans It Comes at Night, Luce, and Waves, three films that established his reputation for layered, physically committed performances. His Screen Actors Guild Award for The Trial of the Chicago 7 marked the crowning achievement of a stretch that also brought BAFTA, Gotham, and Independent Spirit Award nominations.

Upcoming Projects (2025-2026)

In January 2022, it was reported that Harrison will portray artist Jean-Michel Basquiat in Samo Lives, a biopic that will reunite him with Luce director Julius Onah. In May 2025, it was announced that Harrison will play a younger Beetee Latier in The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, scheduled for release on November 20, 2026.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. Award Nominations

Kelvin Harrison Jr. has earned nominations from some of the most respected bodies in film. He was nominated for a BAFTA Rising Star Award following the international success of Waves, the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Actor for It Comes at Night, and the Independent Spirit Award for Best Male Lead for Luce. Each nomination reflected a different stage of his rise, from genre breakthrough to indie acclaim to prestige recognition.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. Awards Won

Harrison won the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture as part of the ensemble of The Trial of the Chicago 7. The award recognized one of the most acclaimed casts of 2020 and capped a year in which Harrison balanced studio work, comedy, and historical drama with remarkable range.

Kelvin Harrison Jr. Family

Kelvin Harrison Jr. was raised in a deeply musical household. His mother, Shirlita, and his father, Kelvin Harrison, are both musicians, and his father was trained by the renowned jazz educator Ellis Marsalis and grew up with Harry Connick Jr. Those family connections gave Harrison direct access to the New Orleans jazz tradition, a lineage that continues to inform his work as both an actor and a musician.

Personal Life

Kelvin Harrison Jr. is a trained musician in addition to his acting career, with a particular focus on jazz and gospel on the piano and trumpet, as well as singing. He continues to divide his time between his craft and the broader artistic community that shaped him in New Orleans.