Biography

Jesse Williams

by Sahra Mishra,

Jesse Williams is an American actor who is best known for his performance in the character of Dr. Jackson Avery on the Television series Grey’s Anatomy. He is also a model and an activist. He has appeared in several of the movies like Lee Daniels’ The Butler, The Cabin in the Woods, Brooklyn’s Finest, etc. Jesse was born in Chicago, Illinois, to parents Reginald Williams and Johanna Chase. His mother is a professional potter and is Swedish American descent while his father is an African American descent. Therefore, he has a mixed ancestry. He has the American nationality. He has two younger brothers who are visual arts specialist.

Jesse Williams went to Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island and graduated in 1998. He has graduated in two majors; African American Studies and Film and Media Arts from Temple University. After his graduation, he followed his parent’s footsteps by starting to teach in the Philadelphia pubic school. He spent 6 years of his life teaching the high school students there. Jesse stepped in the world of acting since 2005 after he began to study acting and was chosen to participate in New York Actors Showcase presented by ABC Television. He was one of the 14 actors chosen from out of 800 for the Showcase. It was his dedication, strong will, and conduct that made him qualified from among these 800 actors and to be one in the fourteen. Then, the door to  the acting opened for him. Since 2006, he started having bus schedule, appearing in number of television series, films, and theatre productions. He can be seen in some television series like Law & Order, Greek, Beyond the Break, Grey’s Anatomy, etc. and theatrical performances like The American Dream and The Sandbox.

Moving onto his personal life, Jesse is a married man and has two children from his wife. He is a happily married person and there is no record of his past relationship with any or even the extra marital affair now. He has maintained his clean and clear image. Since he is a married man, there is no any question regarding his sexuality. He loves his wife so much that he cannot resist talking about her. The name of his wife is Aryn Drake-Lee. Not much information is known on her but she is a real estate broker by profession. She was his girlfriend even before when he was famous and was in love relationship for almost five years before they got married to each other in 2012. The two had met each other when Jesse was also living in the New York but currently they live in California together with their children, a daughter named Sadie born in December 2013 and a son named Maceo, born on October 2015. The family is living very happily and Jesse loves his wife for her trust and support on his work and for her confidence and being independent type.

There is no any rumor or controversial issues known on him so far. He has been able to make his clean image in the media.

Jesse has established a production company of his own named as farWord Inc. He is also a model but never considered to pursue a career on it but was a s sociated with Tommy Hilfiger Corporation, Kenneth Cole Productions, L.L.Bean as well. 

Jesse is the youngest member in the board of directors at The Advancement Project and is also an executive producer of Question Bridge: Black Males. He has written articles for CNN, The Huffington Post and also been a guest in Wolf Blitzer’s The Situation Room. He also was one among the thousands in Ferguson, Missouri to protest the shooting of unarmed black teenager Michael Brown for which he is known as Ferguson October.

Jesse stands a tall height of 6 feet and one inch and known for his well muscled body and talent. Therefore, he is paid a nice salary and has a very competitive net worth in the Hollywood Film industry.

Jesse Williams is available on Twitter. He is not a regular user but still one can find him Tweeting occasionally. He can be followed @iJesseWilliams.