Boris Kodjoe
Encyclopedia
Boris Frederic Cecil Tay-Natey Ofuatey-Kodjoe (born 8 March 1973), better known as Boris Kodjoe, is an Austrian
-born German
actor and former fashion model who works primarily in the United States. He is perhaps best known for his role as courier-turned-sports agent Damon Carter
on the Showtime television drama series Soul Food and for his role as David Taylor in the film The Gospel . Additionally, he starred as Steven Bloom in the cancelled 2010 NBC
action/drama series Undercovers
, and as Luther in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife
.
on a tennis
scholarship
, and graduated
with a bachelor's degree
in marketing
in 1996. A four-year letterman on the Rams' men's tennis team, he is currently ninth in school history with 75 career singles wins. Tied for third in doubles victories with 66, he was paired with Jonas Elmblad on 37 of them, also third all-time. His brother Patrick Kodjoe played for VCU's basketball team. A back injury ended Boris' tennis aspirations, but he was quickly signed as a model and soon after entered acting.
Named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People
magazine in 2002, Kodjoe is perhaps best known as one of the seven regular cast members from the Showtime drama Soul Food, which aired from 2000 to 2004. He appeared in the 2002 film Brown Sugar and starred in the short-lived sitcom Second Time Around with his Soul Food co-star Nicole Ari Parker
, whom he eventually married. He played the role of David Taylor, the wayward son of Pastor Fred Taylor in the October 2005 film The Gospel. He performed in a play called Whatever She Wants starring Vivica A. Fox
and made an appearance on the fifth season of Nip/Tuck
. His most recent role was in the 2009 science fiction film Surrogates. On December 16, 2009, it was announced that Kodjoe had been cast as the male lead, Steven Bloom, in the new J. J. Abrams
television series Undercovers
; the show premiered in September and was subsequently cancelled in November 2010 on NBC. Also that year, he appeared as Luther in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife
.
, Austria
, the son of Ursula, a German psychologist
, and Eric Kodjoe, a Ghanaian physician. His namesake
is Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak
. Kodjoe's matrilineal
great-grandmother was Jewish and died in the Holocaust
; his maternal grandmother survived the war in hiding. Kodjoe's parents divorced when he was six years old and he grew up in the vicinity of Freiburg im Breisgau. He is fluent in French, English, and German, and speaks some Spanish. He has a brother named Patrick and a sister named Nadja. His height is 1.93 m (6' 4").
Kodjoe married his Soul Food: The Series
co-star Nicole Ari Parker
on May 21, 2005 in Gundelfingen
, Germany
. She gave birth to their first child, a girl, Sophie Tei-Naaki Lee Kodjoe, on March 5, 2005. Sophie has spina bifida
, which was diagnosed at birth. Parker gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy, Nicolas Neruda Kodjoe, on October 31, 2006. Kodjoe and his wife are members of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia
. The family resides in Atlanta, after moving from Los Angeles
, California
.
Kodjoe portrays the man licking T-Boz's foot and one of the male prostitutes. He was also in Faith Evans's Never Let Go.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
-born German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
actor and former fashion model who works primarily in the United States. He is perhaps best known for his role as courier-turned-sports agent Damon Carter
Damon Carter
Damon Carter is a fictional character from the Showtime television series Soul Food. He is the only major Soul Food character that was created specifically for the television series, and not the 1997 motion picture...
on the Showtime television drama series Soul Food and for his role as David Taylor in the film The Gospel . Additionally, he starred as Steven Bloom in the cancelled 2010 NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
action/drama series Undercovers
Undercovers (TV series)
Undercovers is an American action spy television series created by J. J. Abrams and Josh Reims for NBC. They were executive producers of the pilot along with Abrams' frequent collaborator Bryan Burk....
, and as Luther in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in...
.
Career
Kodjoe attended Virginia Commonwealth UniversityVirginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
on a tennis
Tennis
Tennis is a sport usually played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a racket that is strung to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court. Tennis is an Olympic sport and is played at all levels of society at all...
scholarship
Scholarship
A scholarship is an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award.-Types:...
, and graduated
Graduation
Graduation is the action of receiving or conferring an academic degree or the ceremony that is sometimes associated, where students become Graduates. Before the graduation, candidates are referred to as Graduands. The date of graduation is often called degree day. The graduation itself is also...
with a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in marketing
Marketing
Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments...
in 1996. A four-year letterman on the Rams' men's tennis team, he is currently ninth in school history with 75 career singles wins. Tied for third in doubles victories with 66, he was paired with Jonas Elmblad on 37 of them, also third all-time. His brother Patrick Kodjoe played for VCU's basketball team. A back injury ended Boris' tennis aspirations, but he was quickly signed as a model and soon after entered acting.
Named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People
People (magazine)
In 1998, the magazine introduced a version targeted at teens called Teen People. However, on July 27, 2006, the company announced it would shut down publication of Teen People immediately. The last issue to be released was scheduled for September 2006. Subscribers to this magazine received...
magazine in 2002, Kodjoe is perhaps best known as one of the seven regular cast members from the Showtime drama Soul Food, which aired from 2000 to 2004. He appeared in the 2002 film Brown Sugar and starred in the short-lived sitcom Second Time Around with his Soul Food co-star Nicole Ari Parker
Nicole Ari Parker
Nicole Ari Parker Kodjoe , also known as Nikki Kodjoe, is an American actress and a former model. She is perhaps best known for her role as attorney Teri Joseph on the Showtime television drama series Soul Food and her role as Becky Barnett in Boogie Nights.-Early life:Parker was born in...
, whom he eventually married. He played the role of David Taylor, the wayward son of Pastor Fred Taylor in the October 2005 film The Gospel. He performed in a play called Whatever She Wants starring Vivica A. Fox
Vivica A. Fox
Vivica Anjanetta Fox is an American actress and television producer. She is best known for her roles in the films Independence Day, Set It Off, Soul Food, Why Do Fools Fall In Love,Kill Bill and Juwanna Mann....
and made an appearance on the fifth season of Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck
Nip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
. His most recent role was in the 2009 science fiction film Surrogates. On December 16, 2009, it was announced that Kodjoe had been cast as the male lead, Steven Bloom, in the new J. J. Abrams
J. J. Abrams
Jeffrey Jacob "J. J." Abrams is an American film and television producer, screenwriter, director, actor, and composer. He wrote and produced feature films before co-creating the television series Felicity...
television series Undercovers
Undercovers (TV series)
Undercovers is an American action spy television series created by J. J. Abrams and Josh Reims for NBC. They were executive producers of the pilot along with Abrams' frequent collaborator Bryan Burk....
; the show premiered in September and was subsequently cancelled in November 2010 on NBC. Also that year, he appeared as Luther in the film Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in...
.
Personal life
Kodjoe was born in ViennaVienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, the son of Ursula, a German psychologist
Psychologist
Psychologist is a professional or academic title used by individuals who are either:* Clinical professionals who work with patients in a variety of therapeutic contexts .* Scientists conducting psychological research or teaching psychology in a college...
, and Eric Kodjoe, a Ghanaian physician. His namesake
Namesake
Namesake is a term used to characterize a person, place, thing, quality, action, state, or idea that has the same, or a similar, name to another....
is Russian poet and writer Boris Pasternak
Boris Pasternak
Boris Leonidovich Pasternak was a Russian language poet, novelist, and literary translator. In his native Russia, Pasternak's anthology My Sister Life, is one of the most influential collections ever published in the Russian language...
. Kodjoe's matrilineal
Matrilineality in Judaism
Matrilineality in Judaism is the view that people born of a Jewish mother are themselves Jewish. The Torah does not explicitly discuss the conferring of Jewish status through matrilineality, and in apparent contrast to this position, the Tanakh provides many examples of Israelite men whose...
great-grandmother was Jewish and died in the Holocaust
The Holocaust
The Holocaust , also known as the Shoah , was the genocide of approximately six million European Jews and millions of others during World War II, a programme of systematic state-sponsored murder by Nazi...
; his maternal grandmother survived the war in hiding. Kodjoe's parents divorced when he was six years old and he grew up in the vicinity of Freiburg im Breisgau. He is fluent in French, English, and German, and speaks some Spanish. He has a brother named Patrick and a sister named Nadja. His height is 1.93 m (6' 4").
Kodjoe married his Soul Food: The Series
Soul Food: The Series
Soul Food: The Series is a television drama that aired Wednesday nights on Showtime from June 28, 2000 to May 26, 2004. Created by filmmaker George Tillman, Jr. and developed for television by Felicia D. Henderson, Soul Food is based upon Tillman's childhood experiences growing up in Wisconsin, and...
co-star Nicole Ari Parker
Nicole Ari Parker
Nicole Ari Parker Kodjoe , also known as Nikki Kodjoe, is an American actress and a former model. She is perhaps best known for her role as attorney Teri Joseph on the Showtime television drama series Soul Food and her role as Becky Barnett in Boogie Nights.-Early life:Parker was born in...
on May 21, 2005 in Gundelfingen
Gundelfingen
Gundelfingen im Breisgau is a municipality directly north of the city Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.Gundelfingen is one of the larger municipalities in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. She gave birth to their first child, a girl, Sophie Tei-Naaki Lee Kodjoe, on March 5, 2005. Sophie has spina bifida
Spina bifida
Spina bifida is a developmental congenital disorder caused by the incomplete closing of the embryonic neural tube. Some vertebrae overlying the spinal cord are not fully formed and remain unfused and open. If the opening is large enough, this allows a portion of the spinal cord to protrude through...
, which was diagnosed at birth. Parker gave birth to the couple's second child, a boy, Nicolas Neruda Kodjoe, on October 31, 2006. Kodjoe and his wife are members of Cascade United Methodist Church in Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta, Georgia
Atlanta is the capital and most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 census, Atlanta's population is 420,003. Atlanta is the cultural and economic center of the Atlanta metropolitan area, which is home to 5,268,860 people and is the ninth largest metropolitan area in...
. The family resides in Atlanta, after moving from Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
.
Filmography
- Chosen Ones (1999–2006)
- Love & Basketball (2000)
- Brown Sugar (2002)
- Second Time Around TV series (2004)
- Doing Hard TimeDoing Hard TimeDoing Hard Time is a 2004 drama film starring Boris Kodjoe. Michael was a good man and a loving father, until one day day, his seven year old son was caught in the crossfire of a drug deal gone bad. Michael's mourning becomes outrage when his child's killers get only a slap on the wrist for drug...
(2004) - The Gospel (2005)
- America's Next Top Model, Cycle 4America's Next Top Model, Cycle 4America's Next Top Model, Cycle 4 aired in spring 2005, with the shooting location being moved from New York City to Los Angeles. The catch-phrase of the season was "Dive In."...
(2005) - What Ever She Wants (2006)
- Madea's Family ReunionMadea's Family ReunionMadea's Family Reunion is a 2006 comedy-drama film adaptation of the stage production of the same name written by Tyler Perry and sequel to Diary of a Mad Black Woman. It was written and directed by Perry, who also played several characters, including Mabel "Madea" Simmons...
(2006) - All About Us (2007)
- Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (2008)
- Surrogates (2009)
- Resident Evil: AfterlifeResident Evil: AfterlifeResident Evil: Afterlife is a 2010 Canadian-German 3D science-fiction horror action film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It stars Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Kim Coates, Shawn Roberts, Spencer Locke, Boris Kodjoe, and Wentworth Miller. The film marks Anderson's second time to direct in...
(2010) - UndercoversUndercovers (TV series)Undercovers is an American action spy television series created by J. J. Abrams and Josh Reims for NBC. They were executive producers of the pilot along with Abrams' frequent collaborator Bryan Burk....
(2010) - The Confidant (2010)
- clones (film) (2010)
- Take The Stand (2011)
- Resident Evil: RetributionResident Evil: RetributionResident Evil: Retribution is an upcoming 2012 3D science-fiction action horror film written and directed by Paul W. S. Anderson. It is the fifth installment in the Resident Evil film series, which is based on the Capcom survival horror series Resident Evil.The film has many returning actors and...
(2012) - Nurse 3DNurse 3DNurse 3D is an upcoming 3D comedy horror film directed by Doug Aarniokoski and written by David Loughery. It stars Paz de la Huerta, Katrina Bowden, Corbin Bleu. The film is inspired by the photography of Lionsgate's chief marketing officer, Tim Palen...
(2012)
Guest appearances on TV shows
- Nip/TuckNip/TuckNip/Tuck is an American drama series created by Ryan Murphy, which aired on FX in the United States. The series focuses on McNamara/Troy, a plastic surgery practice, and follows its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy...
(2007) - Tyler Perry's House of PayneTyler Perry's House of PayneTyler Perry's House of Payne is an American comedy-drama television series created and produced by playwright, director, and producer Tyler Perry. The show revolves around a multi-generational family living under one roof in Atlanta, Georgia led by patriarch Curtis Payne and his wife Ella...
(2009) - EveEve (TV series)Eve is an American sitcom starring Eve, Jason Winston George, Ali Landry, Natalie Desselle-Reid, Brian Hooks and Sean Maguire. That aired on the UPN network from September 15, 2003 to May 11, 2006, with 66 episodes produced spanning 3 seasons...
- All of UsAll of UsAll of Us is an American sitcom that premiered on the now-defunct UPN network in the United States on September 16, 2003, where it aired for its first three seasons. October 1, 2006, the show moved to The CW, a new network formed by the merger of UPN and The WB All of Us is an American sitcom that...
- Half & HalfHalf & HalfHalf & Half is an American sitcom that aired on UPN from September 23, 2002, to May 15, 2006. The show focuses on the lives of two paternal half-sisters in their twenties who were estranged throughout their childhood, and are finally developing a close relationship...
- Boston PublicBoston PublicBoston Public is an American drama television series created by David E. Kelley and broadcast on Fox. It centered on Winslow High School, a fictional public high school located in Boston, Massachusetts. The show was named for the real public school district in which it takes place...
- Crossing JordanCrossing JordanCrossing Jordan is an American television crime/drama series that aired on NBC from September 24, 2001 to May 16, 2007. It stars Jill Hennessy as Jordan Cavanaugh, M.D., a crime-solving forensic pathologist employed in the Suffolk County, Massachusetts, Medical Examiner's Office...
- Lopez TonightLopez TonightLopez Tonight was an American late-night television talk show hosted by comedian George Lopez. The hour-long program premiered on November 9, 2009, on cable network TBS. Lopez was the first Mexican American to host a late-night talk show on an English-language network in the United States. The...
(2010) - Steve Harvey Show
Music videos
In TLC's, Red Light SpecialRed Light Special
"Red Light Special" is TLC's second single from CrazySexyCool, their second album. The song peaked at #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became their fifth top-ten single. It also reached #3 on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart...
Kodjoe portrays the man licking T-Boz's foot and one of the male prostitutes. He was also in Faith Evans's Never Let Go.