Life and career

Early life

Simmons was born in Stamford, Connecticut, the son of Aurelia, a school teacher, and Henry Simmons, Sr., an IRS agent. He is one of four children, including his twin sister, another sister and a brother. Simmons earned a basketball scholarship to Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire, where he earned a business degree.

Career

While attending Franklin Pierce College, he experimented in theater. After graduating from college, he briefly worked at a Fortune 500 company in Stamford. Unhappy with his job, Simmons began to study acting and after a few bit roles, he landed a recurring role on the soap opera, Another World.

Simmons is best known for playing Detective Baldwin Jones on the ABC drama, NYPD Blue. He also played Queen Latifah's boyfriend in the 2004 action/comedy film Taxi. He had a leading role in the CBS legal drama Shark, starring James Woods, and played a leading role in World's Greatest Dad. He recently starred in the ABC-TV comedy series Man Up!. His 2014 projects included feature films From the Rough, starring Taraji P. Henson, and No Good Deed, starring Idris Elba and Taraji P. Henson.

Since 2014, Simmons appears on ABC's Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., portraying mechanic S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent Alphonso "Mack" MacKenzie. After being a recurring character on season 2, he was promoted as a regular character for season 3.

Simmons can be seen in a 2015 Lexus commercial, answering the question "What makes us, us."

Personal life

He married actress Sophina Brown in May 2010.

Filmography