Early life

Growing up in Atlanta, Georgia, Hardwick wrote poetry on a regular basis, and participated in many sports. For high school he attended Marist School in Atlanta, Georgia where he excelled in baseball, basketball and football, which eventually led him to a football scholarship for University of Georgia. Even though he was a star on the field, Hardwick continued acting and poetry, and thus minored in theater. Hardwick is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.

Career

After graduation, Hardwick was not selected in the NFL draft but despite not even starting for a mediocre 6-6 Georgia football team, he tried to make the roster of the NFL San Diego Chargers.

As a struggling actor, Hardwick did odd jobs in order to pay for acting classes. After being unsuccessful, he started living in his car, and he finally got his break in 2004 TV Movie Sucker Free City. Next, he booked roles in feature film The Guardian and a series regular role in Saved. For the role, he spent two years training as a fireman and a paramedic.

In 2003 and 2004, he participated award-winningly in the National Poetry Slam.

In 2010, Hardwick became a founding member of "Plan B Inc. Theater Group", and a co-founder of "Actor's Lounge" at the Los Angeles' Greenway Theater. He also founded production company "Bravelife Films". Hardwick was also featured in the urban lifestyle publication, Prominence Magazine for its Holiday issue.

In 2011, Hardwick received his best films reviews to date for his role as "Troy" in the critically acclaimed indie hit I Will Follow (2011). Hardwick has guest starred on an episode of NBC's Chase as Chris Novak, a hard luck criminal facing prison.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002	Circles	Lameck
2004	Within the Wall	Saul	Short
	The Male Groupie	Act Shun
	Sucker Free City	Dante Ponce	Television Film
2005	Beauty Shop	Byron
2006	Speechless	Ku James
	Gridiron Gang	Free
	The Guardian	Carl Billings
2008	SIS		Television Film
	Miracle at St. Anna	Platoon Commander Huggs
	Linewatch	Drake
2009	Next Day Air	Shavoo
2010	Everyday Black Man	Malik
	Kick-Ass	Marcus
	The A-Team	Chop Shop J
	For Colored Girls	Carl	Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Breakthrough Performance
2011	I Will Follow	Troy
2012	Sparkle	Levi
	Middle of Nowhere	Derek
2013	Kings & Beggars	Noah	Short; Also Writer
	Lu	Doctor Harden	Short
	Things Never Said	Curtis Jackson
	The Last Letter	Michael Wright
	A Christmas Blessing	Earl	Television Film; Nominated - Black Reel Award for Outstanding Actor, TV Movie or Mini-Series
2014	Reach Me	Dominic
	Lap Dance	Dr. Don Cook
2015	Bolden!	Frankie Duson	Post-production
	Chapter & Verse	Jomo	Post-production
2016	Shot Caller		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Crossing Jordan	Ronald Pasco	Episode: "Judgement Day"
2006	Saved	John "Sack" Hallon	Main Cast; 13 episodes
2008	CSI: Miami	Eddie Dashell	Episode: "And How Does That Make You Kill?"
2009-2010	Dark Blue	Ty Curtis	Main Cast; 20 episodes Nominated - NAMIC Vision Award Best Performance, Drama
2009	Lie to Me	Benny "B" Davis	Episode: "The Better Half"
2010	Chase	Chris Novak	Episode: "Betrayed"
2012	Breakout Kings	Ronnie Markham	Episode: "Self Help"
2013-2014	Being Mary Jane	Andre	Main Cast; 8 episodes Black Reel Award for Outstanding Actor, TV Movie or Mini-Series Nominated - Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Nominated - Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Drama Series
2014-present	Power	James "Ghost" St. Patrick	Lead Role

[ Source: Wikipedia ]