Early life

Wright was born in Washington, D.C., to a mother who worked as a customs lawyer and a father who died when Wright was a child. He graduated from St. Albans School and attended Amherst College, receiving a bachelor's degree in political science and planned to attend law school; however, he decided to study acting instead. After attending New York University for two months, he left to become a full-time actor.

Career

Wright began appearing off-Broadway in New York City and Washington DC, and in 1990, he appeared in his first major film as an attorney in Presumed Innocent, which starred Harrison Ford. In 1991, Wright joined John Houseman's national touring repertory company The Acting Company with productions of A Midsummer Night's Dream and Athol Fugard's Blood Knot. In 1994, he was cast as Norman "Belize" Arriaga in Tony Kushner's award-winning play Angels in America. His portrayal of a gay nurse forced to take care of Roy Cohn as he dies of AIDS won him the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play.

In 1996, Wright portrayed painter Jean-Michel Basquiat in the film Basquiat, to critical acclaim. Throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Wright appeared in both leading and supporting roles in such films as Celebrity (1998), Ride with the Devil (1999), Shaft (2000), and Boycott (2001), where he gave an AFI Award-winning performance as Martin Luther King, Jr.. In 2003, Wright reprised his role as Norman "Belize" Arriaga in HBO's award-winning adaptation of Angels in America. His performance garnered him an Emmy award as well as a Golden Globe award for Best Supporting Actor in a miniseries. In 2004, he appeared in Jonathan Demme's remake of The Manchurian Candidate. In February 2005, Wright returned to HBO Films in Lackawanna Blues. He also guest starred on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Homicide: Life on the Street.

Among his other film roles was Washington attorney Bennett Holiday in Syriana (2005). The same year, he played Bill Murray's eccentric Ethiopian neighbor Winston in Broken Flowers. In 2005, he starred in the play This Is How It Goes. He also appeared as one of the tenants in Lady in the Water. In 2006, Wright was featured as Felix Leiter in the James Bond movie Casino Royale. He reprised the role in Quantum of Solace.

In 2007, Wright starred in the alien invasion suspense thriller The Invasion. In 2008, he portrayed Colin Powell in W. He portrayed Muddy Waters in Cadillac Records, a biopic, loosely about the rise and fall of Chess Records. In 2010, Wright played Jacques Cornet in the world premiere run of A Free Man of Color at the Vivian Beaumont Theater of the Lincoln Center for Performing Arts in New York City.

Wright plays Beetee in The Hunger Games film series, starting with The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, released in November 2013. He also landed the role of Dr. Valentin Narcisse in season 4 of Boardwalk Empire, starting in the fall of 2013.

Personal life

Wright married actress Carmen Ejogo in August 2000. They have a son named Elijah and a daughter named Juno and lived in Brooklyn, New York. They have since divorced. In 2004, Wright received an honorary degree from his alma mater, Amherst College.

Wright has been a longtime activist working to end resource-related conflicts. In 2011, Wright established Taia Lion Resources, a mineral exploration company focused on ethical and sustainable mining in Sierra Leone. In August 2012, Wright's conflict-free mining philosophy was highlighted in a video by the Enough Project.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1990	Presumed Innocent	Prosecuting attorney
1992	Jumpin' at the Boneyard	Derek
1996	Faithful	Young man
1996	Basquiat	Jean-Michel Basquiat
1997	Critical Care	Bed Two
1998	Too Tired to Die	Balzac man
1998	Celebrity	Greg
1998	Meschugge	Win
1998	Blossoms and Veils	Ben
1999	Cement	Ninny
1999	Ride with the Devil	Daniel Holt
2000	Hamlet	Gravedigger
2000	Crime and Punishment in Suburbia	Chris
2000	Shaft	Peoples Hernandez
2001	Ali	Howard Bingham
2002	D-Tox	Jaworski
2004	Sin's Kitchen	Rex
2004	The Manchurian Candidate	Al Melvin
2005	Broken Flowers	Winston
2005	Syriana	Bennett Holiday
2006	Lady in the Water	Mr. Dury
2006	Casino Royale	Felix Leiter
2007	The Invasion	Dr. Stephen Galeano
2007	Blackout	Nelson	Producer
2008	W.	Colin Powell
2008	Quantum of Solace	Felix Leiter
2008	Cadillac Records	Muddy Waters
2009	One Blood	Dan Clark	Producer
2011	Source Code	Dr. Rutledge
2011	The Ides of March	Senator Thompson
2011	Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close	William Black
2013	Broken City	Carl Fairbanks
2013	A Single Shot	Simon
2013	The Hunger Games: Catching Fire	Beetee
2013	The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete	Henry
2014	Ernest & Celestine	Grizzly Judge's voice
2014	Only Lovers Left Alive	Dr. Watson
2014	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1	Beetee
2015	The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 2	Beetee
2015	The Good Dinosaur	Poppa Henry	Voice role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Separate but Equal	William Coleman	Television movie
1993	The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles	Sidney Bechet	2 episodes
1994	New York Undercover	Andre Foreman	Episode: "Garbage"
1997	Homicide: Life on the Street	Hal Wilson	3 episodes
2001	Boycott	Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.	Television movie
2003	Angels in America	Norman "Belize" Ariaga	2 episodes
2005	Lackawanna Blues	Mr. Paul	Television movie
2007	American Experience	Narrator	Episode: "New Orleans"
2011	House	Dr. Walter Cofield	Episode: "Nobody's Fault"
2013-2014	Boardwalk Empire	Dr. Valentin Narcisse	11 episodes
2016	Westworld	Bernard Lowe	10 episodes
2016	Confirmation	Charles Ogletree	Television movie
2016	The Venture Brothers	Think Tank	1 episode

Awards

Year	Award	Category	Work	Result
2002	AFI Awards	AFI Actor of the Year - Male - Movie or Mini-Series	Boycott	Won
2005	Black Movie Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role	Syriana	Nominated
2002	Black Reel Awards	Network/Cable - Best Actor	Boycott	Nominated
2004		Television: Best Supporting Actor	Angels in America	Won
2005		Best Supporting Actor	The Manchurian Candidate	Nominated
2006		Best Supporting Actor - Television	Lackawanna Blues	Won
		Best Supporting Actor	Syriana	Nominated
2008		Best Supporting Actor	Cadillac Records	Won
		Best Ensemble		Won
2012	Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards	Best Acting Ensemble	The Ides of March	Nominated
2007	Chicago International Film Festival	Career Achievement Award		Won
2004	Emmy Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie	Angels in America	Won
2004	Golden Globe Awards	Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television	Angels in America	Won
2002	Image Awards	Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special	Boycott	Nominated
2006		Outstanding Actor in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special	Lackawanna Blues	Nominated
2009		Outstanding Actor in a Motion Picture	Cadillac Records	Nominated
2012		Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Motion Picture	The Ides of March	Nominated
1997	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Debut Performance	Basquiat	Nominated
2006		Best Supporting Male	Broken Flowers	Nominated
2005	San Diego Film Critics Society Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Broken Flowers	Won
2002	Satellite Awards	Best Actor in a Miniseries or Television Film	Boycott	Nominated
2004		Best Supporting Actor in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Angels in America	Nominated
2004	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie	Angels in America	Nominated
1994	Tony Awards	Best Featured Actor in a Play	Angels in America: Perestroika	Won
2002		Best Actor in a Play	Topdog/Underdog	Nominated
2000	Toronto Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Performance, Male	Shaft	Won

[ Source: Wikipedia ]