Derek Nathanial Luke (born April 24, 1974) is an American actor. He won the Independent Spirit Award for his big-screen debut performance as the titular character in the 2002 film ''
Antwone Fisher
Antwone Quenton Fisher (born August 3, 1959) is an American director, screenwriter, author, and film producer.
His 2001 autobiographical book '' Finding Fish'' was a ''New York Times'' Best Seller. The 2002 film '' Antwone Fisher'' was writt ...
'', directed and produced by Denzel Washington. Luke is also known for his roles as
Boobie Miles
James Earl "Boobie" Miles Jr. (born April 16, 1970) is a former high school football running back for Permian High School, and was a primary subject in the book '' Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream'' by H.G. Bissinger, and the mov ...
Glory Road
''Glory Road'' is a science fantasy novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in ''The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction'' (July – September 1963) and published in hardcover the same year. It was nominated for ...
'' (2006), Joshua Hardaway in ''
Madea Goes to Jail
''Madea Goes to Jail'' is a 2009 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Tyler Perry, which was based on his 2006 play, and starring Perry, Derek Luke, Keshia Knight Pulliam, Ion Overman, RonReaco Lee, Sofía Vergara, Vanessa Ferlito ...
'' (2009),
Gabe Jones
Gabriel "Gabe" Jones is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, he made his first appearance in World War II war comics series ' ...
Baggage Claim
200px, Baggage carousel
In airport terminals, a baggage reclaim area is an area where arriving passengers claim checked-in baggage after disembarking from an airline flight. The alternative term baggage claim is used at airports in the US and ...
'' (2013), and as Kevin Porter on the
Netflix
Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...
Guyana
Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...
. He attended
Henry Snyder High School
Academy of the Arts at Henry Snyder High School is a four-year performing arts public high school serving students in ninth through twelfth grades, located in the Greenville section of Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, operating as part o ...
Spike Lee
Shelton Jackson "Spike" Lee (born March 20, 1957) is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. His production company, 40 Acres and a Mule Filmworks, has produced more than 35 films since 1983. He made his directorial debut ...
's 2008 war film ''
Miracle at St. Anna
''Miracle at St. Anna'' is a 2008 AmericanItalian epic war film directed by Spike Lee and written by James McBride, based on McBride's 2003 novel of the same name. The film stars Derek Luke, Michael Ealy, Laz Alonso, Omar Benson Miller, Pierfra ...
'', replacing
Wesley Snipes
Wesley Trent Snipes (born July 31, 1962) is an American actor, film producer, and martial artist. His prominent film roles include '' Major League'' (1989), ''New Jack City'' (1991), '' White Men Can't Jump'' (1992), '' Passenger 57'' (1992), '' ...
, who had to leave the film due to his highly publicized tax problems.
Luke played a small role as a nurse in the 1999 episode "White Collar" of the sitcom ''The King of Queens'', and appeared on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
show ''
Trauma
Trauma most often refers to:
* Major trauma, in physical medicine, severe physical injury caused by an external source
* Psychological trauma, a type of damage to the psyche that occurs as a result of a severely distressing event
*Traumatic i ...
''. He played one of the group members of Mayhem in the '' Moesha'' episode "Mayhem at the Jam Esp" (March 19, 2001).
Luke played alongside American actor Laurence Fishburne as Kid in the 2003 film Biker Boyz. He plays
Alicia Keys
Alicia Augello Cook (born January 25, 1981), known professionally as Alicia Keys, is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. A classically trained pianist, Keys started composing songs when she was 12 and was signed at 15 years old by Col ...
' love interest in her
music video
A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a m ...
for "
Teenage Love Affair
"Teenage Love Affair" is a song recorded by American singer–songwriter Alicia Keys for her third studio album ''As I Am'' (2007). Written by Keys, Jack Splash, Matthew Kahane, and Harold Lilly, it was released as the third single from ''As I Am' ...
". He played singer Monica's love interest in her music video for "
So Gone
"So Gone" is a song by American R&B recording artist Monica. It was one out of several tracks rapper-producer Missy Elliott wrote and produced along with Kenneth Cunningham and Jamahl Rye from production duo Spike & Jamahl for Monica's fourth stu ...
Gabe Jones
Gabriel "Gabe" Jones is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist and co-plotter Jack Kirby, he made his first appearance in World War II war comics series ' ...
, a member of the
Howling Commandos
The Howling Commandos is the name of several fictional groups appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics.
Fictional team history
World War II
The first group of Howling Commandos (introduced in their own 1963 comic book seri ...
TNT
Trinitrotoluene (), more commonly known as TNT, more specifically 2,4,6-trinitrotoluene, and by its preferred IUPAC name 2-methyl-1,3,5-trinitrobenzene, is a chemical compound with the formula C6H2(NO2)3CH3. TNT is occasionally used as a reagen ...
original medical drama series ''
HawthoRNe
Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne.
Hawthorne may also refer to:
Places
Australia
*Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane
Canada
* Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario
United States
* Hawt ...
'' as Miles Bourdet, an assistant surgeon from Chicago.
From February to April 2013, Luke played the character of "Gregory" in the FX series ''
The Americans
''The Americans'' is an American historical drama, period spy fiction, spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg that aired on the FX (TV channel), FX television network for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg ...
''. In 2015, he played Malcolm Devoe, head of security for Empire Entertainment on the TV series ''Empire'' and Cookie's secret love interest. In March, 2018, he was cast in the lead role of the NBC pilot "Suspicion."
Personal life
Since 1998, Luke has been married to actress Sophia Adella Luke. They have a son together.