Mehcad Jason McKinley Brooks (born October 25, 1980) is an American actor and former

fashion model A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...

. He is known for his roles as Matthew Applewhite in the second season of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's series ''

Desperate Housewives ''Desperate Housewives'' is an American comedy-drama soap opera television series created by Marc Cherry and produced by ABC Studios and Marc Cherry, Cherry Productions. It aired for eight seasons on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from Octobe ...

'' (2005–2006), Jerome in '' The Game'', his leading role as Terrance "TK" King in the

USA The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

series '' Necessary Roughness'' (2011-2013) and James Olsen in the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

series ''Supergirl''. In 2022, he began his portrayal of NYPD Detective Jalen Shaw on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

police procedural drama ''

Law & Order ''Law & Order'' is an American police procedural and legal drama television series created by Dick Wolf and produced by Wolf Entertainment, launching the '' Law & Order'' franchise. ''Law & Order'' aired its entire run on NBC, premiering on ...

'', with the start of the series' 22nd season.

Early life

Brooks was born and raised in

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the county seat, seat and largest city of Travis County, Texas, Travis County, with portions extending into Hays County, Texas, Hays and Williamson County, Texas, Williamson co ...

, where he attended L.C. Anderson High School. Brooks is the son of ''

Austin American-Statesman The ''Austin American-Statesman'' is the major daily newspaper for Austin, the capital city of Texas. It is owned by Gannett. The paper prints Associated Press, ''New York Times'', ''The Washington Post'', and ''Los Angeles Times'' internation ...

'' editorial writer Alberta Phillips and former pro football player

Billy Brooks William McKinley Brooks III (born July 22, 1953) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Cincinnati Bengals 11th overall in the 1976 NFL Draft. He played college football at O ...

; his stepfather is lawyer Gary Bledsoe. After graduating from high school in 1999, he attended the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in C ...

's School of Cinema-Television. Brooks mentioned on a September 2010 episode of ''

The Wendy Williams Show ''The Wendy Williams Show'' (often shortened to ''Wendy'') is an American syndicated talk show created and hosted by Wendy Williams, and produced by Wendy Williams Productions, along with Perler Productions. The show is distributed by Debmar-Me ...

'' that he turned down

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

scholarships and offers from

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

schools in favor of going to

USC USC most often refers to: * University of South Carolina, a public research university ** University of South Carolina System, the main university and its satellite campuses **South Carolina Gamecocks, the school athletic program * University of ...

. He then left to pursue an acting career.

Career

Brooks' early work includes being a

Calvin Klein Calvin Richard Klein (born November 19, 1942) is an American fashion designer who launched the company that would later become Calvin Klein Inc., in 1968. In addition to clothing, he also has given his name to a range of perfumes, watches, and ...

underwear model. From 2005 to 2006, Brooks played the role of Matthew Applewhite on the

TV drama ''

''. He appeared in ''

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 t ...

'', portraying

Harry Flournoy Harry Flournoy Jr. (December 10, 1943 – November 26, 2016) was an American college basketball player, originally from Gary, Indiana. Family life Flournoy was born on December 10, 1943 in Fall River, Massachusetts. Early in his childhood his f ...

, an athlete at

Texas Western University The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stud ...

when the five starting black players beat Kentucky for the national championship. He acted in the 2007 film ''

In the Valley of Elah ''In the Valley of Elah'' is a 2007 American crime drama film written and directed by Paul Haggis. The film stars Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, and Susan Sarandon. Its title refers to the Biblical valley where the battle between David and Go ...

''. He starred opposite

Tia Mowry Tia Mowry is an American actress. She first gained recognition for her starring role as Tia Landry in the sitcom '' Sister, Sister'' (1994–1999), opposite her twin sister Tamera Mowry. The sisters then starred together in the Disney Channel Or ...

as her boyfriend, Jerome, on the TV series '' The Game'' in 2008. In 2009 he appeared on FOX's TV series ''

Dollhouse A dollhouse or doll's house is a toy home made in miniature. Since the early 20th century dollhouses have primarily been the domain of children, but their collection and crafting is also a hobby for many adults. English-speakers in North America ...

''. Brooks played Benedict "Eggs" Talley in the second season of HBO's ''

True Blood ''True Blood'' is an American fantasy horror drama television series produced and created by Alan Ball. It is based on ''The Southern Vampire Mysteries'', a series of novels by Charlaine Harris. A reboot is currently in development. The serie ...

''. Beginning January 2010, he appeared as attorney Malcolm Bennet in the now-canceled ABC series '' The Deep End''. He plays the "new boyfriend" in a recent

State Farm Insurance State Farm Insurance is a large group of mutual insurance companies throughout the United States with corporate headquarters in Bloomington, Illinois. Overview State Farm is the largest property and casualty insurance provider, and the lar ...

television commercial alongside former '' The Game'' co-star Gabrielle Dennis. Brooks appeared in the ABC documentary-style

dramedy Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television series ''

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band the Who, which became a hit and one of their most recognizable songs. The song was named the 11th greatest song by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It becam ...

'', which premiered in Fall 2010. The show was canceled after only two episodes. He was among the cast on the

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

series '' Necessary Roughness'' which debuted on June 29, 2011. The show featured Brooks as Terrence "TK" King, a football player for the New York Hawks whose anger issues cause his team to require him to see therapist. In 2013, '' Necessary Roughness'' was cancelled. Brooks guest starred in the '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' episode as Prince Miller, a basketball superstar who was molested as a child by his coach, and a guest role on

J. J. Abrams Jeffrey Jacob Abrams (born June 27, 1966) is an American filmmaker and composer. He is best known for his works in the genres of action, drama, and science fiction. Abrams wrote and produced such films as '' Regarding Henry'' (1991), '' F ...

' show ''

Alcatraz Alcatraz Island () is a small island in San Francisco Bay, offshore from San Francisco, California, United States. The island was developed in the mid-19th century with facilities for a lighthouse, a military fortification, and a military pris ...

'' as a bomb disposal expert. In 2013, Brooks was featured in a

public service announcement A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

for the

Center for Reproductive Rights The Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) is a global legal advocacy organization that seeks to advance reproductive rights, such as abortion. The organization's stated mission is to "use the law to advance reproductive freedom as a fundamental huma ...

. From the series premiere until his departure in the fourth episode of the fifth season, Brooks played James Olsen on the

drama ''

Supergirl Supergirl is the name of several fictional superheroines appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The original, current, and most well known Supergirl is Kara Zor-El, the cousin of superhero Superman. The character made her fir ...

'' as a series regular. On October 20, 2017, he released his debut single, "Tears Away". In 2019, he was announced to portray

Jax Briggs Jax Briggs is a fictional character in the '' Mortal Kombat'' fighting game franchise by Midway Games and NetherRealm Studios. Introduced in ''Mortal Kombat II'' (1993) as the leader of a Special Forces unit, he became a mainstay of the ser ...

for the ''

Mortal Kombat ''Mortal Kombat'' is an American media franchise centered on a series of video games originally developed by Midway Games in 1992. The development of the first game was originally based on an idea that Ed Boon and John Tobias had of making a v ...

'' reboot released on April 23, 2021. In June 2022, it was announced that Brooks would be joining the cast of the long-running crime series ''

'' as a detective in Season 22.

In the media

He appeared in the July 2010 issue of '' GQ'', alongside

Emanuela de Paula Emanuela de Paula (born 25 April 1989) is a Brazilian people, Brazilian model. She has been the face of United Kingdom, UK retailer Next (clothing), Next for the past two seasons and can be seen in the 2009 Pirelli Calendar. She has also replaced ...

Filmography

Films

Television

Discography

Singles

Awards and nominations

Personal life

He is the son of former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the major ...

wide receiver

. Brooks has stated in an interview with

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

that he is an avid player of video games, including the ''

Call of Duty ''Call of Duty'' is a first-person shooter video game Media franchise, franchise published by Activision. Starting out in 2003, it first focused on games set in World War II. Over time, the series has seen games set in the midst of the Cold W ...

'', ''

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

'', and '' Madden'' series. His older brother, Billy Brooks IV, was a regular on the now defunct

Spill.com Spill.com was a movie and video game review, discussion and news website. It was the continuation of the 9-year-old Austin, Texas-based public-access television cable TV show called '' The Reel Deal''. There were four main film critic contributo ...

and currently guests on its successor

Double Toasted Double Toasted is an entertainment website based in Austin, Texas. The site hosts weekly podcasts covering current events, pop culture, movie reviews and video games. History After the closure of Spill.com in 2013, Korey Coleman was encoura ...

. He was in a relationship with '' Creature'' co-star

Serinda Swan Serinda Swan (born July 11, 1984) is a Canadian actress best known for her work on television. In 2017, she starred in Marvel's ''Inhumans'' and HBO's '' Ballers'', and also portrayed Anne Bancroft in the first season of ''Feud'' (2017). Prev ...

until their break-up in 2011.

References

External links

*
Interview
at LIFETEEN.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Mehcad 1980 births 21st-century American male actors Male models from Texas Living people Male actors from Austin, Texas USC School of Cinematic Arts alumni African-American male models African-American models American male models African-American male actors American male television actors American male film actors 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people