Mike Randal Colter (born August 26, 1976) is an American actor best known for his role as

Luke Cage Lucas "Luke" Cage, born Carl Lucas and also known as Power Man, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. He first appeared in ''Luke Cage, Hero for Hire'' #1 (June 1972) and was created by Archie Go ...

in the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published by ...

, appearing in the streaming television series ''

'' (2016–2018), '' The Defenders'' (2017), and ''

Jessica Jones Jessica Campbell Jones Cage is a superheroine appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Brian Michael Bendis and artist Michael Gaydos and first appeared in ''Alias'' #1 (November 2001) ...

'' (2015; 2019). He has also appeared as Lemond Bishop in the television series ''

The Good Wife ''The Good Wife'' is an American legal and political drama television series that aired on CBS from September 22, 2009, to May 8, 2016. It focuses on Alicia Florrick, the wife of the Cook County State's Attorney, who returns to her career in law ...

'' (2010–2015) and ''

The Good Fight ''The Good Fight'' is an American legal drama produced for CBS's streaming service CBS All Access (later Paramount+). It is the platform's first original scripted series. The series, created by Robert King, Michelle King, and Phil Alden Robin ...

'' (2017–present), Malcolm Ward in '' Ringer'' (2011–2012), Jameson Locke in the ''Halo'' franchise (2014–2015), Agent J's father in ''

Men in Black 3 ''Men in Black 3'' (stylized as ''MIB³'') is a 2012 American science fiction action comedy film directed by Barry Sonnenfeld and starring Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones, and Josh Brolin. It is the third installment in the ''Men in Black'' film se ...

'', and David Acosta, a former journalist studying to be a Catholic priest 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 ...

Paramount+ Paramount (from the word ''paramount'' meaning "above all others") may refer to: Entertainment and music companies * Paramount Global, also known simply as Paramount, an American mass media company formerly known as ViacomCBS. The following busin ...

series ''

Evil Evil, in a general sense, is defined as the opposite or absence of good. It can be an extremely broad concept, although in everyday usage it is often more narrowly used to talk about profound wickedness and against common good. It is general ...

.''

Early life

Colter was born in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

the youngest of four children born to Eddie Lee, Sr. and Freddie Marion (née Mitchell) Colter grew up in

St. Matthews, South Carolina St. Matthews is a town in Calhoun County, South Carolina, United States. The population was 2,021 at the 2010 census, a decline from 2,107 in 2000. It is the county seat of Calhoun County. St. Matthews is part of the Columbia, South Carolina Metro ...

. He is a graduate of Calhoun County High School. In his senior high school yearbook, his senior superlative as voted by the class was "most ambitious." Colter spent a year at

Benedict College Benedict College is a private historically black college in Columbia, South Carolina. Founded in 1870 by northern Baptists, it was originally a teachers' college. It has since expanded to offer majors in many disciplines across the liberal arts ...

before transferring to the University of South Carolina, receiving a bachelor's degree in theater in 1999. He obtained an MFA degree in acting from the

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a Public university, public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's ...

Mason Gross School of the Arts Mason Gross School of the Arts is the arts conservatory at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is named for Mason W. Gross, the sixteenth president of Rutgers. Mason Gross offers the Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance, Theater, Digi ...

Career

Colter's first role was in the film ''

Million Dollar Baby ''Million Dollar Baby'' is a 2004 American sports drama film directed, co-produced, scored by and starring Clint Eastwood from a screenplay written by Paul Haggis, based on stories from the 2000 collection ''Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner' ...

'' as boxer Big Willie Little. He also guest starred on '' Law & Order: Trial By Jury'', '' Law and Order: Criminal Intent'', ''

'', '' ER'', and ''

The Parkers ''The Parkers'' is an American television sitcom aired on UPN from August 30, 1999, to May 10, 2004. A Spin-off (media), spin-off of UPN's ''Moesha'', ''The Parkers'' features the mother-daughter team of Nikki (played by Mo'Nique) and Kim Parker ...

'' as well as several TV movies. He starred in the series '' Ringer''. In 2012, he was featured in the final act of the film ''

'', playing

agent J Agent J (usually called J), originally James Darrell Edwards III, is one of the two protagonists of the ''Men in Black'' film series. Born October 19, 1965, Jay is an agent of the MiB, recruited by Agent K. He is energetic, and tries to bring li ...

's father in the year 1969. In 2014, Colter began portraying the role of Agent Jameson Locke in the ''

Halo Halo, halos or haloes usually refer to: * Halo (optical phenomenon) * Halo (religious iconography), a ring of light around the image of a head HALO, halo, halos or haloes may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Video games * ''Halo'' (franch ...

'' franchise. Colter starred in the series '' Halo: Nightfall'' and provided the motion capture for Agent Locke in '' Halo 5: Guardians'', and the voice acting is performed by

Ike Amadi Ikechukwu Prince Amadi (born November 26, 1979) is a Nigerian voice actor. He is known for voicing Javik in ''Mass Effect 3'', Spartan Jameson Locke in '' Halo 5: Guardians'', and the DC Comics villain Atrocitus in ''Injustice 2 ''Injustice ...

. He also co-starred as

in ''

'' on Netflix. The first season was released online on November 20, 2015. This was followed by the character's own series, ''

'', and the first season was released on September 30, 2016. The second season release followed on June 22, 2018. In between the two seasons, Colter also played Luke in '' The Defenders''. He also starred in the 2018 alien invasion movie ''

Extinction Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

''. Colter was announced as the male lead in the

drama pilot, ''

'' as David Acosta, a Catholic seminarian who assesses unexplained phenomena for supernatural or scientific explanations. In 2020, Colter starred in the Netflix anthology series ''Social Distance''.

Personal life

Colter met his future wife, Iva, at

in New Jersey while he was pursuing his Masters and she was working on her PhD. The couple married in 2002. He also confirmed on the September 27, 2016, segment 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 has a daughter with Iva. The couple's second daughter was born in October 2018. Colter is a second cousin of actress

Viola Davis Viola Davis (; born August 11, 1965) is an American actress and producer. The recipient of various accolades, including an Academy Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and two Tony Awards, she is the only African-American to achieve the Triple Crow ...

. He resides in Los Angeles. In 2019, Colter played for the "home" roster during the

NBA All-Star Celebrity Game The NBA All-Star Celebrity Game is an annual exhibition basketball game held by the National Basketball Association that takes place during the NBA All-Star Weekend and features retired NBA players, WNBA players, actors, musicians and athletes ...

at the

Bojangles' Coliseum Bojangles Coliseum (originally Charlotte Coliseum and formerly Independence Arena and Cricket Arena) is an 8,600-seat multi-purpose arena located in Charlotte, North Carolina. It is operated by the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which als ...

Charlotte Charlotte ( ) is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont (United States), Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, Meckl ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The roster was made up of celebrities with Carolina roots.

Filmography

Film and TV Movies

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Colter, Mike 1976 births 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Columbia, South Carolina African-American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Benedict College alumni Living people Male actors from New York (state) Male actors from South Carolina People from St. Matthews, South Carolina Rutgers University alumni University of South Carolina alumni 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people