Julius Campbell From Remember The Titans Is Unrecognizable Now
In 2019, the city of Alexandria, Virginia, lost a true legend. Julius Campbell, the high school football star from the T.C. Williams High School's Titans, passed away at age 65. Alongside fellow Titans player Gerry Bertier, Campbell helped lead the team to an undefeated season in 1971. Not only that, but the top athlete also worked with Bertier to inspire their local community to come together soon after their city and their school became integrated. "Julius was very, very instrumental on that team at simply getting kids to just talk to one another, kids who never talked to kids from another race their entire lives," Campbell's Titans coach, the equally legendary Herman Boone, told The Washington Post following his death. He later added that it was also Campbell who insisted to his teammates that they had to come together if they were going to achieve victory on the field.
On the big screen, Campbell's legacy is forever immortalized in the Disney hit film "Remember the Titans." While Oscar winner Denzel Washington plays Coach Boone, Campbell is portrayed by actor Wood Harris. It wasn't the first time the Chicago native played a real-life legend onscreen, having just portrayed rock and roll guitarist Jimi Hendrix in the Emmy-nominated biopic "Hendrix" at that time. Throughout his career, Campbell also went on to represent other popular figures on the big screen. At the same time, the actor also eventually found remarkable success in television.
Wood Harris got cast to play 18-year-old Julius Campbell when he was 30
A lot of movie magic happens in Hollywood, and it is not uncommon for casting directors to pick someone older to play a teenager on the big screen. This was exactly the case in "Remember the Titans," where Wood Harris found himself portraying a high school football star at the age of 30. For the actor, however, it was no big deal, even jokingly telling GQ, "When I was 30, I pretty much was 18 anyway in my mentality. I basically felt like I could still go pro."
That said, Harris also admitted that he had some reservations about doing the film. "It was very sensitive," he explained. On the other hand, the actor also knew that he couldn't pass up on working with Denzel Washington again, who was the first star attached to the project (Harris previously had a minor role in Washington's action thriller "The Siege"). And so, Harris signed on, taking his portrayal of Julius Campbell very seriously. Off camera, the actor even reportedly encouraged the rest of the cast to get together and rehearse scenes. On the set, Harris also formed a close friendship with co-star Ryan Hurst, who portrayed the other major character in the story, Titan team captain Gerry Bertier.
Wood Harris grew a beard and mustache for his breakout role in The Wire
After "Remember the Titans," Wood Harris' career was in full swing as he returned to playing characters closer to his age. Soon after the film, the actor delved into a crime drama, playing drug kingpin Avon Barksdale in the hit HBO TV series "The Wire," where he also took on a more mature onscreen appearance. Far from portraying a teenage football star, Harris got cast to play a character that is supposed to be based on a former gangster in Baltimore, with some reports identifying this person as Nathan Barksdale. However, show creator David Simon never confirmed this. Instead, he told The Baltimore Sun, "We mangled street and given names throughout 'The Wire' so that it was a general shout-out to the Westside players. But there is nothing that corresponds to a specific character."
Harris remained a regular on "The Wire" until its third season. The actor also briefly returned to appear in the show's fifth and final season. He also later sat down with Barksdale for the DVD documentary "The Avon Barksdale Story: Legends of the Unwired," where he interviewed the former Baltimore gangster on camera.
Wood Harris kept his mature look when he reunited with Donald Faison for another movie
After wrapping up his time on "The Wire," it didn't take long before Wood Harris teamed up with "Remember the Titans" co-star Donald Faison for "Next Day Air," where he also kept his beard and mustache. That said, he didn't have to be so serious onscreen this time. In the film, Harris plays Guch, one of two criminals (the other one is played by Mike Epps) who end up receiving a huge package of cocaine by mistake. Soon after, chaos ensues as the package delivery triggers a hilariously crazy chain of events.
For Harris, the film was a labor of love as the actor also served as one of the film's producers. That said, he had the time of his life shooting "Next Day Air" since it also allowed him to work with some of his close friends in the industry. Aside from Faison and Epps, the movie also stars actor and musician Mos Def, whom Harris has known for years. Other cast members include Omari Hardwick, Emilio Rivera, and Debbie Allen. "Next Day Air" was originally being developed at Paramount before Summit acquired worldwide rights to the movie.
Wood Harris opted to go bald for this futuristic action-crime
Just a few years after the release of "Next Day Air," Wood Harris joined the cast of the futuristic action crime "Dredd," where he played a villain known as Kay. For this film, the actor went for a cleaner look, shaving his mustache but retaining his beard. Harris also opted to go bald for the role.
"Dredd" tells the story of Joseph Dredd (Karl Urban), who teams up with a cop to take down a gang supplying reality-altering drugs. In the film, Harris' Kay is a footman for a criminal organization known as the Ma-Ma Clan (led by Ma-Ma, who is played by Lena Headey). While Harris may have played similar roles in the past, the actor had a unique take on his character's motivation in the movie. "The way I justify Kay is that I look at Dredd as a villain too because what he does is not necessarily right," he told Blackfilm. "The ability for him to be an executor, judge, jury, and a fully-armed cop makes him a police state."
Unfortunately, "Dredd" didn't do well at the box office, grossing just over $41 million worldwide against an estimated production budget of $45 million. Despite this, there are plans to do a follow-up film, which might see Urban return to the titular role. It's unclear if Harris would be involved.
Wood Harris grew his hair back for Ant-Man
After "Dredd," Wood Harris made his way to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with the comedy heist film "Ant-Man". The film marked Paul Rudd's first solo film with Marvel as it told the story of how his Paul Lang became a usually tiny but mighty superhero. As for Harris, he grew his hair and mustache back to play Gale, the detective who discovers that Scott is no longer in his prison cell after an Ant-Man suit was snuck into his cell.
While attending the film's premiere, Harris revealed to ScreenSlam that he was a Marvel fan, having grown up around Iron Man. And while Ant-Man was a relatively unknown character back then, the actor knew that Rudd's character would be as popular as Iron Man thanks to the movie. Meanwhile, Harris hasn't returned to Marvel since the first "Ant-Man" film — not even for the MCU's two follow-up "Ant-Man" movies. However, anything can happen as Ant-Man's story continues to play out in the MCU.
Wood Harris opted for a cleaner look in Creed
Wood Harris may not have been able to have an onscreen reunion with "The Wire" co-star Michael B. Jordan in the MCU, but soon enough, the two stars got to work on "Creed" together, the very same sports drama that sees the return of Sylvester Stallone in his iconic role as Rocky Balboa. In the movie, he agrees to mentor Jordan's Adonis Johnson, who happens to be the son of his former rival, Apollo Creed. Meanwhile, Harris, who went for a simple buzz cut but kept his Marvel beard and mustache, plays Tony 'Little Duke' Evers, the son of Tony 'Duke' Evers, played by the late Tony Burton in Stallone's "Rocky" movies. In the film, Little Duke already runs the gym that Apollo used to go to.
While Harris' character doesn't figure much in the first film, Tony plays a more prominent role in the follow-up "Creed II." The actor also later took on a more mature onscreen look when he returned a second time for "Creed III," which Jordan directed himself. Of working on a film helmed by his former "The Wire" co-star, Harris told GQ, "That's so bizarre, dog. But just watching it, I also realized that Michael is meant to do that."
Wood Harris maintained his mature look for his onscreen reunion with Ryan Gosling
After working on the first "Creed" film, Wood Harris also didn't need to change his look much for Denis Villeneuve's "Blade Runner 2049," which is a sequel to Ridley Scott's 1982 Oscar-nominated masterpiece, "Blade Runner." Onscreen, Harris appeared with a beard and mustache as he played Nandez, a police officer from the Los Angeles Police Department. Although his character doesn't figure heavily in the storyline, the actor got to share a few scenes with "Remember the Titans" co-star Ryan Gosling and his character, K.
On the other hand, Harris also has some scenes with Robin Wright's Lieutenant Joshi, but film producer Cynthia Yorkin revealed in her production diary to Collider that the two stars were never on set together. Instead, Harris ended up filming his part of the scenes by reacting to the ones that Wright had already shot. On the other hand, Harris and Gosling did their scene together in person. "He's such a good actor, it should be good," Yorkin even wrote of "The Wire" alum at that time. The movie went on to win two Oscars.
Wood Harris grew his hair a bit when he finally shared the screen with his brother
Years after both Wood and Steve Harris got their start in Hollywood, the two acting brothers finally got to share the small screen in 50 Cent's Starz series "BMF." Interestingly, the show is based on the true story of two brothers, Demetrius 'Big Meech' Flenory Sr. and Terry Lee 'Southwest Tee' Flenory, who grew up in Detroit in the 80s and ran a very successful drug operation. That said, the Harrises aren't the stars portraying the brothers here (Demetrius 'Lil Meech' Flenory, an actor who is also the son of Big Meech, plays his father on the show). Instead, Steve plays Detective Bryant, while Wood landed the recurring role of Pat, a drug supplier who decides to take the Flenory boys under his wing during their early years. Wood's character is supposed to be based on E.D. Boyd, known as the "godfather of Detroit."
Eventually, on the show, the brothers share a memorable scene when Detective Bryant and Pat have a heated exchange after Pat offers to put Bryant on the payroll, which leaves the detective offended. "I promised the Harris brothers a "Heat" scene, like [Robert] DeNiro and [Al] Pacino, and together, this is what we did," Randy Huggins later told TVLine. "They're OGs, and they've been doing this longer than me, and they hassled me, but when it was all cut together, I cried."
Wood Harris grew a full beard when he committed to portraying this NBA legend
Wood Harris continued to pursue projects based on real-life personalities. This time, the actor turned his focus toward the NBA as he grew a full beard to portray basketball legend Spencer Haywood in the HBO Original series "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty." Haywood had been a controversial figure in the sport over the years, having sued the NBA regarding his eligibility and having to deal with drug addiction while he was playing. On the show, Harris ended up appearing as Haywood onscreen for six episodes, making his final appearance when the Lakers voted Haywood out in the locker room due to his cocaine addiction.
And while other legendary Lakers figures such as Magic Johnson and Jerry West didn't agree with their onscreen portrayal, Haywood himself got emotional about how Harris presented him onscreen in the series. While speaking with The Seattle Times, the former basketball player also revealed that the show helped renew public interest in him. "People were like, 'I know you were crazy on that Lakers show, but let me look at your true story,'" Haywood explained. HBO decided to axe "Winning Time" after just two seasons. Meanwhile, a biopic about Haywood is also in the works, but Harris doesn't appear to be involved. Instead, the former NBA player is looking at Jay Ellis and Aldonis Hodge.
Wood Harris looked older when he played LeBron James' old coach in this basketball drama
After working on his HBO series, Wood Harris took on a more mature onscreen appearance as he played a basketball coach in the film "Shooting Stars," which focuses on the early days of NBA legend LeBron James. In the movie, Harris portrays Coach Dru Joyce II, who coached James while he was attending St. Vincent St. Mary High School. The actor also previously worked with James in the animated sequel "Space Jam: A New Legacy."
Having done several sports movies and television shows throughout his career, Harris could understand its appeal to the audience. "I think sports films and television projects are successful a lot of times because inherent in a sport is someone against someone, so there's already conflict. Your story already has built-in conflict," he told Collider. At the same time, Harris also explained that the role got him thinking about his son and how he coached him in the past, especially since Coach Joyce was also coaching his son, Dru Joyce III (portrayed by Caleb McLaughlin in the movie) at the same time that he had James on his team.