Who is Damon Wayans Junior?
A writer, comedian, and actor with over 40 credits to his name, who rose to prominence after his role as Coach in the series “New Girl”, Damon Kyle Wayans Junior, was born under the zodiac sign of Scorpio on 18 November 1982, in his grandmother’s house in Huntington, Vermont USA; he holds American nationality and belongs to a family of African-American ethnicity. Besides the mentioned role, he is perhaps known best for his roles in movies such as “The Other Guys” and “Let’s Be Cops”, among others.
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Early life, family, and education
Damon was raised in Los Angeles, California, by his parents Lisa Thorner and Damon Wayans – his father is a famous director, producer, comedian and actor, one of the ten members of the multi-talented Wayans family. Works created by them include movies such as “White Chicks”, the “Scary Movie” film series, “Little Man”, and television series’ such as “My Wife and Kids”.
Damon Jr. has three siblings, Kyla, Cara Mia and Michael, who are also all in the movie industry.
Speaking of Damon’s early days, being raised in a family of actors led to his wish to become one of them; from an early age, he liked comedy, and in one of his interviews, he said: ‘I was always the class clown, and got kicked out of class at least once a day for just being a goofball.’
He attended a local high school, and upon matriculating in 2000, he enrolled at the Otis College for Art and Design, from which he graduated with a BA degree in 2004, and then studied acting at the New York Film Academy.
Roles in movies
It is less known that Damon made his acting debut at the age of 11, in his father’s 1994 movie “Blank Man”, but then completed his education before his next appearance as Nizzle in the 2008, TV movie “Da Network”, followed by his role as Thomas in “Dance Flick”, one of the Wayans family movies released in 2009.
In the following year, he was heard as Thunder in the family movie “Marmaduke” before his role as Fosse in “The Other Guys”, alongside Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell and Derek Jeter in this action crime comedy, which had 15 award nominations and won three.
In 2014, Damon was cast to play Desmond in the comedy “Someone Marry Barry”, before his role as Justin in “Let’s Be Cops”, an action comedy also starring Rob Riggle and Jake Johnson. He was then heard as the voice of the Wasabi in the animated action adventure “Big Hero 6”, which won the Oscar for Best Animated Feature Film of the Year, and Damon and the rest of the crew won the Behind the Voice Actors Award for Best Vocal Ensemble in a Feature Film, while he was nominated for the Black Reel Award Outstanding Voice Performance.
Two years later, Damon portrayed David in “How to Be Single”, followed by his role in the 2018 movie “Super Troopers 2”, and the same year, he was seen as Doug in the TV movie “Singularity”.
Damon was next heard as Gizmo, in the 2019 animated comedy “Trouble”, and was then seen starring as Nick Evans in “Love, Guaranteed” in 2020. The following year, Damon was really occupied, appearing in “Barb and Star Go to Vista Del Mar”, “Cherry”, “Long Weekend”, “Supercool”, and “The Harder They Fall”, which was his most recent movie role.
Roles in series
Damon made his first television appearance in 2001, portraying John in the series “My Wife and Kids”, followed by his role in “The Underground” in 2006, before he guest-starred in two episodes of the series “Happy Endings: Happy Rides” in 2012.
From 2011 until 2018, he had the recurring role as a Coach in “New Girl”, and another recurring role as Brad Williams in “Happy Endings” from 2011 until 2020. Concurrently, he was seen as Detective Stevie Schillens in “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” in 2016, and as a Cop in “Curb Your Enthusiasm” in 2017.
His role in “Happy Endings” brought him nominations in 2012 for the Teen Choice Award Choice TV: Male Scene Stealer, the Critics Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, and the Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. In 2013, he was nominated for the Image Award for Outstanding Actor in a Comedy Series, and the International Online Cinema Award – Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.
In the 2018 TV mini-series “The Truth About Harry Quebert Affair”, Damon was seen as Perry Gahalowood, and then he was cast to play Jake in “Happy Together”, followed by guest roles in “Sherman’s Showcase”, “The Twilight Zone” and “Hoops”, all in 2020, while he was heard as Arnold in the animated series “Bob’s Burgers”.
Damon’s most recent television role was in 2021, portraying Sateen in “Kenan”,.
Love life and relationships
Although there have been various rumors concerning both Damon’s love life and his sexual orientation, some of them were true. He was romantically linked to various models and actresses, and the truth is that back in 2005, he dated reality TV star Aja Metoyer, and they have two daughters together, namely Amara and Aniya.
However, they eventually broke up, and she started dating Dwyane Wade, a former professional basketball player, who at that time was ‘on a break’ from Gabrielle Union, and when in 2013 it was announced that Aja gave birth to a baby boy whose father is Dwyane, Damon stated:
‘I really have nothing to do with Aja’s situation. We both live completely separate lives, aside from co-parenting.’
In 2016, Damon married his now-wife, Samara Saraiva, with whom he has one son, Maverick, and two daughters Lua and Berlyn. Samara is an American actress, who is quite secretive when it comes to her personal matters, thus even her birthday is still unknown to the public.
In 2018, Damon filed documents asking a judge for full custody of his daughters with Aja – one of the reasons was the suspicion that Aja was spending the child support money on drugs, and as he said, the girls are ‘suffering scholastically’, being absent from classes.
As of April 2022, Damon is still in a marriage with Samara, and the custody trial is still in process.
Age, height, and net worth
Damon’s age is 39, with black hair and brown eyes; he weighs around 180lbs (82kgs) and is 6ft 1in (1.85m) tall.
During his acting career, but also his work as a writer and producer, Damon has gained a decent fortune, so as of early 2022, his net worth has been estimated at over $10 million.
