Who is Russell Hornsby?
Russell was born in San Francisco, California USA, on 15 May 1974 – his zodiac sign is Taurus, and he holds American nationality. He’s an actor with close to 60 credits to his name, probably known best for his portrayal of one of the lead characters Maverick ‘Mav’ Carter in the critically acclaimed 2018 crime movie “The Hate U Give”. It was directed by George Tillman Jr., also starred Amandla Stenberg and Regina Hall, and follows the life of Starr, who has just witnessed her best friend Khalil being murdered by a police officer; the movie won 22 of the 60 awards for which it was nominated.
Early life and education
Russell was raised in San Francisco alongside his brother Boston, by their father Kennedy and mother Dian; not a lot is known about Russell’s family, as he respects their privacy, but it’s believed that his father was a theatre actor, and his mother a nurse.
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Russell became interested in acting while attending St. Mary’s College High School in Berkeley, California; he was also into football, and was on his school’s team. His first role was in the school play “The Wiz”, after which he fell in love with acting, and went on to appear in nearly all school plays.
Upon matriculating in 1992, Russell enrolled at Boston University, graduating with a Bachelor’s degree in performance in 1996; he then studied acting at the British American Drama Academy.
Roles in TV series
Russell made his debut TV series appearance in the 1993 episode “Digestion” of the documentary “Bill Bye the Science Guy”, and his following role came in 1999, when cast to play Danny Ruiz in the episode “Marathon” of the mystery crime drama “Law & Order”.
Russell gained recognition in 2000, when he portrayed Dr. Aaron Boies in the drama “Gideon’s Crossing”, created by Paul Attanasio, and which starred Andre Braugher, Rhona Mitra and Ruben Blades. It follows the lives of Dr. Ben Gideon and his co-workers, and the series won three awards, including a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music, while it was nominated for eight other awards.
The year 2002 saw Russell appear in 11 episodes of the crime horror drama “Haunted”, after which in 2003, he played Leon Taylor in 11 episodes of the crime sports drama “Playmakers”.
Between 2007 and 2009, he starred as Eddie Sutton in the popular family drama “Lincoln Heights”, created by Seth Freeman, and which also starred Nicki Micheaux and Erica Hubbard.
It tells the story of a family who have moved to a crime-filled neighborhood, and the series won two of the 19 awards for which it was nominated.
Russell is also known for his portrayal of the lead character Hank Griffin, in the hit crime fantasy drama “Grimm”, created by Stephen Carpenter and David Greenwalt, and which also starred David Giuntoli and Silas Weir Mitchell. It follows a police detective who has just learned that he’s destined to fight supernatural forces; the series aired from 2011 to 2017 and won one of the 19 awards for which it was nominated.
Three of Russell’s most recent roles have been in a 2021 episode of the short mystery “Aftershock”, eight episodes of the 2021 biographical crime drama “BMF”, and five episodes of the 2021 family adventure drama “Lost in Space”; he’s currently shooting for the upcoming mini-series “Mike”.
Roles in movies
Russell made his debut film appearance in the 1998 romantic comedy “Woo”, and a couple of his following roles were in 2000, in the romantic comedy “Meet the Parents” and the drama “Train Ride”, and the 2002 family adventure comedy “Big Fat Liar”.
He gained recognition in 2004, when cast to play Jean-Paul in the popular action crime comedy “After the Sunset”, directed by Brett Ratner, and which starred Pierce Brosnan, Salma Hayek and Woody Harrelson. It follows a thief who’s planning to do his last theft before retirement, and an FBI agent who’s trying to catch him; the movie was nominated for a BET Award for Best Actor (Don Cheadle).
Some of Russell’s most notable performances in the rest of the decade were in the 2006 romantic comedy drama “Something New”, the 2007 crime comedy drama “Stuck”, and the 2008 short film “Dear Me”.
The year 2016 saw him play Lyons in the drama “Fences”, directed by Denzel Washington, who also starred in it alongside Viola Davis and Stephen McKinley Henderson; it follows an African-American man as he’s trying to raise his children in the ‘50s, and the movie won 60 awards, including an Oscar for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Viola Davis), while it was nominated for 121 other awards.
Three of Russell’s most recent roles in movies have been in the 2018 sports drama “Creed II”, the 2021 drama “R#J”, and the 2022 action thriller “Last Seen Alive”.
Other credits
Russell has been featured in a couple of documentary movies, including in 2010 “The Start of Dreams”, and in 2011 “Grimm: Grimm Makeup & VFX” and “Grimm: David Giuntoli Profile”.
He has made a guest appearance in a number of talk-shows, most recently in “Let’s Dive In”, “Today”, and “Sci-Fi Talk”.
Awards and nominations
Russell has won four of the 19 awards for which he has been nominated. In 2006, he won a BendFilm Festival Jury Prize for Best Lead Actor – Male, for his performance in the drama movie “Forgiven”. Russell won his other three awards in 2018: an African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (“The Hate U Give”), a Utah Film Critics Association Award for Best Supporting Actor (“The Hate U Give”) and a Black Reel Award for Television for Outstanding Supporting Actor, TV Movie/Limited Series (“Seven Seconds”).
Wife and children
Russell prefers to keep the details of his love life away from the media’s attention, but it’s still widely known that he’s today a married man.
He exchanged vows with non-celebrity American Denise Walker on 1 August 2008, in a small ceremony attended by only the closest of their friends and family members; Denise is an accounting consultant and artist, and some of her artwork can be seen featured in her Instagram pictures. Neither of the two has spoken about how and when they met, but it’s believed that they were introduced by a mutual friend at a café in 2001.
Russell hasn’t mentioned any other women whom he has perhaps been with, and as of June 2022, he’s married to Denise Walker, and they have two sons together: Walker Red and Ronen Lyons Hornsby.
Hobbies and other interests
Russell’s physically quite active, as it’s important for his acting career to stay in shape; he has several training sessions at the gym every week, thus his muscular body.
His acting career has taken him to more than 20 US states, while he’s also travelled overseas on a number of occasions for both work and pleasure; his dream travel destination is Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Russell seems to enjoy the attention which he’s receiving from his more than 60,000 Instagram followers, and has uploaded close to 100 pictures onto the network, the majority of which feature him during his everyday life.
He has his own favorite actors and actresses, some of whom are Al Pacino, Leonardo DiCaprio and Anne Hathaway, and his favorite films include “Scent of a Woman”, “Shutter Island” and “Catch Me If You Can”.
Age, height and net worth
Russell’s age is 48. He has short brown hair and brown eyes, his height is 6ft 1in (1.85m) and he weighs around 175lbs (80kgs).
As of June 2022, Russell’s net worth stands at an estimated $4 million.
