Mo McRae is an American actor, best known for his recurring role as Tyler in the FX series Sons of Anarchy as well as Leon Hayes in the 2006 film Gridiron Gang. He starred in Fox's Pitch.
Mo McRae | |
|---|---|
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 2001–present |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
Raised in South Los Angeles, McRae turned to acting for solace. After enrolling in a drama class at Washington Preparatory High School, McRae opted to forgo his spot on the basketball team when he landed the lead in the school play.
Career
editAfter high school, McRae pursued his new-found dream as an artist in the entertainment industry. After being signed by an agent, he quickly began to book national television spots for major corporations such as Visa, Nike and Reebok, among many others. These spots opened the doors to some early primetime guest appearances on shows such as NYPD Blue, Becker and Boston Public. Other television work soon followed with appearances on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, ER and The Shield.
In 2006, McRae was introduced to a much wider audience. He played one of the lead roles in the hit film Gridiron Gang opposite Dwayne Johnson, inhabiting the role of the troubled quarterback "Leon Hayes". The Neal H. Moritz–produced film grossed more than $40 million worldwide.
As McRae became more successful as an actor, he began to build an interest behind the camera. He produced and starred in The Fall which competed at the Cannes Film Festival in 2008. Additionally, he wrote a screenplay No Return with acclaimed movie and television writer Harry Winer. The film is currently set-up at Smash Media. He had a recurring major guest role in the FX drama Sons of Anarchy. In Season 2 of HBO's Big Little Lies he played second grade teacher Michael Perkins.
In 2010, McRae appeared in Carmen Madden's film Everyday Black Man.[1] Also that year, McRae recurred on the ABC drama Detroit 1-8-7 as Pooch[2] and also filmed a lead role in the indie film The Deadliest Lesson opposite Penelope Ann Miller and Yancey Arias.
McRae is the supervising producer of the 2022 CBS police procedural television series East New York.
In total, McRae has appeared in over 30 film and television projects over the past decade. He currently resides in Los Angeles.
Personal life
editMo McRae married Lex Scott Davis on July 21, 2019, after less than a year of being engaged. They had an "unplugged" wedding to ensure that all of their guests were "present in the moment" as they shared personalized vows. The couple met on the set of The First Purge. They have two children, born in 2020[3] and 2022.[4]
Filmography
editFilm
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | The Blue Diner | Vango | |
| 2003 | Thirteen | Rapper #2 | |
| Leprechaun: Back 2 tha Hood | Shirtless Homey | Video | |
| 2004 | Woman Thou Art Loosed | Scootie | |
| 2005 | Dirty | Tiptoes | |
| 2006 | Gridiron Gang | Leon Hayes | |
| 2008 | The Onion Movie | Second Bank Gunman | |
| The Deadliest Lesson | Jason Gretch | TV movie | |
| The Fall | David | Short | |
| 2009 | Dough Boys | Black | |
| Just Another Day | Robo | ||
| Operating Instructions | James "J-40" Manners | TV movie | |
| 2010 | Detention | Jason Gretch | |
| Everyday Black Man | Yousef | ||
| 2011 | CarJack | Charlie | Short |
| The Truth About Angels | Christopher Atwell | ||
| 2012 | Prodigy Bully | Donnie | TV movie |
| Acting Like Adults | Mike | ||
| 2013 | Kings and Beggars | Simon | Short |
| The Butler | Eldridge Huggins | ||
| 2014 | Wild | Jimmy Carter | |
| 2015 | November Rule | Steve | |
| 2016 | All the Way | Stokely Carmichael | TV movie |
| Destined | Tay/Dontay | ||
| Hustle vs. Heartache | Pharoah | ||
| 2017 | Aftermath | Saab | |
| 2018 | Den of Thieves | Gus Henderson | |
| The First Purge | 7 & 7 | ||
| 2019 | Adopt a Highway | Wilson | |
| Gully | Otis | ||
| American Skin | - | ||
| 2020 | The 24th | Walker | |
| 2022 | Rock a Bye Baby | Roshaun | Short |
| MVP | Will Phillips | ||
| 2024 | Red Right Hand | Deputy Duke Parks |
Television
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2002 | NYPD Blue | Larry | Episode: "Meat Me in the Park" |
| Boston Public | Kenny Hamilton | Episode: "Chapter Fifty" | |
| 2003 | Becker | Guy | Episode: "Once Upon a Time" |
| The District | Flick | Episode: "Back in the Saddle" | |
| Fastlane | P-Nut | Episode: "Overkill" | |
| I'm with Her | Neighbor #1 | Episode: "The Weekend Away" | |
| Cold Case | Burke Kelvin | Episode: "Look Again" | |
| 2004 | The Guardian | Kevin | Episode: "Blood In, Blood Out" |
| The Shield | Derwin | Episode: "Fire in the Hole" | |
| The Division | Capone | Episode: "Hail, Hail, the Gang's All Here" | |
| CSI: Crime Scene Investigation | Leo Plummer | Episode: "No Humans Involved" | |
| 2005 | ER | Kevin Hightower | Episode: "Alone in a Crowd" |
| Cold Case | Theodore "Cartier" Clausen | Episode: "Saving Patrick Bubley" | |
| 2008 | Chocolate News | Mo | Episode: "Episode #1.2" |
| 2010 | Southland | Sisqo | Episode: "The Runner" |
| Detroit 1-8-7 | Pooch | Recurring Cast | |
| The Defenders | Rapper | Episode: "Nevada v. Killa Diz" | |
| 2012 | CSI: NY | Willis Frazier | Episode: "Unwrapped" |
| 2012-14 | Sons of Anarchy | Tyler Yost | Guest: Season 5-6, Recurring Cast: Season 7 |
| 2013-14 | Ray Donovan | Deonte Frasier | Recurring Cast: Season 1-2 |
| 2014 | Survivor's Remorse | Marcus Pierce | Episode: "In the Offing" |
| 2015 | Battle Creek | Darnell | Episode: "Man's Best Friend" |
| Murder in the First | Anthony "Suger" Cascade | Recurring Cast: Season 2 | |
| 2015-18 | Empire | J Poppa | Recurring Cast: Season 2 & 4, Guest: Season 3 |
| 2016 | Pitch | Blip Sanders | Main cast |
| 2018 | This Is Us | Don Robinson | Episode: "Nine Bucks" & "Vietnam" |
| 2019 | Tales | Davis | Episode: "My Mind Playing Tricks On Me" |
| Big Little Lies | Michael Perkins | Recurring Cast: Season 2 | |
| 2019-20 | Almost Family | Tim Moore | Main Cast |
| 2020 | All Rise | Kurt Beto | Episode: "Dancing at Los Angeles" |
| 2021 | Rebel | Amir | Recurring Cast |
| 2022 | The Flight Attendant | Benjamin Berry | Main Cast: Season 2 |
References
edit- ^ Rotten Tomatoes - Everyday Black Man (2010), Cast
- ^ Oosting, Jonathan (10 December 2010). "Detroit 1-8-7 Star Mo McRae Apologizes for Soda Slip-up". Booth Newspapers. Retrieved 26 July 2012.
- ^ "Lex Scott Davis on Instagram: "Guys, my son is ONE today!"". Instagram. Retrieved 2022-01-27.
- ^ "Lex Scott Davis on Instagram: "She's here.🤍"". Instagram. Retrieved 2023-09-28.
- Baker, Ralph (June 2012) "Who is Mo McRae?" at Rags N Riches Magazine
- Madison, Linda (7 Nov 2010) "Exclusive! Mo McRae Returns to Detroit 1-8-7" at Hollywood Official[permanent dead link]
- Smash Media Brings Film Project to Michigan at Michigan Movie Magazine