Jesse Williams

Director/Producer/Actor/Activist Jesse Williams began his career teaching in low-income Philadelphia public schools. Hailing from a family of visual artists and builders, Williams has been using his creative voice to make a global impact in the streets, on stage and our screens for nearly two decades. He wields a particular strength and aptitude while rendering the specificities of the human experience accessible and riveting without compromising integrity. His ability to weave a very personal mission into a wide variety of creative, compelling endeavors continues to position him as a way finder for his contemporaries and audiences alike.  For his courage, commitment and leadership Williams was famously awarded the BET Humanitarian Award.

As an actor, Williams appeared on 11 seasons of the Emmy-winning Grey’s Anatomy in his award winning role as Dr. Jackson Avery. Mr. Williams was recently nominated for a Tony Award in his Broadway debut as Darren Lemming in the Tony winning play Take Me Out, about a pro-baseball player’s experience coming out as gay. Other recent work includes Paramount and Jerry Bruckheimer’s Secret Headquarters with Owen Wilson, Netflix’s Your Place Or Mine with Reese Witherspoon and Hulu’s Only Murders In The Building alongside Meryl Streep, Martin Short, Steve Martin, Paul Rudd and Selena Gomez.

On the directing front, Williams has utilized years of experience in front of the camera to helm episodes of Grey’s Anatomy and Rebel with Andy Garcia. Williams produced the 2022 Academy Award winning short-film Two Distant Strangers after co-producing and starring in the EPIX limited series America Divided with fellow producer Norman Lear. Other works include Question Bridge: Black Males, the internationally renowned 5-channel transmedia art installation he produced in collaboration with artist Hank Willis Thomas, now on view as part of the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture’s permanent collection. Jesse also produced the award winning documentary With Drawn Arms about ‘68 Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith, Survivors Guide to Prison and Stay Woke: The Black Lives Matter Movement. An “actors’ director,” Williams’ choices have consistently proven themselves to be innovative explorations of the human condition: creatively utilizing camera, conceptualizations and performance to push the boundaries of storytelling, cracking limitations on black identity in the process.