Neil Brown Jr. is most well known for his starring role as DJ Yella in the 2015 N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton, and is currently starring in the CBS drama Seal Team as Ray Perry.
He’s also loved by horror genre fans for his brief but memorable turn on AMC’s The Walking Dead as Guillermo, leader of the Vatos. Originally, his role wasn’t a vital one, just another extra. As time went on, series creator Frank Darabont and comic creator Robert Kirkman expanded Brown’s role, turning him into a tough, yet kind custodian caring for a group of abandoned elderly people.
Brown spent his youth training in martial arts. Overall, he’s spent twenty-six years training in martial arts and boxing. Because of this, he appeared in the martial arts TV series WMAC Masters in 1995.
In 2000, Brown had a role in Tigerland, opposite Colin Farrell. His boxing skills were used again in the series Resurrection Blvd. in 2002. He appeared with Denzel Washington in Out of Time (2003). Brown landed supporting roles in Mr. 3000, four episodes of UPN’s South Beach as Felix, Everybody Hates Chris, Army Wives, and Fast & Furious (2009).
Brown went on to play smart-mouthed marine, Lcpl. Richard “Motown” Guerrero, alongside Aaron Eckhart, Fast & Furious cast mate Michelle Rodriguez, Bridget Monyhan, and a large ensemble cast in Battle: Los Angeles (2011). He has also had guest appearances on Harry’s Law, Castle, Weeds, USA’s Suits, the new independent sketch comedy King Bachelor’s Pad, CSI: Cyber, CBS’s hit dramas NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles, and HBO’s Insecure.
Most recently he appeared in the films San Patricios, Rivers 9, Bayou Tales, Bad Blood, Pope, and stars alongside Henry Cavill, Glen Powell, Nicholas Hoult, and Logan Marshall Green in the war film Sand Castle, as well as in Insecure, Dirk Gently, and LAbyrinth opposite Johnny Depp.
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