Harold Perrineau, Jr. Movies
An accomplished young actor who has graced the stage, screen, and television, Harold Perrineau Jr. has earned a well-deserved reputation as a performer willing to take on just about anything, with roles ranging from drag queens to hardened criminals. A native of Brooklyn, Perrineau studied music and theatre at the Shenandoah Conservatory, but began his career as a dancer with the Alvin... (read more) Ailey Company, performing with the troupe for a year and a half. A gradual shift to acting led Perrineau to the theatre, where he acted in a number of shows including Dreamgirls, the critically acclaimed Avenue X, and the off-Broadway revival of Godspell.
While he was working on the stage, Perrineau also began appearing on TV in such shows as The Cosby Show, The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd, I'll Fly Away, and Law & Order. He segued onto the big screen in the late '80s, but had his first memorable role as Rashid Cole, a young man searching for his long-absent father (Forest Whitaker) in Smoke, an acclaimed 1995 drama directed by Wayne Wang and based upon the writings of Paul Auster. The following year he gained further exposure for his flamboyant, explosive portrayal of Mercutio in Baz Luhrmann's William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet. At one point outfitted in a glitter miniskirt and platform heels, Perrineau proved a worthy, if idiosyncratic, foil for Leonardo Di Caprio's Romeo and gave a performance that marked him as one of the more distinctive Mercutios in the play's history.
Perrineau subsequently appeared in a number of supporting roles in films ranging from Auster's Lulu on the Bridge (1998) to The Best Man (1999), a celebrated romantic comedy directed by Malcolm D. Lee (cousin of Spike Lee) that saw Perrineau share the screen with other members of a group widely billed as a new generation of African-American actors, including Taye Diggs, Morris Chestnut, and Nia Long. In addition to appearances in various independent films, Perrineau starred in Woman on Top (2000), a comedy that cast him as the drag queen best friend of a young woman (Penelope Cruz) experiencing romantic woes.
In 1997, Perrineau made the move to the small screen, assuming the role of paraplegic convict and narrator Augustus Hill on the acclaimed HBO series Oz. The brutally violent, hard-hitting series generated Perrineau thousands of fans, and he stayed with the show until 2003 - the same year he took up the role of Link in The Matrix Reloaded, the second film in the explosive Matrix franchise. He would reprise the role the next year for the third and final installment in the series, The Matrix Revolutions, before returning to television just months later for the role of Michael on the cryptic ABC sci-fi/mystery/drama Lost. Playing a conflicted and sometimes morally ambiguous character, Perrineau soon proved to be a vital member of the cast, taking a hiatus from the series in 2007 only to return in 2008.
Despite becoming a pivotal component of primetime TV, the actor remained as active in movies as ever. He took on the role of Flynn in the 2007 horror sequel 28 Weeks Later, and starred alongside Michael Madsen in the 2008 thriller The Killing Jar. After Lost ended in 2010, Perrineau continued to alternate between TV and film, playing the villain in season 5 of Sons of Anarchy and a decidedly lighter role as the bass player in a wedding band in the short-lived TBS comedy Wedding Band. He also played a supporting role in the controversial Oscar-nominated film Zero Dark Thirty (2012). ~ Rebecca Flint Marx, Rovi
Inferno
2012
The story of '70s porn star-turned-feminist Linda Lovelace is chronicled in this Muse Productions picture. Watchmen's Malin Akerman picked up the starring role...
Seeking Justice
R 2011
A beloved high-school teacher empowers a group of vigilantes to exact revenge against the criminal who attacked his wife, but he begins to regret his decision when the clandestine...
Lost: Season 06
2010
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The Killing Jar
R 2010
A dangerous psycho meets his match when he takes over an isolated roadside diner, and begins methodically dispatching the staff and patrons. Michael Madsen, Danny Trejo, and...
The Unusuals [TV Series]
2009
Grounded drama and comic insanity merge in this detective show set in New York City, where every day on the beat could be your last. Overloaded with bullets and bodies after...
Gardens of the Night
R 2008
Abducted by two men and forced into child prostitution when she was just eight years old, a homeless San Diego street teen is finally reunited with her family only to find that...
Lost: Season 04
2008
After Oceanic Air flight 815 tore apart in mid-air and crashed on a Pacific island, it s survivors were forced to find inner strength they never knew they had in order to survive....
Felon
R 2008
A loving husband and father finds his promising future transformed into a waking nightmare when he's convicted of involuntary manslaughter after accidentally killing the burglar...
Your Name Here
2008
A thinly veiled, unsanctioned biopic of author Phillip K. Dick, first-time writer/director inventive feature debut follows the story of acclaimed science fiction author...
28 Weeks Later
R 2007
The devastating rage virus that annihilated the British Isles mysteriously resurfaces in Goya Award-winning director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo's sequel to the Danny...
Lost: Season 02
2005
4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42. Push the button and prepare to be blown away by the groundbreaking television event USA Today calls "TV's best series." The multiple Emmy Award-winning drama...
Lost: Season 01
2004
A passenger jet breaks apart in mid-air, crash-landing on a tropical island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Left without the creature comforts and basic necessities of...
Oz: Season 06
2003
Although Oz's longtime narrator, wheelchair-bound prison inmate Augustus Hill (Harold Perrineau Jr.), was killed at the end of the series' fifth season, he is still...
The Matrix Revolutions
R 2003
Shot back-to-back with The Matrix Reloaded, the third and final installment of Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski's sci-fi action saga picks up where the second...
The Matrix Reloaded
R 2003
After creating an international sensation with the visually dazzling and intellectually challenging sci-fi blockbuster The Matrix, the Wachowski brothers returned with...
Oz: Season 05
2002
Previously fired from his job as manager of "Emerald City," the experimental unit set up at Oswald Correctional Facility, Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) has been reinstated by...
On_Line
2001
Jed Weintrob directed this look at how Internet sex sites bring people together, while simultaneously keeping them apart. John Roth (Josh Hamilton) and his friend {%Moe...
Woman on Top
R 2000
Love, sex, and food combine in this sensuous romantic comedy. Isabella (Penelope Cruz) is a master chef who suffers from severe motion sickness, requiring her to be in control...
Oz: Season 04
2000
As season four of Oz begins, the experimental unit at Oswald State Correctional Facility known as "Emerald City" is not living up to manager Tim McManus' (Terry Kinney)...
Oz: Season 03
1999
Idealistic, "New Age" unit manager Tim McManus (Terry Kinney) persists in trying to mold "Emerald City" (aka Cell Block 5 of Oswald State Correctional Facility -- formerly...