Demetrius Grosse (born February 26, 1981) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles as Rock in the film Straight Outta Compton, Emmett Yawners in the Cinemax television series Banshee, Errol in the FX television series Justified, and Baron Samedi in NBC's Heroes.
He joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Eric Williams in the Disney+ series Wonder Man.
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Early life
Born in Washington, D.C., Grosse began performing in stage productions as a child at the Summer Musical Theater Workshop, developing a repertoire as an actor, singer, and dancer. Early in his career, Grosse cut hair at Legends, a well-known Los Angeles barber shop. After graduating from Washington's Gonzaga College High School, Grosse attended the Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama, where he received the prestigious Andrew Carnegie Undergraduate Grant for artistic merit. In 2002, Grosse completed a visiting student program in which he completed two semesters of intensive study at the Howard University College of Fine Arts in his home city of Washington DC.
Career
Grosse appeared in the HBO series Westworld based on the 1973 film of the same name. He also appeared in Michael Bay's feature film 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi (2016). Grosse is known for taking on many characters from various backgrounds and from all different genres. He made his acting debut in Numbers (2005) and is well known for his roles in Straight Outta Compton (2015), Saving Mr. Banks (2013), This Is Martin Bonner (2013), and Banshee (2013). His other television credits include Justified, Criminal Minds, ER, NCIS, Heroes, Bones, Dexter, CSI: Miami, and Frontier. Grosse also made appearances in The Inheritance (2011) and Hollywood (2011). Grosse has credits for producing Last Cry for Katrina (2013), Moonshiners, and A Quiet Fire (2009).
Banshee
On Banshee, Grosse portrayed series regular character Deputy Emmett Yawners for the first two seasons.
Justified
On Justified, Grosse portrayed recurring character Errol Butler who is Ellstin Limehouse's right-hand man in Noble's Holler.
Heroes
On Heroes, Grosse portrayed recurring character Baron Samedi.
The Rookie
On The Rookie, Grosse portrayed Detective Kevin Wolfe, a recurring guest character.
Allegations and investigation
In 2019, The Rookie became the subject of public controversy when actress Afton Williamson, a series regular during its first season, alleged that she had experienced racial discrimination and sexual harassment while working on the show. Among her claims, Williamson accused guest star Demetrius Grosse of harassment and another crew member of sexual assault during a wrap party.
Williamson claimed that she had gone to the showrunners multiple times with these allegations, but was ignored.
All involved in the allegations denied them. An investigation was commissioned through the law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp along with a third-party firm, EXTTI, which conducted nearly 400 hours of interviews and examined video and other evidence. The results of the investigation were published on September 17, 2019, which found that the allegations made by Williamson had no merit, and could not be proven. Williamson stood by her claims, calling the results of the investigation "heartbreaking" and postulated that the producers had lied to cover up the truth of what happened.
Grosse has not appeared on The Rookie since.
