Kendrick Sampson (born March 8, 1988) is an American actor and activist, best known for his appearances on ''

The Vampire Diaries ''The Vampire Diaries'' is an American supernatural fiction, supernatural teen drama television series developed by Kevin Williamson (screenwriter), Kevin Williamson and Julie Plec, based on the The Vampire Diaries (novel series), book series ...

'', ''

Gracepoint ''Gracepoint'' is an American crime drama television series created by Chris Chibnall. It is a remake of Chibnall's series, ''Broadchurch'', and stars that series' lead, David Tennant, along with Anna Gunn, as two detectives investigating the mu ...

'', ''

How to Get Away with Murder ''How to Get Away with Murder'' is an American legal drama thriller television series that premiered on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) on September 25, 2014, and concluded on May 14, 2020. The series was created by Peter Nowalk and pro ...

'', ''

The Flash The Flash is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Gardner Fox and artist Harry Lampert, the original Flash first appeared in ''Flash Comics'' #1 (cover date, cover-dated Jan ...

,'' and HBO's ''

Insecure Insecure may refer to: * Lack of security, in an objective sense: ** Risk ** Data security ** Computer security * Food insecurity * Insecurity (emotion), lack of confidence or self esteem Media * ''Insecure'' (TV series), a television series on ...

''.

Early life

Sampson was born and raised in

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, the son of Daphne Smith Sampson and Hoyle Sampson Sr. He is biracial. As a child, Sampson was enrolled in music lessons. Sampson expressed an interest in acting at 10 after he saw a Gap commercial. After finding an agent, Sampson was referred to the Kim Terry Studio in Texas. He began performing in theater productions while attending Elkins High School. Sampson is a devout

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

Career

In 2008, Sampson appeared in two episodes of the

ABC Family American cable television, cable and satellite television network Freeform (TV channel), Freeform was originally launched as the CBN Satellite Service on April 29, 1977, and has gone through four different owners and six different name changes dur ...

series ''

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

'' and followed that up with an episode of '' CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'' in 2010. In July 2013, Sampson booked the recurring role of Jesse in the fifth season of

The CW The CW Network, LLC (commonly referred to as The CW or simply CW) is an American commercial broadcast television network which is controlled by Nexstar Media Group through a 75% ownership interest. The network's name is derived from the firs ...

series ''

''. In January 2014, Sampson was cast in the role of Dean Iverson in the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

miniseries ''

''. In November 2014, Sampson starred in the music video for

Hayley Kiyoko Hayley Kiyoko Alcroft (born April 3, 1991) is an American singer-songwriter, actress, and author. As a child model and actress, she appeared in a variety of films, including '' Lemonade Mouth'' (2011), '' Jem and the Holograms'' (2015), '' Insidi ...

's song "This Side of Paradise." In early 2015, Sampson shot the pilot for a potential ABC series called ''The Kingmakers'' but the series wasn't picked up. In July 2015, Sampson booked the recurring role of Caleb Hapstall in the second season of

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Broadcasting * Aliw Broadcasting Corporation, Philippine broadcast company * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial American ...

's prime time legal drama ''

'', produced by

Shonda Rhimes Shonda Lynn Rhimes (born January 13, 1970) is an American television producer and screenwriter, and founder of the production company Shondaland. Inducted into the Television Hall of Fame and NAB Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Rhimes became known ...

. From 2018–2021, Sampson had a recurring role as Nathan Campbell on

Issa Rae Jo-Issa Rae Diop (born January 12, 1985), known professionally as Issa Rae, is an American actress, writer, and producer. She achieved recognition as the co-creator, co-writer, and star of the HBO comedy series '' Insecure'' (2016–2021), for ...

's ''

''. Sampson has also started his own production company called Sampson Studios.

Activism

In May 2019, Sampson founded the organization BLD PWR for new development, empowerment and change within marginalized groups and American society. Following the

murder of George Floyd On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, a 46-year-old Black American man, was murdered in Minneapolis by Derek Chauvin, a 44-year-old White police officer. Floyd had been arrested after a store clerk reported that he made a purchase using a c ...

, Sampson actively participated in and organized

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (BLM) is a Decentralization, decentralized political and social movement that aims to highlight racism, discrimination and Racial inequality in the United States, racial inequality experienced by black people, and to pro ...

protests in Los Angeles. During the protests, Sampson reported that police officers shot rubber bullets at him and assaulted him. Sampson called for a one-day strike in Hollywood over the Shooting of Jacob Blake. In 2020, Sampson collaborated with JusticeLA to create a public service announcement #SuingToSaveLives about the health of people in Los Angeles County Jails amid the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sampson, Kendrick Living people American male television actors American male film actors Male actors from Houston 21st-century African-American male actors 21st-century American male actors 1988 births 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people