Merrick McCartha is an American actor who appeared on television shows such as '' All American'' (2020–2021)'',

Countdown A countdown is a sequence of backward counting to indicate the time remaining before an event is scheduled to occur. NASA commonly employs the terms "L-minus" and "T-minus" during the preparation for and anticipation of a rocket launch, and eve ...

'' (2025), ''

Criminal Minds ''Criminal Minds'' is an American police procedural crime drama television series created by Jeff Davis that premiered on CBS on September 22, 2005. It follows a group of criminal profilers who work for the FBI as members of its Behavioral ...

'' (2012–2015), ''Rebel'' (2017) and ''

Unstable In dynamical systems instability means that some of the outputs or internal state (controls), states increase with time, without bounds. Not all systems that are not Stability theory, stable are unstable; systems can also be marginal stability ...

'' (2023). His film credits include '' Failure!'' (2023), '' Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea'' (2023), '' If You Should Leave Before Me'' (2025), and '' The Playground'' (2017).

Personal life

McCartha grew up in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ) is the List of municipalities in Michigan, most populous city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated on the bank of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario. It had a population of 639,111 at the 2020 United State ...

. He discovered he had a knack for performance in elementary school but his parents, who were police officers, did not want him to take on acting as a career. In 1990, McCartha was a student and part-time waiter when he helped judge a meatloaf cook-off. He attended

Cass Technical High School Cass Technical High School (simply referred to as Cass Tech) is a four-year Public magnet high school in Midtown Detroit, Michigan, United States. from the University Cultural Center Association, retrieved June 9, 1001 It was established in 19 ...

and pursued an engineering career after college. He later took acting classes and signed with an agency in

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Career

In 2011, McCartha was runner-up in a

Backstage Backstage may refer to: * Backstage (theatre), the areas of a theatre that are not part of the house or stage Film and television * ''Back Stage'' (1917 film), a silent film starring Oliver Hardy * ''Back Stage'' (1919 film), a silent film starri ...

actors pitch contest that received over 100 submissions. In 2017, he was cast in the San Diego International Fringe Festival and portrayed Deacon Avery Silver in ''

Rebel A rebel is a participant in a rebellion. Rebel or rebels may also refer to: People * Rebel (given name) * Rebel (surname) * Patriot (American Revolution), during the American Revolution * American Southerners, as a form of self-identification; ...

'' by producer

John Singleton John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for ...

for the BET Network. McCartha was cast in the film ''Anatomy of an Antihero: Redemption'' in 2018 and as Robert Hicks in ''All American'' in 2021. In 2023, he became eligible for an

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

for his role in '' House of Payne'', co-starred with

Ted Raimi Theodore Raimi (born December 14, 1965) is an American character actor, director and writer. He is known for his roles in the works of his brother Sam Raimi, including a fake Shemp in ''The Evil Dead'', possessed Henrietta in ''Evil Dead II'', ...

in Alex Kahuam's crime comedy film '' Failure!'' which premiered at FrightFest, and appeared in

Tony Olmos Tony Olmos is a Mexican-American filmmaker and musician who is the creator of the films Continuance (film), ''Continuance'' (2021) and ''South of 8'' (2016), and directed ''Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea'' (2023), ''Fletcher and Jenks'' ...

' microbudget horror satire film '' Hemet, or the Landlady Don't Drink Tea''. In 2025, McCartha was cast as the recurring character District Attorney Grayson Valwell in the television show ''Countdown'', and co-starred in the Andersons' debut film '' If You Should Leave Before Me'', which premiered at

Raindance Film Festival Raindance is an independent film festival and film school that operates in major cities including London, Los Angeles, New York, Vancouver, Toronto, Montreal, Budapest, Berlin, and Brussels. The festival was established in 1992 by Elliot Grove ...

Filmography

Accolades

References

External links

Merrick McCartha
at

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Merrick McCartha
at

Moviefone Moviefone is an American-based moving pictures listing and information service. Moviegoers can obtain local showtimes, cinema information, film reviews, and advance tickets, as well as TV content and a comprehensive search tool that allows users ...

Celeb Magazine Interview

The BLK Script Interview

Voyage LA Interview

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCartha, Merrick Living people 21st-century American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Detroit Male actors from Los Angeles Male actors from San Diego Cass Technical High School alumni University of Michigan alumni University of California, San Diego alumni Year of birth missing (living people)