Rayan Lawrence is an American actor and producer. His most well-known roles include his roles as K-9 on '' BMF'', Neil on '' Magnum P.I.'', Juju on '' Whatever It Takes'', and Elliot in '' Underground''.

Biography

Lawrence was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. Initially wanting to become an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic Intelligence agency, intelligence and Security agency, security service of the United States and Federal law enforcement in the United States, its principal federal law enforcement ag ...

agent, he graduated with a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, with a minor in theater, from

John Jay College of Criminal Justice The John Jay College of Criminal Justice (John Jay) is a public college focused on criminal justice and located in New York City. It is a senior college of the City University of New York (CUNY). John Jay was founded as the only liberal arts col ...

in 2005. During his time in college, he played basketball and participated in theater. Lawrence first began his career in acting by auditioning for a role for an

ESPN ESPN (an initialism of their original name, which was the Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by the Walt Disney Company (80% and operational control) and Hearst Commu ...

commercial after participating in a promotional shoot at

Kings Plaza Kings Plaza (officially the Kings Plaza Shopping Center) is a shopping center within the Mill Basin section of Brooklyn in New York City, New York, United States. Opened in September 1970, it is located at the southeast corner of Flatbush Ave ...

. This was later followed by a role on ''

All My Children ''All My Children'' (often shortened to ''AMC'') is an American television soap opera that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC from January 5, 1970, to September 23, 2011, and on The Online Network (TOLN) from April 29 to September 2, 2 ...

''. At the start of his career, he had worked both as an actor and a model. His influences in acting include

Denzel Washington Denzel Hayes Washington Jr. (born December 28, 1954) is an American actor, producer, and director. Known for his dramatic roles Denzel Washington on screen and stage, on stage and screen, Washington has received List of awards and nominations ...

, who he referred to as his "idol". He would go on to play in various television shows and movies, including as Elliot in the 2016-2017 show ''Underground''. He would also portray the rapper

Treach Anthony Shawn Criss (born December 2, 1970), better known by his stage name Treach, is an American rapper and actor. He is perhaps best known as the lead rapper of the hip hop group Naughty by Nature. Early life, family and education Criss atte ...

in the 2017 bio-pic '' All Eyez on Me'', during which he received rhymes from the real-life Treach for Lawrence's freestyles in the movie. He also played K-9 in the

Starz Starz (stylized in all caps as STARZ; pronounced "stars") is an American pay television network owned by Starz Entertainment, and is the flagship property of Starz Inc. Launched in 1994 as a multiplex service of what is now Starz Encore, ...

show ''BMF'', where he met the family of the person his character is based on.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lawrence, Rayan Living people Male actors from Brooklyn 20th-century African-American male actors 21st-century African-American male actors John Jay College of Criminal Justice alumni