User:UWS246/sandbox

= Brian Michael = Brian Michael (Smith) (Born January 29, 1983) is an American actor known for his recurring role OWN's Queen Sugar as well as appearances on NBC's Chicago P.D., HBO's Girls and Showtime thriller Homeland.

Early Life
Brian Michael Smith was born and raised in Ann Arbor, MI. He was raised by his mother, Ingrid Smith, an event planner and Ford Motor Company employee, with the support of his close-knit family. He and his mother spent his early years living with aunts, cousins and adopted brother.

Although assigned-female at birth, he self-identified and was perceived as male throughout his childhood. He challenged pressures to conform to his assigned role through performance and athletics.

While attending Ann Arbor Pioneer High School he played Defensive End and Fullback on the Boys Football team during the Fall and set records in throws and pole vaulting on the Girls Track & Field team in the Spring.

On September 17, 1999 during a game at Traverse City, became the First Female* Athlete to score a Varsity touchdown  in the State of Michigan.

Career
He studied acting and video production at Kent State University. Upon graduation he began teaching drama and media literacy to teens until moving to New York City to pursue his career in acting.

His professional career began training under Terry Knickerbocker at the William Esper Studio in 2011. While studying he earned featured roles on a few TV shows and a Toyota Commercial opposite Eli Manning.

He has also explored the stage, performing stand-up, sketch & improv as a member of numerous troupes including Gotham City Improv; as well as off-Broadway and regional performances in a handful of plays including, Women Are Crazy Because Men Are A**Holes and Mitch Albom's Duck Hunter Shoots Angel.

In 2015, he earned his first speaking credit in Season 4 of HBO's Girls opposite Jemima Kirke and Adam Driver. This followed with similar roles on TV shows including Blue Bloods, Person of Interest, and Law & Order: SVU.

Filmography
Queen Sugar

In 2017, Michael booked the role of Officer Antoine "Toine" Wilkins, on OWN's Queen Sugar. A drama executive produced by Ava Duvernay and Oprah Winfrey and set in Louisiana, which chronicles the lives and loves of the estranged Bordelon siblings. The show is based on the novel, Queen Sugar by Natalie Baszile.

In "Caroling Dusk," the fifth episode of season two, Ralph Angel Bordelon has a run-in with police while he's digging through a dumpster in search of his son's doll that has been thrown away. One of the police officers who confronts him is Toine, Ralph's old friend from high school. Toine also happens to be a Transgender man.

The role was one of Michael's first opportunities to play a transgender character and explore his experiences in his TV work. "'Toine and Ralph's relationship is much more reflective of the experiences I've had with long-time friends and I hadn't seen that on screen yet. I was excited at the thought of sharing this with people who may not know that they know trans people in their personal life.' -Brian Michael, GLAAD"In 2018, Ava Duvernay won an Excellence in Media Award for her advocacy for inclusion of LGBT people in front and and behind the camera on her projects particularly for the creation Michael's character and casting a Trans actor fro the role.

Advocacy


Upon graduating from Kent State, Michael returned to Michigan and began teaching and mentoring youth through filmmaking through the Gear Up Program at the University of Michigan.

In New York, he continued his media literacy and mentoring programs with Wingspan Arts, Maysles Documentary Center and the Tribeca Film Institute's Tribeca Teaches Program. He discovered the importance of community and visibility while he worked with LGBT youth at the Manhattan LGBT Center

"I worked with young people and I just saw how important it was for young LGBT people, no matter where they were in their experience, to see what is down the road for them. - Brian Michael, NBC News

Since Queen Sugar, Michael has used his visibility and platforms to advocate for better Trans representation in TV & Film and to encourage LGBTQ youth to create their own media.

In February 2018, he was a special guest and panelist at the University of Michigan 4th Annual Trotter House Lecture Series, My Life, My Story! Centering the Lives of Trans Voices event alongside Janet Mock and Amiyah Scott.

He was the Keynote speaker at the Reel Out Charlotte Film Festival 10th Anniversary Celebration in May 2018.

During NYC Pride, he participated in the GLAAD Game Changers Panel in 2018 with Jaime Clayton and Amiyah Scott to discuss the changing landscape of Transgender representation in Television.

In addition to public speaking, he continues to advocate through his art and to support trans narratives in TV and Film by participating in such as Emmett Jack Lundberg's Series Brothers and his own upcoming short film Tell By Date.