David Harewood

David Michael Harewood, OBE (born 8 December 1965) is an English actor and presenter who has served as president of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art since February 2024. He is known for his television roles as David Estes in Homeland (2011–2012), J'onn J'onzz / Martian Manhunter and Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman in Supergirl (2015–2021). He has also appeared in films such as Blood Diamond, The Merchant of Venice, and Strings, whilst his video game roles include Usef Omar in Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare (2016) and Warlin Door in Alan Wake II (2023).

David Michael Harewood was born in the Small Heath area of Birmingham on 8 December 1965. He has one sister and two brothers. His parents were part of the Windrush generation and had moved to England from Barbados in the late 1950s and early 1960s. His mother worked as a caterer and his father was a lorry driver. Harewood attended St Benedict's Junior School and Washwood Heath Academy. He later joined London's National Youth Theatre. In his youth, he worked at a wine bar in Birmingham city centre. At the age of 18, he gained a place at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Harewood began acting in 1990 and has appeared in films such as The Hawk, Great Moments in Aviation, Harnessing Peacocks, Mad Dogs and Englishmen, Blood Diamond, The Merchant of Venice and Strings. He is known for his television appearances on Ballykissangel, The Vice and Fat Friends. He played Don Coleman in Hustle (Series 7 The Fall of Railton FC (2011)). In 1997, he was the first black actor to play Othello at the National Theatre in London.

In 2008, he played Major Simon Brooks in The Palace; he also appeared (that December) on Celebrity Mastermind, with specialist subject Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials. He appeared in the BBC film adaptation of the Philip Pullman novels The Ruby in the Smoke and The Shadow in the North, both of which are titles from the Sally Lockhart Mysteries.

In 2009, Harewood appeared in the BBC single drama Mrs Mandela, playing Nelson Mandela. He played Brother Tuck in the third series of Robin Hood. He appeared in the Doctor Who story "The End of Time". He played Martin Luther King Jr. in the premiere of The Mountaintop, written by American playwright Katori Hall, directed by James Dacre, which opened at Theatre503 in London on 9 June 2009.

Harewood next appeared in two episodes of Chris Ryan's Strike Back as Colonel Tshuma. From June to September 2010, he played Theseus in the premiere of Moira Buffini's play Welcome to Thebes at the National Theatre in London. He played Martin Viner in an episode of New Tricks. He narrated Welcome to Lagos, a BBC documentary about Lagos, Nigeria. He also starred in British independent film The Hot Potato, the film also starred Ray Winstone, Colm Meaney and Jack Huston.^{[citation needed]} He played Frankenstein's monster in the TV live event Frankenstein's Wedding.

From 2011, Harewood starred as David Estes, the director of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center, in the Showtime series Homeland. After appearing in 24 episodes, his character was killed off in a bomb explosion at the end of season 2. Also in 2011, he voiced Captain Quinton Cole in the video game Battlefield 3.

In June 2014, he appeared in Tulip Fever. In October 2015, he appeared as a core cast member on the CBS television series Supergirl as Hank Henshaw. Since his character was revealed (in the episode "Human for a Day") to be J'onn J'onzz/Martian Manhunter posing as Henshaw, he portrays J'onn J'onzz with Henshaw's likeness as his human form and has a dual recurring role as the real Hank Henshaw / Cyborg Superman.