Michael Potts Biography

Veteran television, stage and film actor Michael Potts stars as Detective Maynard Gilbough in the HBO drama "True Detective." Starring opposite Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson, Detective Gilbough (Potts) rigorously investigates a bizarre, ritualistic and brutal 1995 murder which was supposedly solved by detectives Martin "Marty" Hart (Harrelson) and Rust Cohle (McConaughey). Each man is pulled back into the world they believed they had left behind as the case is re-evaluated and ethics are questioned in a world where darkness lives on both sides of the law.

Potts is widely recognized for his recurring role as the well mannered yet feared assassin Brother Mouzone on HBO's critically acclaimed series "The Wire" opposite fellow actors Idris Elba and Dominic West. Currently, Potts can be seen on Broadway in the Tony award-winning musical "The Book of Mormon" as Mafala Hatimbi, the role he originated.

As a graduate of Columbia University and the Yale School of Drama, Potts developed his passion for performance into an extensive film, television and theater career. Aside from his acclaimed role on ‘The Wire,' he has held roles on primetime hits such as "Bored to Death," "Damages," "Nurse Jackie," "Flight of the Conchords," "Oz" and "Law & Order.' On the silver screen, he has held his own alongside Mel Gibson and Julia Roberts in "Conspiracy Theory" and again in "The Peacemaker" with George Clooney and Nicole Kidman.

Potts' extensive theater background has afforded him a number of performances on New York's theater stages including roles in "Rent," "The Tempest," "Twelfth Night" and "Richard III" garnering him the prestigious Falstaff Award for best Male Supporting Performance and earning The Village Voice's Obie Award for his portrayal in the off-Broadway production of "The American Play." Potts originated the role of Brooks, Sr in the Tony® Award-winning play "Grey Gardens" and additionally the role of Paul Pierce in Tony Kushner's "The Intelligent Homosexual's Guide to Capitalism and Socialism with a Key to the Scriptures" at the Guthrie Theatre.

Born in Brooklyn, New York and raised in Wisacky, South Carolina, Potts is an active supporter and contributor of the 52nd Street Project, which is dedicated to the creation and production of new plays for, and often, by kids between the ages of 9 and 18 that reside in the Hell's Kitchen neighborhood in New York City. The organization achieves this goal through a series of unique mentoring programs that match kids with professional theater artists.

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