You probably know the face. Maybe it was the weary, drug-dealing cousin in Atlanta or the sensitive, Thomas-the-Tank-Engine-obsessed hitman in Bullet Train. Brian Tyree Henry has this weird, almost magical ability to show up for ten minutes and steal the entire movie from A-list stars. It’s not just that he's a "good actor." It’s that he feels like someone you actually know.
Honestly, it's about time we stopped calling him "that guy from that thing." With an Oscar nomination under his belt and a lead role in the 2025 hit series Dope Thief, the era of Henry being a "best-kept secret" is officially over.
The Breakout: From Paper Boi to the Big Screen
For a long time, the world mostly saw him as Alfred "Paper Boi" Miles. Atlanta was a trip, but Henry’s performance was the anchor. He played a man caught between the absurdity of internet fame and the grim reality of the streets. That role was the springboard.
Suddenly, everyone wanted him.
He didn't just jump into one lane. He went everywhere. In 2018, he had a year that would break most people. He did Steve McQueen’s heist thriller Widows, played a soulful, heartbroken friend in Barry Jenkins’ If Beale Street Could Talk, and voiced the dad in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.
Each of these Brian Tyree Henry movies showed a different side of him. In Widows, he was terrifying. In Beale Street, he made people cry with a single monologue about the trauma of the prison system. It was a masterclass in range.
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The Power of the Supporting Role
People often overlook how hard it is to be the "supporting" guy. You have to create a whole life for a character in very little screen time.
Take Causeway (2022). He stars opposite Jennifer Lawrence. She’s great, obviously, but Henry is the soul of that movie. He plays James, a mechanic who lost his leg and his nephew in a car accident. He doesn't do big, "Oscar-baity" screaming matches. He just sits there, drinks a beer, and lets you see the literal weight of his grief.
It earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. Finally.
Action, Animation, and Everything Else
If you think he only does "serious" dramas, you haven't been paying attention to the box office. He's been a mainstay in some of the biggest franchises of the last few years.
- The Monsterverse: He plays Bernie Hayes in Godzilla vs. Kong and the 2024 sequel Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire. He’s the comic relief, sure, but he plays it with such genuine earnestness that the conspiracy theories actually sound plausible.
- The MCU: He made history as Phastos in Eternals, the first openly gay superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
- Transformers One: In 2024, he took on the voice of D-16, the robot who eventually becomes Megatron. It’s a tragic origin story, and Henry manages to make a giant metal villain feel deeply human.
- Bullet Train: As Lemon, he and Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Tangerine) were easily the best part of the movie. Their chemistry was so good people are still asking for a prequel.
What's Happening in 2025 and 2026?
Right now, Henry is leaning heavily into his role as a leading man and an executive producer. If you haven't seen the trailer for Dope Thief on Apple TV+, go watch it. He plays Ray Driscoll, a guy in Philly who poses as a DEA agent to rob drug dealers. It’s gritty, it’s fast, and it’s Brian Tyree Henry at his most intense.
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He's also got The Fire Inside (formerly Flint Strong), a boxing biopic written by Barry Jenkins. He plays Jason Crutchfield, the trainer who pushed Claressa Shields to Olympic gold.
And then there's the big one. Fans have been waiting for Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse. While the release dates for these massive animated projects have been a bit of a moving target, Henry is confirmed to return as the voice of Jefferson Davis. His relationship with Miles is the emotional heartbeat of those movies.
Why His Style Works
Henry doesn't act like he’s in a movie. He acts like he’s in the room.
He’s talked before about his training at Yale and his time on Broadway (he was in the original cast of The Book of Mormon, by the way). You can see that stage discipline in the way he moves. But he pairs it with this very modern, very "real" vulnerability.
He isn't afraid to look messy. He isn't afraid to be the guy who’s scared or the guy who’s just tired. In an industry that often demands Black men be "strong" or "invincible," Henry chooses to be human.
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Ranking the Must-Watch Brian Tyree Henry Movies
If you're looking to catch up on his filmography, don't just go for the blockbusters. Here is how you should prioritize your watchlist:
- Causeway: If you want to see why he's considered one of the best of his generation.
- If Beale Street Could Talk: For the "Daniel Carty" scene alone. It will haunt you.
- Bullet Train: For pure, unadulterated fun and the best "diesel" jokes you've ever heard.
- Widows: To see him play a truly formidable antagonist.
- Transformers One: Even if you aren't a "cartoon" person, his voice work as Megatron is genuinely chilling.
Moving Forward
Watching Brian Tyree Henry's career is like watching a slow-burn success story reach its boiling point. He’s no longer the guy filling in the gaps; he’s the guy the projects are built around.
If you want to stay ahead of his upcoming work, keep an eye on Apple TV+ and A24 releases. These are the studios that seem to understand his value best. Also, check out his older TV guest spots on shows like This Is Us—his Emmy-nominated turn as Ricky is still one of the most memorable single-episode performances in recent memory.
Stop waiting for him to "make it." He’s already here.
To get the most out of his filmography, start with his independent work like The Outside Story before hitting the big summer blockbusters. This gives you a better sense of his physical acting style before it gets tucked behind CGI and explosions.