Born on August 7, 1963 in Brooklyn, New York, Harold Perrineau, Jr. studied music and theater at the Shenandoah Conservatory in Virginia. He eventually pursued an acting career and played a wheelchair-bound criminal in the critically acclaimed hit series, Oz. His notable roles include that in Baz Luhrmann's modern day adaptation of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet, in which he played Mercutio, Romeo's cross-dressing, gender-confused best friend.
In talking about Mercutio, Perrineau told Contact Music, “Mercutio was just buggin' out, you know what I mean? He was just high, crazy, stoned. In a society where macho is the thing, for Mercutio to come out in a dress, that's ballsy. Mercutio is just off his rocker and doesn't care. Then there was that thing about him maybe loving Romeo or not, well I guess that changes things.”
However, Perrineau’s most well-known film role to date is Link, the Zion hovercraft pilot in The Matrix trilogy. His other film credits include Woman on Top, Gardens of the Night, 28 Weeks Later and Demons.
Harold Perrineau first appeared on Lost as Michael Dawson in 2004, and stayed on the show in its first two seasons. In August 2007, it was reported that he was to return to the show to reprise his role.
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Perrineau opened up about his experiences on Lost, and when asked if he has worked with a production team such as that of Lost, he said, "Never. And while it was really fun in the beginning, it gets a little like, 'Uhh, what am I doing?' You really have to stay on your feet creatively, so when the scripts come you can find some way to make it as interesting and current and filled with as much stuff as you can, having just read it a week earlier. So, because I've been gone for a year and have no idea what has happened, I'm already gearing up to make a bunch of choices so I can fit all of that into whatever they have him do. You have to be really creative, and that's kind of fun, figuring stuff out."
(Image courtesy of ABC)
-Harold's wife, Brittany Perrineau, has also appeared on three episodes of Lost.
-Harold originally turned down the audition for his Lost role of Michael Dawson, as it would have meant he had to leave the two-man play he was currently doing two weeks before it’s end. Luckily for him, the auditions were changed and was able to audition for Lost after all.
-Perrineau is his mother's maiden name, and his father is Harold Williams Sr. His parents never married, so he used both names growing up, eventually settling on Williams.
However when he joined the Screen Actors Guild, because there was already a Harold Williams he changed his stage name to Harold Perrineau Jr. so that he had Perrineau from his mother, and Jr. from his father.
-Harold won an NAACP Image Award for his role in the play Topdog/Underdog.
-Felon (2008) as Lt Jackson.
-28 Weeks Later (2007) as Flynn
-CSI (2007) One Episode
-Lost (2004-2006, 2008) as Michael Dawson
-Dead Like Me (2003) as Yoga Instructor in the episode Rest In Peace
-The Matrix Revolutions (2003) as Link
-Enter the Matrix (2003) as Link
-The Matrix Reloaded (2003) as Link
-On Line (2002) as Moe Curley
-Prison Song (2001), as Uncle Steve
-Woman On Top (2000) as Monica Jones
-The Best Man (1999) as Julian Murch
-Oz (1997-2003), as Augustus Hill
-The Edge (1997) as Stephen
-Romeo Juliet (1996), as Mercutio
-Smoke (1995) as Thomas "Rashid" Cole
-I'll Fly Away (1991-1993), as Robert Evans
-Terry O’Quinn is like Locke, because he is a mysterious, fascinating guy. He lives up on the north shore in this house in the woods. You’ll see him, and he’s always walking around like Locke.
-Jorge’s a really funny guy. Like Hurley, at those right moments he will say something that will crack you up.
(on his co-star Matthew Fox, and his likeness to his Lost character Jack Sheperd)
-He’s handsome, he’s tall, he’s running around saving people’s lives. But Matt Fox, himself, is just a really interesting guy. He’s got a lot of stuff in his background, and you can see it behind his eyes, that has nothing to do with any of that stuff. When you talk to him, you’re like, ‘Oh, I didn’t expect that at all.’ So I’d say he’s least like his character.
(on his Lost character, Michael Dawson)
-I was somewhat confused about him at first. Because the show’s writers and producers don’t give us much information ahead of time, I had no idea where the character was headed. I mean, I didn’t know, for example, how Michael spoke, the sort of attention span he had, or even how passionate as well as compassionate he was.