Wade Williams was born on December 24, 1961 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. When he was young, he became involved in drama and music, mainly participating in his church's productions. For some time, he thought that being a member of the choir would ensure him a place in heaven. As he got older, he set aside his artistic pursuits when he decided to study medicine at the University of Tulsa, where he starred in a production of Sweeney Todd. Because he remained highly interested in the arts, Williams ultimately shifted into theatrical studies. After earning his Bachelor's degree, he went on to gain his Master of Fine Arts in acting from Rutgers Mason Gross School of Arts.
Since then, Williams has had a prolific career in television, film and theatrical productions. His television appearances include The Profiler, Over There, Six Feet Under, 24, NYPD Blue, Charmed, CSI: Miami, Enterprise, Las Vegas, The X-Files, Kojak and in the recurring role of Father Cronin on The Bernie Mac Show. He debuted at the Delicort Theatre in Central Park in The Taming of the Shrew with Morgan Freeman and Tracy Ullman, and appeared in Richard III with Denzel Washington. Williams continued to perform on and off Broadway and on national touring productions of Guys and Dolls, Les Miserables, Kiss of the Spiderwoman, Ragtime and Showboat. Among his big screen projects are Flicka starring Tim McGraw and Maria Bello, Jarhead, Ali alongside Will Smith, and Collateral with screen greats Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Jada Pinkett Smith and Mark Ruffalo. Williams was also cast opposite Julia Roberts in Erin Brokovich. However, his most famous role was Captain Brad Bellick on the hit series Prison Break on the Fox network.
Following the conclusion of Prison Break, Williams focused his attention to the big screen, landing roles in The Good Doctor, The Chicago 8 and The Last Harbor.
"TV and Broadway are two different animals…Theater and film. In the theater you get time to rehearse…weeks and weeks of it sometimes. In TV you are lucky to get to run a scene twice before you shoot it. In TV everyone needs to create quickly and as an actor you have to be 'on' when the camera rolls. In the theater you have time to prepare and a set schedule that you can build your performance around. Also, in the theater you tell the whole story in one performance. In film and TV a story is told many times out of sequence and over a period of days weeks or even months sometimes. Then there's always the thrill of an audience!"
"I was reluctant to play such a bad guy. I was gonna turn down the audition because I didn’t want my daughter to see me playing such a horrid character. But my manager at the time said, 'If you don’t go in on this I’ll kill you,' the rest is history.: