Brian J White, our new sex symbol (Krave Magazine; unpublished)

The Astonishing Mr. White
Mr. White’s Got an Axe to Grind about… children?
By Marcus Scott

Brian J. White is arguably the new face of levelheaded, offbeat cool. Let’s face it, with a gridiron torso and blitzed confidence in himself from years of rehearsal and tuning his craft, Mr. White’s developed the X factor. He’s a dash of the shaken-not-stirred vodka martini swigging James Bond, a sliver of smoky-eyed black eyeliner Duran Duran, a zest of militant motherland hype man Malcolm X and has the gusto of Harry Belafonte. Being the son of 1976 NBA Finals MVP Boston Celtics iron man Jo Jo White and his wife Estelle as the only male of six, could be a heavy burden for some. But the Dartmouth College grad paved a path of his own, eventually parting his Boston home to study Political Science, Psychology and Theater Arts in Hanover, NH. With his virtuosi knack for games, this sports wunderkind signed with both the National Football League and National Lacrosse League team, joining the New England Patriots and Boston Blazers teams, respectively. Not too shabby, and with his debonair Steve McQueen arrow collar kink and rough-as-nails machismo swagger, he has slowly become one the most underrated poster boy to headline the new age of black Hollywood, leaving a dint as a gentleman’s gentleman.

However, when White sustained an injury, damaging his athletic career, he moved on to modeling after a scout approached him, landing him on the hit teen soap Moesha opposite R&B teen icon Brandy. The 6’2” paper tiger paladin has since manufactured a rather wide-ranging résumé as a model-turned-actor before he branched out to his first passion—dance—and co-found the Phunk Phenomenon Urban Dance Theater Company, coaching kids to stray from the path of drinking and driving motor vehicles, and to open up about race relations, sex and pregnancy, drug use, peer pressure and hazing. Getting his SAG card after landing his first union job—after he tried landing a gig for his dancers—one might say he was teleported to the moon, in this case, Hollywood. Like a global recession, Mr. White’s face was everywhere—an unaccredited role in The Best Man, a role in MTV’s Undressed—and then in fat parts, as the emerald fauxhawk fighting Zac in the of the sleazy Skinemax videogame cybergeek joyride DOA: Dead or Alive and working opposite Bernie Mac in Mr. 3000 as baseball divo Rex “T-Rex” Pennebaker. After taking bit parts as dim-witted baby daddies in Tyler Perry’s Little Girls opposite black Barbie doll Gabrielle Union, or as conservative mustachio eye candy in The Family Stone opposite Sex and the City fave Sarah Jessica Parker or as loose-cannon sweethearts in The Game Plan opposite wrestling icon Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, White was still an unknown. Then came his “big break,” playing the fired up academia-ambitious and militant street-stomping TNT leader Sylvester in the Chippendales-for-teens drama Stomp The Yard. We knew it wouldn’t be long until his face would be plastered on billboards and the coffee tables of soccer moms.

“Ninety five percent of the cast had a professional dance background,” White says jovially recounting his experience. “[Most of which were] dancers or choreographers. [We] went through a 6 week boot camp, separated [into] two frats and [we] didn't see each other for 6 weeks. [We] didn't socialize or anything. It was a great experience, but the camaraderie [we] built was the best.”

No doubt his skills as a born athlete aided him in his adventures on set. White along with other Krave cover boy Columbus Short would walk away rock stars after they won the legendary stomp battle at the film’s climax. And White would do the same in other films, showing off his guns and beating the competition to a pulp he in the heartbeat-banger Fighting and the ballistic 12 Rounds. But he really took the cake with a critically praised performance as damaged goods Randy in Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself opposite Oscar-nominated Taraji P. Henson, whom he cites as one of the best actresses in Hollywood with incredible integrity.

“It was a very different role from Stomp The Yard. Sly was a big brother type of character, so that's who he was on set... Even off camera he was kind of a big brother to the cast,” White says, discussing his method acting techniques in his recent incarnation as a shady adulterer to that of his adorable Boy Scout claim-to-fame. “Randy was a bad guy, so he stayed more to himself on set. When shooting it was very light, though. It was [my] second time working with Tyler; [I am] a huge fan of Tyler’s.”

Working on TV shows in the past like the hard-boiled The Shield, the ill-missed Second Time Around and paranormal romance Moonlight, White was a shoo-in when he was tapped to stars as a recurring member on the acclaimed Men of a Certain Age. With an eye for good scripts, White took the job and has been gracing fashion iconoclast with his snazzy style on-and-off screen. Not a follower of trends, he goes for “upscale, progressive and clean” threads, opting for wing tip and shell toe “kicks,” silver Russell Simmons dog tags or a silver watch, a pair of shades and incorporating as much blue—his favorite color—into his wardrobe as possible. “Urban has merged with mainstream,” White notes with posh sophistication. “There is a fashion renaissance going on, much like in art and music. He just likes to be himself.”

Expanding his palette with the 2011 Danny Glover-billed horror feature The Cabin In the Woods, White is a busy man strutting the gold-dusted red carpets of the Hollywood elite. Despite his duties cranking out episodes of Men of a Certain Age, he is producing three films under his company Media 3 Films, shooting his next project in early 2010, titled Hickory Nation in England. In his spare time, he will be aiding his Boston Celtics dad in running their restaurant “Jo Jo's,” an upscale membership driven sports bar. White will also be working on the Helping Hands Celebrity Weekend between July 21 and July 26 in St. Thomas, where he and other celebs will compete in a friendly battle royale to raise money for each of their charities; all proceeds are to benefit children—another passion of White’s. If one were to go to the website, http://www.helpinghandscelebrityweekend.org/, they can go on the site and pledge $5 during the “$5 Challenge” which kicks off in February, where a winner will be selected for an all expenses paid trip to St. Thomas. Keisha Whitaker and White are also hosting an essay contest for youth at http://www.wordsmatternow.org/ , teaching youth that the way to be in the industry is to control one’s own content.

Far from the Bloody Mary-guzzling movie stars of his era or the star struck wannabes that call themselves professionals, it’s White’s remarkable quiet storm serenity that makes him the ultimate Atlas man of kick ass. Is it the cocky swagger? Is it his leading man bravado? No. He’s just a do-right man and that’s why he’s totally Krave material. Who knew?

Follow him at http://www.brianwhiteonline.com/ and on Twitter at actorbrianwhite.

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