Michael Beach

Actor

With a career that spans over three decades, Michael Beach has become an established name in the entertainment industry through the diverse, complex, and captivating characters he has brought to life on screen. From drama to comedy, Beach has proven time and time again that he can do it all. This year, he can be seen reprising his role as Kareem, Warden of the main prison in Paramount+’s hit crime thriller series, Mayor of Kingstown, opposite Jeremy Renner. The series follows an important contemporary issue, America’s prison system, focusing on the McLusky family, where the business of incarceration is the only thriving industry. The first two seasons are currently streaming on Paramount+ and season three is slated to premiere on June 2, 2024. Also in 2024, Beach will star as Tragic Mick, a walrus trapped in a human body who runs a magic shop in Netflix’s highly anticipated supernatural series, The Dead Boy Detectives, streaming on Netflix as of April 25, 2024.

Notable credits for Beach include his stand-out role as Mark Mitchell on Paramount+’s smash-hit Tulsa King, opposite Sylvester Stallone and Andrea Savage. The series follows New York Mafia capo Dwight ‘The General’ Manfredi, who was recently released from prison after serving twenty-five years, as he sets up shop in Tulsa. The series was recently renewed for a second season, announced in February 2024. Additional previous credits in television include his starring role as Ingram Rhoades, in Apple TV+’s drama series Truth Be Told, opposite Octavia Spencer, Aaron Paul, Lizzy Caplan, Ron Cephas Jones, Elizabeth Perkins, and Mekhi Phifer. The series aired for three seasons, exploring people’s obsession with true-crime stories and the boom in podcasts dedicated to probing unsolved and disputed cases. In 2020, Beach starred in Ava DuVernay’s series Cherish the Day for OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network to round out his myriad of TV credits, including NBC’s ER, NBC’s Chicago P.D., Netflix’s Dahmer Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, CBS’ S.W.A.T and ABC’s The Rookie.

In film, Beach is widely recognized for his starring role as Frank Hunt opposite Regina King, Stephan James, Colman Domingo, Kiki Layne, and Diego Luna in Annapurna’s Golden Globe-nominated feature film If Beale Street Could Talk, directed by Academy Award winner Barry Jenkins. With over eight major nominations in the 2019 awards season, the film won Movie of the Year at the 2019 AFI Awards and Best Feature at the 2019 Film Independent Spirit Awards. In addition to If Beale Street Could Talk, Beach appeared as high-sea hijacker Manta/Jesse Kane in Warner Bros. and DC Comics’ international smash hit feature film Aquaman, which grossed over a billion dollars worldwide since its opening in December 2018. Furthering his list of notable starring roles, Beach shined as Harold Thewlis in Southpaw Entertainment’s Inheritance, opposite Lily Collins, Simon Pegg, and Chace Crawford. He also starred in the Warner Bros. and New Line action-comedy film Superintelligence, opposite Melissa McCarthy, which debuted on Max (formally HBO Max) in 2020.

Born and raised in the rough inner city of Roxbury, Boston, Beach excelled in athletics and never had aspirations to become an actor. After performing in a handful of high school plays, he was accepted into the prestigious Juilliard School of Drama in New York City. Beach began his professional career in acting upon graduation, and he has been working ever since, building upon his commitment to his craft, professionalism, and innate talent. Beach has worked with hundreds of acclaimed actors, producers, and directors over the years, including Morgan Freeman, Kevin Bacon, Quentin Tarantino, and John Travolta, to name a few. When he isn’t on set, you can find Beach cruising down California’s coastline on one of his motorcycles, working out at the gym, and spending time with his family.