Dewayne Perkins
Birthdate – November 5, 1990 (33 Years Old)
Birthplace – Chicago, Illinois
Dewayne Perkins is a versatile, Emmy-nominated comic actor-writer who has both performed in and written for such long-running series as Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Saved by the Bell and made his big-screen breakthrough in 2023. Perkins’ debut feature role was a supporting turn in the Chicago-based indie comedy, Roundabout American (2012), co-written and directed by Boris Wexler.
Perkins’ next feature role was in co-producer/director Collin Schiffli’s indie drama, Animals (2014), which won Special Jury Award at the South by Southwest film festival. Perkins was cast by director M.J. Anderson in the found-footage drama, Followed (2015), and then Perkins joined the cast of the mockumentary, The Bobby Roberts Project (2018), including Eric Roberts, Fred Willard, Chris Kattan, and Matthew Broussard under the shared direction by Brett Hudson and writer Tom Wilbeck.
As a writer, Perkins wrote—in addition to serving as a staff writer on several TV series, including The Break with Michelle Wolf, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, Saved by the Bell, and The Amber Ruffin Show—a TV comedy short for 3Peat titled 3Peat Presents: The Blackening (2018). Perkins adapted this short (with Tracy Oliver) into a feature, The Blackening (2023), for which he co-produced with director Tim Story, Oliver, E. Brian Dobbins, Marcei A. Brown, Jason Clark, and Sharla Sumpter Bridgett, and also co-starred with Antoinette Robertson, Sinqua Walls, Grace Byers, and Jay Pharoah.
Personal Details
Dewayne Perkins was born and raised in Chicago. Perkins’ schooling included Hearst Elementary School and Curie High School, from which he graduated with an international baccalaureate diploma, the first Black student in his school’s history to do so. Developing an interest in improv and musical theater in high school, Perkin attended DePaul University but was cut by DePaul’s Theatre School, shifted his major to film and animation, and graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree. Perkins is gay.
Filmography
The Blackening
Dewayne (2023)
Some Facts About Dewayne Perkins
BMOC: Dewayne Perkins became the first Black student in the history of his high school, Chicago’s Curie High School, to receive an international baccalaureate diploma.
Comic to Watch: Perkins was named one of 10 Comics to Watch by Variety in 2020.
Awards
Nominee, Best Writing—Variety Series, Emmy Awards Supporting Actress, Emmy Awards (2021).
