Trai Byers

Classically trained actor Trai Byers enjoyed a rapid rise in the entertainment industry, moving from relative obscurity to major roles in the film "Selma" and the TV drama "Empire" (Fox 2015-) in just a few short years. Born in Kansas City, Kansas, Byers was raised in a military family and spent much of his childhood in transit, relocating to bases across the United States and throughout the world. He settled in Tucker, Georgia long enough to graduate from high school, and then earned his associate's degree in theater from Andrew College. From there, Byers transferred to the University of Kansas, where he received his bachelor's degree in communications, and then obtained his master's degree in acting from the Yale School of Drama. He made his screen debut in the independent horror-comedy "Caesar and Otto's Summer Camp Massacre"(2009) before landing his first television role on the long-running daytime soap opera "All My Children" (ABC/Hulu/Oprah Winfrey Network, 1970-2013) in 2011. By 2014, Byers had graduated to supporting roles in the independent drama "Jayhawkers" and the Oscar-nominated drama "Selma," which cast him as civil rights leader James Forman. The following year, Byers was cast as a series regular in Lee Daniels' series "Empire." The drama, inspired in part by Shakespeare's "King Lear," starred Terrence Howard as the ailing CEO of a hip-hop record label and Byers as his eldest son, the company's CFO, whose desire to take over the label is tempered by his struggles with bipolar disorder.