# McKinley Belcher III
**McKinley Belcher III** is an American actor best known for playing Detective Michael Ledroit in the Netflix limited series *[Eric](https://www.edgepedia.org/eric-2024-tv-series)* (2024), Agent Trevor Evans in *Ozark*, Samuel Diggs in the PBS series *Mercy Street*, and Arlong in Netflix's live-action *One Piece*.[1](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/mckinley-belcher-iii/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4163356) Born in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1984, he trained as an actor after an early plan to become a lawyer, and has worked steadily across television, film, and the stage, winning a Drama Desk Award for the Lincoln Center Theater production of *The Royale*.[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/38836/mckinley-belcher-iii) • [4](https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2024/belcher.html)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born | 1984, Atlanta, Georgia; born at Grady Memorial Hospital, first son of McKinley Belcher Jr. and Pamela McGhee Belcher[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/38836/mckinley-belcher-iii) • [5](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/mckinley-belcher/) |
| Education | B.A. in communication studies, minor in political science, Belmont University (2006); MFA in Acting, USC School of Dramatic Arts (2010)[6](https://news.belmont.edu/alumnus-featured-in-garden-gun-magazine/) • [7](https://tworivertheater.org/bio/mckinley-belcher-iii/) |
| Signature TV roles | Samuel Diggs in *Mercy Street*; Agent Trevor Evans in *Ozark* (16 episodes, 2017–2022); Detective Michael Ledroit in *Eric* (2024, 6 episodes); Arlong in *One Piece* (2023, 4 episodes)[1](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/mckinley-belcher-iii/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4163356) |
| *Eric* recognition | Nominated for a 2025 BAFTA TV Award for Supporting Actor and a Royal Television Society Award[8](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SDACommencement2025_program.pdf) • [9](https://www.flickchart.com/professional/mckinley-belcher-iii) |
| Stage honors | Drama Desk Award for *The Royale* (Lincoln Center Theater, 2016); Outer Critics Circle Award nomination for MCC's *The Light*[4](https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2024/belcher.html) • [8](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SDACommencement2025_program.pdf) |
| Recent work | Carl Otieno in Netflix's *Zero Day* (2025, five episodes) opposite Robert De Niro; Mateo in the film *Other People's Bodies* (2025)[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/38836/mckinley-belcher-iii) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4163356) |
## Education and path to acting
Belcher did not plan to be an actor. He studied communication studies with a minor in political science at [Belmont University](https://www.edgepedia.org/belmont-university) in Nashville, expecting to go to law school, and worked as a paralegal intern at a law firm before taking the [Law School Admission Test](https://www.edgepedia.org/law-school-admission-test).[6](https://news.belmont.edu/alumnus-featured-in-garden-gun-magazine/) • [10](https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/eric-feature-467252/) A friend talked him into auditioning for a student production of [Lorraine Hansberry](https://www.edgepedia.org/lorraine-hansberry)'s *A Raisin in the Sun*, and the production's director, judging that Belcher could be an actor, suggested he pursue postgraduate study in New York.[6](https://news.belmont.edu/alumnus-featured-in-garden-gun-magazine/) • [10](https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/eric-feature-467252/) Belcher has said that Belmont's speech and debate team was probably the single most impactful choice he made there, helping him overcome a fear of public speaking and develop habits of perspective and argument that he later used as an actor and writer.[11](https://www.belmont.edu/stories/articles/2024/mckinley-belcher-iii.html)
He auditioned for New York University and, in the same round of auditions, for the [University of Southern California](https://www.edgepedia.org/university-of-southern-california)'s School of Dramatic Arts in Los Angeles, where he enrolled and completed an MFA in Acting in 2010; at USC he won the Ava Greenwald Award.[10](https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/eric-feature-467252/) • [7](https://tworivertheater.org/bio/mckinley-belcher-iii/) In a 2016 USC profile, he described turning to the example of [Denzel Washington](https://www.edgepedia.org/denzel-washington), who had moved from drama school to a career across stage, television, and film, when he decided to leave law behind.[12](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/on-the-road-of-success/)
## Television career
Early credits included guest spots on *Law & Order: Los Angeles* and *Louie* (both 2010), *Rizzoli & Isles*, *Chicago P.D.*, *Madam Secretary*, and a recurring role as Marcus on the STARZ series *Power* (2014).[5](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/mckinley-belcher/) • [13](https://www.metacritic.com/person/mckinley-belcher-iii/) His first major role was Samuel Diggs, a free Black laborer with secret healing skills, in *Mercy Street*, PBS's first original drama in more than a decade, set at a Union hospital during the Civil War.[1](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/mckinley-belcher-iii/) • [14](https://gardenandgun.com/the-next-stage-with-mckinley-belcher-iii) He also appeared as Dwayne Meeks in [David Simon](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-simon)'s HBO miniseries *Show Me a Hero* (2015).[13](https://www.metacritic.com/person/mckinley-belcher-iii/)
**Netflix roles.** From 2017 to 2022 Belcher played FBI Agent Trevor Evans in the Netflix crime series *Ozark*, appearing in 16 episodes across its run.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4163356) In 2023 he played the fish-man pirate Arlong in Netflix's live-action *One Piece*, appearing in four episodes of the first season.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4163356) • [15](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-541961/filmografia/) In 2022 he played Momodu "G Money" Gondo, a real Baltimore police officer, in David Simon's HBO miniseries *[We Own This City](https://www.edgepedia.org/we-own-this-city)*, his second collaboration with Simon after *Show Me a Hero*.[1](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/mckinley-belcher-iii/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4163356) He later joined the cast of Netflix's political thriller *Zero Day*, starring [Robert De Niro](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-de-niro) as a former president confronting a global cyberattack; Belcher played Carl Otieno in five episodes when the series arrived in February 2025.[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/38836/mckinley-belcher-iii) • [5](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/mckinley-belcher/)
## Eric (2024)
In the six-episode Netflix limited series *Eric*, created by Abi Morgan, Belcher played Detective Michael Ledroit of the NYPD's Missing Persons Unit, set in 1980s New York.[11](https://www.belmont.edu/stories/articles/2024/mckinley-belcher-iii.html) The series follows Vincent, a puppeteer played by [Benedict Cumberbatch](https://www.edgepedia.org/benedict-cumberbatch), whose nine-year-old son Edgar disappears on his way to school; Ledroit leads the investigation into Edgar's case while also searching for Marlon, a Black teenager whose disappearance has drawn far less media attention.[11](https://www.belmont.edu/stories/articles/2024/mckinley-belcher-iii.html) • [16](https://time.com/6983959/eric-review-netflix/) Ledroit is a gay, closeted Black detective in the middle of the AIDS epidemic, with a partner, William, who is ill with AIDS at home.[16](https://time.com/6983959/eric-review-netflix/) • [10](https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/eric-feature-467252/) With 20 years in the police service, mostly spent in Vice, Ledroit had transferred to Missing Persons to help the swamped division.[17](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/benedict-cumberbatch-eric-limited-series?inapp=true%2F)
Belcher has described the role's appeal: the character being both Black and queer in the 1980s meant "there would be a lot of him that would not be safe to share with the world," and he called playing Ledroit a "deeply cathartic and satisfying and fulfilling" experience.[18](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mckinley-belcher-iii-eric-deeply-011552703.html) The performance brought him a 2025 BAFTA TV Award nomination for Supporting Actor and a Royal Television Society Award nomination.[8](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SDACommencement2025_program.pdf) • [9](https://www.flickchart.com/professional/mckinley-belcher-iii)
## Film work
Belcher's film credits include [John Sayles](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-sayles)' *Go for Sisters* (2013), *Mapplethorpe* (2018), *Trial by Fire* (2018, as Ponchai), *The Art of Racing in the Rain* (2019, as Mark Finn), Noah Baumbach's *Marriage Story* (2019, as the Lighting Designer), and *Eraser: Reborn* (2022, as Paul Whitlock).[5](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/mckinley-belcher/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4163356) He was slated to star in Alan Brown's indie film *Other People's Bodies* (2025) as Mateo.[8](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SDACommencement2025_program.pdf) • [5](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/mckinley-belcher/)
## Stage career
Theater has remained a central part of his working life. Belcher made his New York City stage debut in 2013 as Benvolio in Classic Stage Company's production of *Romeo and Juliet*, and in 2016 won a Drama Desk Award for playing an amateur boxer in *The Royale* at Lincoln Center Theater's Mitzi Newhouse Theater.[4](https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2024/belcher.html) His regional and off-Broadway work includes *Twelfth Night* at Hartford Stage, *Invisible Man* at Studio Theatre (part of a Helen Hayes Award-winning Best Ensemble), *As You Like It* at the Shakespeare Center of Los Angeles, and the world-premiere adaptation *Macbeth 1969* at Long Wharf Theatre, in which he played Macbeth.[7](https://tworivertheater.org/bio/mckinley-belcher-iii/) • [1](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/mckinley-belcher-iii/)
On Broadway he debuted in Kenny Leon's production of *A Soldier's Play* opposite [Blair Underwood](https://www.edgepedia.org/blair-underwood) and [David Alan Grier](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-alan-grier) during the 2019–2020 season, and in 2022 earned critical acclaim as Happy in the revival of *Death of a Salesman* that cast the Loman family with Black actors for the first time, appearing opposite [Wendell Pierce](https://www.edgepedia.org/wendell-pierce) and Sharon D. Clarke.[8](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SDACommencement2025_program.pdf) • [4](https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2024/belcher.html) His off-Broadway lead in MCC Theater's *The Light* brought an Outer Critics Circle Award nomination.[8](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SDACommencement2025_program.pdf) He has written about the stage as, in his words, "the only place actors can commune with an audience without a filter," and says his theater work informs how he approaches work on camera.[19](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/mckinley-belcher-iii-re-connecting-theater-53113/) • [4](https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2024/belcher.html)
## Writing and other work
Belcher is also a writer. He won the inaugural Slamdance Mentorship Award for his screenplay *Kinda Blue Burning Bright* and has written a series of columns for *Backstage*.[8](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SDACommencement2025_program.pdf) In 2025 he returned to USC's School of Dramatic Arts as keynote speaker for its commencement.[8](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SDACommencement2025_program.pdf) He married Blake Fox on January 17, 2023.[2](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4163356)
## References
1. [McKinley Belcher III, USC School of Dramatic Arts profile](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/mckinley-belcher-iii/)
2. [McKinley Belcher III, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm4163356)
3. [McKinley Belcher III, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/people/38836/mckinley-belcher-iii)
4. [Interview with McKinley Belcher III, Talkin' Broadway (December 2024)](https://www.talkinbroadway.com/page/rialto/past/2024/belcher.html)
5. [McKinley Belcher, TV Insider](https://www.tvinsider.com/people/mckinley-belcher/)
6. [Alumnus Featured in 'Garden & Gun' Magazine, Belmont University News (November 2016)](https://news.belmont.edu/alumnus-featured-in-garden-gun-magazine/)
7. [McKinley Belcher III, Two River Theater biography](https://tworivertheater.org/bio/mckinley-belcher-iii/)
8. [USC School of Dramatic Arts Commencement 2025 program (keynote speaker biography)](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/SDACommencement2025_program.pdf)
9. [McKinley Belcher III, Flickchart profile](https://www.flickchart.com/professional/mckinley-belcher-iii)
10. [Eric's McKinley Belcher III on subverting 'bury your gays' trope, Attitude](https://www.attitude.co.uk/culture/eric-feature-467252/)
11. [Meet Alumnus McKinley Belcher III, Co-Star of Netflix's "Eric," Belmont University Stories (May 2024)](https://www.belmont.edu/stories/articles/2024/mckinley-belcher-iii.html)
12. [On the road of success, USC School of Dramatic Arts (March 2016)](https://dramaticarts.usc.edu/on-the-road-of-success/)
13. [McKinley Belcher III, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/person/mckinley-belcher-iii/)
14. [The Next Stage with McKinley Belcher III, Garden & Gun (December/January 2017)](https://gardenandgun.com/the-next-stage-with-mckinley-belcher-iii)
15. [McKinley Belcher III filmography, SensaCine](https://www.sensacine.com/actores/actor-541961/filmografia/)
16. [What Netflix's Strange Benedict Cumberbatch Crime Drama Eric Is Really Trying to Say, TIME](https://time.com/6983959/eric-review-netflix/)
17. [Eric: Cast, Plot of Benedict Cumberbatch's New Series, Netflix Tudum](https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/benedict-cumberbatch-eric-limited-series?inapp=true%2F)
18. [McKinley Belcher III ('Eric') interview, Yahoo Entertainment](https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/mckinley-belcher-iii-eric-deeply-011552703.html)
19. [McKinley Belcher III on Re-connecting With The Theater, Backstage (November 2019)](https://www.backstage.com/magazine/article/mckinley-belcher-iii-re-connecting-theater-53113/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 2000s onward › Surnames Be to Bl*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license