Lance Reddick (June 7, 1962 – March 17, 2023) was an American actor, best known in film for starring as Charon in the John Wick franchise (2014–2023) and David Gentry in Angel Has Fallen (2019). Outside of film, he notably portrayed Cedric Daniels in the series The Wire (2002-08) and Phillip Broyles in Fringe (2008-13), alongside proving voice work for several video games, notably in the Destiny and Horizon series.
Early life[]
Reddick was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Dorothy Gee and Solomon Reddick. He attended Friends School of Baltimore. As a teenager, he studied music at the Peabody Preparatory Institute and a summer program teaching music theory and composition at the Walden School. Reddick studied classical music composition at University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music, earning a Bachelor of Music degree. He moved to Boston, Massachusetts in the 1980s. Reddick attended the Yale School of Drama in the early 1990s, receiving a Master of Fine Arts degree in 1994.
Career[]
Reddick was cast as Cedric Daniels in the HBO series The Wire, after having also auditioned for the roles of Bubbles and Bunk Moreland. He joined ABC's series Lost in 2008, where he played Matthew Abaddon, an employee of Charles Widmore, in multiple episodes. He was the third of five actors from the HBO series Oz to star in the drama. Lost producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have said they were interested in Reddick for the part of Mr. Eko, but he was unavailable due to filming The Wire so they approached Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje instead.
Reddick released his debut album Contemplations & Remembrances in 2007 and in early 2008, he was cast in a key role for the pilot of Fringe in which fellow Oz actor Kirk Acevedo also had a regular role. Reddick played Phillip Broyles, the head of an FBI department investigating paranormal activities. Reddick described the hard-driving character as "a real hard-ass, but he's also one of the good guys." Like Lost, Fringe was co-created and produced by J. J. Abrams. There was some doubt about whether Reddick could appear in both Lost and Fringe in the 2008–2009 television season. However, Abrams stated that though Reddick was a series regular on Fringe, he would do episodes of Lost whenever required. Reddick appeared in the 2013 thriller White House Down. He starred in the YouTube web series DR0NE, where he was also credited as a co-producer.
In 2014, Reddick appeared as Charon in the action-thriller film John Wick, a role he has reprised in its two sequels. In July 2021, it was confirmed that Reddick will reprise his role in John Wick: Chapter 4. He voiced the character Commander Zavala in the 2014 and 2017 video games Destiny and Destiny 2, respectively.
Also in 2014, he started portraying the role of Chief Irvin Irving in the Amazon Prime series Bosch. Comparing his three large roles as police commanders, Reddick stated Daniels, his character from The Wire, was "a cop at heart". Broyles, his Fringe character, was "a soldier", while Irving "is the quintessential politician".
Reddick was a spokesman in television commercials for Cree LED Bulbs. In 2016, Reddick was cast in the post-apocalyptic horror film The Domestics. The film was released on June 28, 2018. Reddick later starred in the 2018 horror thriller film Monster Party. He also voiced the character Sylens in the 2017 video game Horizon Zero Dawn and reprised his role in the 2022 sequel Horizon Forbidden West. In 2021, Reddick appeared in the film Godzilla vs. Kong. In 2022, Reddick portrayed Albert Wesker in the live action Resident Evil series from Netflix, which was cancelled after one season.
He will appear posthumously as the Greek god Zeus in upcoming series Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the Disney+ adaption of the book series of the same name.
Death[]
On March 17, 2023, the day of the SXSW screening of John Wick: Chapter 4 and a week before the film's wide release, it was reported that Reddick was found dead at his home in Los Angeles. His death was reported to be a result of heart and artery disease.
Filmography[]
- Anton Le Farge – Great Expectations (1998)
- Soldier on Manhattan Bridge (uncredited) – Godzilla (1998)
- FBI Agent Floyd Rose – The Siege (1998)
- Simon – I Dreamed of Africa (2000)
- Arnie – Don't Say a Word (2001)
- Black – Bridget (2002)
- James Baldwin – Brother to Brother (2004)
- Manning – Dirty Work (2006)
- Frank – Tennessee (2008)
- The Black Man – The Way of War (2009)
- Smith – Jonah Hex (2010)
- Ramsey – Remains (2011)
- Charles Alberts – Won't Back Down (2012)
- General Caulfield – White House Down (2013)
- Daniel Newcombe – Oldboy (2013)
- Mick – Faults (2014)
- Major Richard Carver – The Guest (2014)
- Cal – Search Party (2014)
- Charon – John Wick (2014)
- Atlas (voice) – Parallel Man: Infinite Pursuit (2015; short film)
- Oscar – The Collection (2015; short film from Fun Size Horror)
- Charon – John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017)
- Officer Carter – Little Woods (2018)
- Jerry Shaw – Canal Street (2018)
- Milo – Monster Party (2018)
- Nathan Wood – The Domestics (2018)
- Charon – John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum (2019)
- Secret Service Director David Gentry – Angel Has Fallen (2019)
- Pastor Mike – Faith Based (2020)
- Herbert "Mr. Jay" Johnson – Sylvie's Love (2020)
- Brother Kareem – One Night in Miami (2020)
- Guillermin – Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)
- Charon – John Wick: Chapter 4 (2023)
- Benji Allen – White Men Can't Jump (2023; posthumous release)
- Charon – Ballerina (TBA; posthumous release)