Dewayne Perkins

Actor, Producer, Writer

Birthdate: November 5, 1990 (35 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.

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Personal Life
Movies
Facts

Personal life

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.

Known For

One of Them Days

Jameel (2025)

Awards

Nominee, Best Writing—Variety Series, Emmy Awards Supporting Actress, Emmy Awards (2021).

Primetime Emmy

Primetime Emmy

Primetime Emmy Awards

Dewayne Perkins Movies

Actor

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Previous (2)

2025 |
One of Them Days
One of Them Days
2025
Comedy
When best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa discover Alyssa's boyfriend has blown their rent money, the duo finds themselves going to extremes in a race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact.
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asJameel
2023 |
The Blackening
The Blackening
2023
Comedy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Seven friends go away for the weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.
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asDewayne

Writer

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Previous (1)

2023 |
The Blackening
The Blackening
2023
Comedy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Seven friends go away for the weekend and end up trapped in a cabin with a killer who has a vendetta. Will their street smarts and knowledge of horror movies help them stay alive? Probably not.
More Info

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.

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