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Michael Jai (pronounced Jye) White was born in Brooklyn, NY and as a pre-teen moved to Bridgeport, CT. In school, Mike tended to hang out with the more introverted types, while carrying on a hard-core street persona. Always possessing a hatred for bullies, Mike would seek them out to battle and he eventually earned a reputation as one of the toughest and most feared street
fighter's in the area. At age 14 Michael was had to fend for himself. Already 6 feet tall and 190 lbs., a deep voice and facial hair, he was easily mistaken for an adult. Michael began to make money teaching Karate at the local YMCA, fighting in tournaments, and dancing in contests. The former troubled youth graduated high school with honors and went on to college with no real direction about his future. Michael jumped around from university to university and was unsure about his major. While being uncertain he found time to squeeze in an acting classes. In college Michael never gave acting a consideration as a possible career choice. Michael found that he had a gift for reaching troubled youth and eventually became a junior high school teacher. For three years he taught emotionally disturbed children in the fifth, sixth and seventh grades. This endeavor is what Michael claims as his proudest achievement. Along with his growth as an educator, came the growth of the desire to act. Though reluctant to follow acting, he began to audition for roles in nearby Manhattan. He eventually landed commercials, theatre roles, and bit parts in soap operas. Faced with the difficult decision to leave teaching, he finally did so with the blessing of his young students. In 1992 Michael moved to LA to pursue acting. Incidentally Michael's motivation to act is channeled from the standpoint of a teacher.
"The actor has a responsibility to teach his audience the truth while standing in the shoes of the character he is playing at the time. Done correctly, acting can teach people about themselves as well as others. It has the power to touch and change the lives of millions at a time.”
Since then, White has moved into the mainstream acting world and has portrayed boxer Mike Tyson in the 1995 HBO Television movie "Tyson" and Jax Briggs in Mortal Kombat: Legacy. In 1997 White was the first African-American to portray a comic book superhero in a major motion picture, having starred as Al Simmons, the protagonist in Spawn. White has gone on to star in the Tyler Perry movies "Why Did I Get Married?" And "Why Did I Get Married Too?" Currently, he stars, as Marcus Williams on the TBS/OWN comedy-drama television series "Tyler Perry’s For Better or Worse". Reaching back to his karate roots, White has signed on to be John “Falcon” Chapman in an installment of the Falcon movies which will release one of these action movies a year.
The highly anticipated Falcon Rising will hit theaters on September 5, 2014. White has said that the Falcon movies are the type of projects he's waited to do" his entire career!" "Get ready folks cause this is the first of what's to come."
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