A studious, theatre-trained actor, the rugged east coast-born Charles allowed his talents to guide him, using a long history of dramatic and comedic stage productions to find the right intensity of Brian "Smash" Williams, the Texas-bred running back for the Dillon Panthers of NBC's "Friday Night Lights" (2006- ).
Charles was born in Manhattan, NY on May 2, 1983. From there, he was whisked off to the outer borough of Queens, where he was raised during his early years. By the time Charles had reached middle school, his family had decided to uproot its city surroundings for a quieter one in Teanack, NJ. The young Charles soon came to enjoy all the opportunities the blossoming Teanack offered. In the seventh grade, the opportunity he wanted was acting, with his interest in the craft formally solidified after an appearance in a school production of "Guys & Dolls."
Charles went on to attend Teanack High School, acting in school productions, as well as in local theater, all throughout his four years there before graduating in 2001. By the time he was off to college, his acting resume was peppered with stage credits including "Romeo & Juliet," as Mercutio, and "A Comedy of Errors," which he performed at the local Princeton Shakespeare Festival. The summer of 2001 brought his appearance as Shem in "Children of Eden," staged at the John Harms Theatre of the John Harms School where Charles had taken acting classes.
In the fall, Charles went on to attend Carnegie Mellon University. While studying at the Pittsburgh institution, he appeared in various plays such as Voltaire's "Candide," Andrew Lippa's "The Wild Party" and George C. Wolfe's "Spunk." Along with acting, he also took to expanding his business savvy with courses at its Tepper School of Business. In 2004, Charles headed to Sydney, Australia where he appeared in at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) in "The Clink." During his school days, Charles also managed to write, act in and produce a one-man show called "Meet Me in Iraq," which he performed to several crowds in a basement. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon's College of Fine Arts in 2005 with a BFA in Drama.
Once college was over, Charles hit the ground running, prepping himself with a series of self-written monologues, which he took with him to actor showcases in both New York and Los Angeles; showcases which garnered him considerable industry attention. With an agency and manager behind him, he started getting work, landing a role on an episode of NBC's briefly-airing drama "The Book of Daniel" (2006) in early 2006 and several television commercial spots. The "Book of Daniel" episode never made it to air, but within a year, Charles had gone on over 200 auditions.
In November of 2005, Charles merged his talents with his religious faith and emphatically wrote down the date of February 2006 on a piece of paper. It was a date at which he felt he would finally be a regular presence on a major project. When that month rolled around, one of those many auditions came to fruition in the form of a series leading role offer. In just a short time out from drama school, Charles had managed to snag the role of Smash, heading down to Austin, TX to shoot the series pilot for "Friday Night Lights." The show was based on the feature film adaptation of the H.G. Bissinger book. The series was picked up to the network's fall schedule, debuting in September of 2006.and midway into its run, was slated to complete a full season. Charles, an avowed New Yorker and Jerseyite, continued to shoot the drama series while residing in both his hometown of Teanack and Austin.
