Michael Jace

As the closeted homosexual Officer Julien Lowe on FX’s “The Shield” (2002- ), African-American actor Michael Jace brought a sense of noble inner turmoil to a show celebrated for its edgy external conflicts.

Born July 13, 1965 and raised in New York City, NY, the athletic Jace grew up playing high school basketball and baseball in Hackensack, NJ. He developed an interest in performing later than most, beginning in college when he first saw his girlfriend rehearsing for a play. Once he himself started acting, the bug bit him hard – hard enough that he devoted himself to his new profession with the same zeal he had sports, eventually studying with the Classic Stage Conservatory in New York. Following graduation, Jace worked in regional theater across the U.S. before he moved to Los Angeles to further his career.

The handsome 6’5” actor landed his first television gig on that mainstay for New York actors, “Law & Order,” (NBC, 1990- ), appearing in an early 1992 episode called “Conspiracy.” The following year, he played a young assistant district attorney in a first-season episode of “NYPD Blue” (ABC, 1993-2005), followed by a cop role on “L.A. Law” (NBC, 1986-94). What followed were a quick succession of television guest appearances to test the waters, including roles on a first-season episode of “Chicago Hope” (CBS, 1994-2000) and a second-season episode of “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine;” the latter entitled “The Jem’Hadar,” where he played the first officer of another starship.

Jace made the leap to the big screen with a small part in a major movie - “Forrest Gump” (1994) – where the up-and-comer played a Black Panther leader during the Vietnam portion of the popular Tom Hanks flick. After portraying a Coastguardsman in the Tom Clancy political thriller “Clear & Present Danger” that same year, Jace began racking up time on the silver screen, playing Wade Beemer in the futuristic thriller “Strange Days” (1995), a ticket scalper in the Tony Scott-directed sports thriller, “The Fan” (1996), the manager of a Pep Boys in the PT Anderson ode to 1970s porn, “Boogie Nights,”and Major Frank Santos in Tim Burton’s remake of “Planet of the Apes” (2001).

Like any good working actor, Jace juggled parts in both mediums, continuing to make guest appearances on TV series like “Nash Bridges” (CBS, 1996-2001), “ER” (NBC, 1994- ) and the short-lived “L.A. Doctors” (CBS, 1998-99). Due in equal parts to his uncanny resemblance and his natural athletic ability, Jace landed the role of NBA superstar Michael Jordan in the 1999 made-for-cable television movie, “Michael Jordan: An American Hero.” Although the star of a project for a brief moment, he returned to rotating guest status, beginning with a show that had originally employed him – “NYPD Blue” – this time, playing another character – as well as two episodes of “Judging Amy,” (CBS, 1999-2005) in the first and fourth seasons. Jace was beginning to make a name for himself as a dependable TV actor who could play everything from a brutal cop to a savvy lawyer to a street thug.

In 2002, Jace hit pay dirt when he was selected by executive producer/creator Shawn Ryan, formerly of “Nash Bridges,” for the part of L.A.P.D. officer Julien Lowe on FX network’s controversial new drama, “The Shield.” A Farmington native, the deeply religious and often conflicted Officer Lower struggles to please his senior partner, Officer Danny Sofer (Catherine Dent), throughout the first 4 seasons. Adding to the character’s personal tumult is that he is a gay man, but as a devout Christian, he struggles with an orientation he believes he can “fix” – going so far as to marry a woman whose son he arrested. Ryan had originally planned to kill Jace’s character off by the end of the first season, but was so taken with his quiet, powerful performance, that he elected to keep him around. By the fifth season, Jace’s character had been promoted and now found himself training a young rookie – this time an ineffective female cop, Officer Tina Hanlon (Paula Garcas).

In his “Shield” down time, Jace appeared in the inspirational football drama, “The Gridiron Gang,” along with Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. The story of a correctional facility for boys which forms its own football team was set for release in the fall of 2006.