Mehcad Brooks

Biography:

Mehcad American actor and former fashion model Jason McKinley Brooks was born on October 25, 1980. He is well-known for his parts as James Olsen in the CBS/The CW series Supergirl, Terrance “TK” King in the USA series Necessary Roughness (2011–2013), Jerome in The Game, “Eggs” Benedict Talley in the first and second seasons of HBO’s True Blood, and Matthew Applewhite in the second season of ABC’s Desperate Housewives (2005–2006). He played NYPD Detective Jalen Shaw, one of the main characters in the NBC police procedural show Law & Order, from 2022 until 2025.

Brooks attended L.C. Anderson High School in Austin, Texas, where he was born and reared. Brooks is the son of former professional football player Billy Brooks and editorial writer Alberta Phillips of the Austin American-Statesman. His stepfather is attorney Gary Bledsoe. He enrolled in the University of Southern California’s School of Cinema-Television following his high school graduation in 1999. On a September 2010 broadcast of The Wendy Williams Show, Brooks stated that he chose to attend USC over Ivy League basketball scholarships and offers. He then departed to seek a career in acting.