Introduction
John Woods III is an American actor, singer, rapper, writer and performer who has built his career through theater, television, film and other creative projects. Originally from Columbia, Maryland, he began pursuing acting at the age of 14 and later studied the craft professionally at Howard University. He graduated in 2022 with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting from Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts. His work has included stage productions, television programs, short films and other screen projects.
Woods III has developed a diverse professional background rather than concentrating on only one type of entertainment. His theater credits include Aftermath, Daydream, Death and the King’s Horseman, and Beat Bugs: A Musical Adventure. He has also appeared in projects such as Dakota, Copycat Killers, BET Her Presents: The Waiting Room, Babyface, Nosebleed, Play This at MY Funeral, and The Baltimore Barber.
Who Is John Woods III?
John Woods III is a multidisciplinary American performer whose work includes acting, music and writing. IMDb identifies him as an actor, producer and writer and describes him as an actor, singer/rapper and writer. His professional biography states that he grew up in Columbia, Maryland, where he began working in television, film and theater at 14.
His career has developed through a combination of formal training and practical experience. Theater played an especially important role in his early professional development, giving him opportunities to perform different types of characters while working with established institutions and productions.
Woods III is also sometimes listed under the alternative name John L. Woods III. This distinction is useful because some of his earlier screen credits appear under that version of his name.
Early Life and Beginning of His Acting Career
John Woods III is from Columbia, Maryland. His professional biography says he began his career in television, film and theater at the age of 14. Starting at that age gave him an early opportunity to explore performance before deciding to pursue acting as a formal profession.
Details about his childhood and family life are not extensively documented in major public sources. Instead, available biographies focus primarily on his education and professional development. This relatively limited personal information is consistent with an actor whose public profile has been built mainly around his work.
His early experience eventually led him toward formal theater training. By the time he attended Howard University, he was already developing professional experience in several areas of performance.
Education at Howard University
Howard University became one of the most important institutions in Woods III’s career. He studied acting at the university’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts and graduated with a BFA in Acting in 2022. His professional biography identifies actress and educator Phylicia Rashad as one of his mentors during his studies.
Howard’s Senior Acting Showcase materials describe Woods III as a senior Acting major from Columbia, Maryland. The program also highlights the range of his theatrical experience and screen work while he was completing his degree.
His time at Howard was particularly significant because he was able to combine academic training with professional performance opportunities. During his university years, he worked on productions associated with venues and organizations such as the Lucille Lortel Theatre, Kennedy Center, Shakespeare Theatre Company and Red Branch Theatre Company.
The university environment also connected Woods III with the legacy of Chadwick Boseman. Howard renamed its College of Fine Arts after Boseman in 2021, and Woods III was among the students who later participated in a public tribute connected with the Academy Awards nomination announcement.
John Woods III’s Theater Career
Theater has been a central part of Woods III’s training and professional background. His Howard University profile lists several notable stage roles, including John in Aftermath, Mercer Ellington in Daydream, Joseph in Death and the King’s Horseman, and Jay in Beat Bugs: A Musical Adventure.
His role in Aftermath was associated with the Lucille Lortel Theatre, while his performance as Mercer Ellington in Daydream was connected with the Kennedy Center. He also played Joseph in a staged reading of Wole Soyinka’s Death and the King’s Horseman in collaboration with the Shakespeare Theatre Company.
Another important theater credit was Beat Bugs: A Musical Adventure. Woods III was part of the original cast for the regional production and touring cast through Red Branch Theatre Company. This experience gave him an opportunity to work within musical theater and touring performance.
These roles show the range of theatrical work he experienced before and around the beginning of his screen career. They included contemporary drama, historical figures, classical African theater and musical performance.
Television and Film Work
Alongside theater, Woods III has developed experience in television and film. Howard University reported that his credits included Reelz’s Copycat Killers, as well as feature films, commercials and short films. The university specifically mentioned Coyote in Inglewood, Comcast’s BTheOne, and Dakota.
His IMDb credits have since expanded. They include Dakota, BET Her Presents: The Waiting Room, Copycat Killers, Play This at MY Funeral, Master of None, Babyface, Eurydice, Nosebleed, and The Baltimore Barber.
In BET Her Presents: The Waiting Room, Woods III played Derrick in an episode of the series. IMDb lists the appearance as a 2020 episode. His Copycat Killers credit is listed under the name John L. Woods III, where he played Jason.
His film work has similarly included different types of productions. Dakota is among his earlier screen credits, while later short-film projects such as Babyface, Nosebleed and Play This at MY Funeral have added to his growing filmography.
John Woods III and the 2022 Oscar Nominations
One of the most recognizable moments in Woods III’s early public career came during the 2022 Academy Awards nominations. While he was a student at Howard University, he presented the nominees for Best Actor during the nomination announcement.
The announcement had a special connection to Howard University because the institution had named its College of Fine Arts after Chadwick Boseman. Phylicia Rashad participated in the presentation and discussed Boseman’s connection with Howard and his influence on students. Woods III then read the Best Actor nominees.
The nominees he announced included Javier Bardem for Being the Ricardos, Benedict Cumberbatch for The Power of the Dog, Andrew Garfield for Tick, Tick … Boom!, Will Smith for King Richard, and Denzel Washington for The Tragedy of Macbeth.
The appearance was significant because Woods III was still completing his acting education at the time. It placed a Howard University acting student in a nationally visible Academy Awards event while also connecting his work with the legacy of one of the university’s most famous acting alumni.
The Baltimore Barber and Recent Acting Work
One of Woods III’s recent screen credits is The Baltimore Barber, a six-minute drama directed and written by Chaseedaw Giles. Woods III plays Scooter, one of the film’s principal characters alongside Chaun Tucker.
The short film follows a West Baltimore barber who mentors a hopeful teenager. As the story progresses, the audience learns that Scooter has already died, turning the barber’s role into something connected with grief and the preparation of the dead. The film addresses themes involving grief, gun violence and community.
The film was included in the 2026 Virtual Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase. The festival listing identifies Woods III and Chaun Tucker as the lead actors and credits Chaseedaw Giles as director and writer.
The project represents a more dramatic side of Woods III’s screen work. His role as Scooter requires the audience to experience the character’s hopes and ambitions before the story reveals the tragedy surrounding him.
Music, Writing and Other Creative Interests
Acting is not the only area of entertainment associated with Woods III. His professional biography describes him as a singer, rapper and writer in addition to being an actor, producer and performer.
This broader creative background helps explain the variety of projects in which he has participated. His theater experience has included musical performance, while his interest in writing and music gives him additional ways to express himself creatively.
Being involved in several artistic disciplines can also provide performers with opportunities to work behind and in front of the camera. Woods III’s career so far demonstrates an interest in developing a broad entertainment profile rather than limiting himself to one category.
Because his professional career is still developing, there is limited public information about some of his personal creative projects. The strongest available information comes from his acting credits, university biography and professional listings.
Upcoming Projects and Future Career
IMDb currently lists Woods III as Troy in Theater Kids vs. Zombies, a musical-comedy micro-series associated with Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Justin Mikita. The project is listed as being in pre-production.
The project fits several parts of his background because it combines acting and musical comedy. His previous experience in Beat Bugs: A Musical Adventure also gave him experience in a musical-theater environment.
IMDb also lists him in Redo as a restaurant patron, with the project listed as post-production. These projects indicate that his work has continued to expand after his graduation from Howard University.
Another recent project, What Happened to Jackson?, lists Woods III as Q. The project’s campaign describes him as an actor, singer, rapper and writer and notes his Howard University background and previous appearances in Dakota, Copycat Killers and The Baltimore Barber.
John Woods III’s Career Development
John Woods III’s career reflects a progression from early acting experience in Maryland to formal training and professional work across several entertainment formats. He began performing at 14, studied acting at Howard University, and graduated with a BFA in 2022.
His university years were especially productive because they included both academic development and professional theater opportunities. By the time he graduated, he had already accumulated credits in stage productions, television, film, commercials and short films.
Since graduation, he has continued appearing in screen projects, including Babyface, Nosebleed, Play This at MY Funeral, The Baltimore Barber and other productions. His participation in the 2022 Academy Awards nominations also gave him an unusual early connection with one of the entertainment industry’s most recognizable events.
His professional trajectory remains in progress, and his expanding credits show continued work across theater, television, film, music and short-form entertainment.
Conclusion
John Woods III is an American multidisciplinary performer whose career has grown from early acting experiences in Columbia, Maryland, into professional work across theater, television and film. He began acting at 14 and later earned a BFA in Acting from Howard University’s Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts in 2022.
His theater credits include Aftermath, Daydream, Death and the King’s Horseman and Beat Bugs: A Musical Adventure, while his screen credits include Dakota, Copycat Killers, BET Her Presents: The Waiting Room, Babyface, Nosebleed, Play This at MY Funeral and The Baltimore Barber.
His appearance during the 2022 Academy Awards nomination announcement was another notable point in his early career. As a Howard student, he announced the Best Actor nominees during a presentation that also honored the legacy of Howard alumnus Chadwick Boseman.
With recent and upcoming projects continuing to add to his résumé, Woods III is developing a career that combines acting with music and writing. His story so far reflects formal training, extensive theater experience and an expanding presence in film and television.
