Justin Cornwell

Actor

Justin Cornwell was an American actor who had his breakout moment in early 2017 when he joined the cast of the CBS cop drama "Training Day" (CBS, 2017- ). Born in Pennsylvania and raised in both Cleveland and Louisville, Cornwell showed an early interest in performing. He started acting in local plays in middle school and by the time high school rolled around, Cornwell was starring in numerous stage productions put on by his high school each year. As he headed into his late teens, his love of acting only grew. Upon graduation, Cornwell entered the University of Louisville, which was close to home, and continued his acting education. After graduation, and with several years of theatrical acting experience under his belt, Cornwell decided to move to Chicago to pursue his professional acting career in earnest. Shortly upon arrival, Cornwell joined the Chicago Shakespeare Company, and began appearing in several of the company's productions of Shakespeare's plays, most notably "A Midsummer's Night Dream." With his stage acting career on the rise, however, Cornwell longed for prominent acting roles on TV an in the movies. He soon started auditioning for screen roles and before long he was landing parts in regional commercials for companies like Wal-Mart. His first big break came in 2014 when he nabbed a guest spot on the NBC cop drama "Chicago P.D." (NBC, 2014- ). The following year Cornwell appeared in the hit music drama "Empire" (Fox, 2015- ), in addition to landing a small uncredited role in the Spike Lee film "Chi-Raq" (2015). Then in the spring of 2016 Cornwell landed his breakout role on the CBS cop drama "Training Day." The show, which was based on the Academy Award winning 2001 film of the same name, also starred Bill Paxton, and debuted on the network in early 2017.