Parker Sawyers

Parker Sawyers Photo

PARKER SAWYERS

Date of Birth: 1983

Parker Sawyers is an American actor whose breakthrough role as Barack Obama in the drama Southside With You would mark him as one of the most in-demand actors of today.

Parker was born and raised in Indianapolis, Indiana, where his mother was a Republican city official. He began his career as a model in Chicago, where he was often compared to new President Barack Obama. Parker told The Telegraph that he would often wear baseball caps in order to avoid the confusion. However, this uncanny likeness would eventually help young Parker land the most important role of his career.

In 2012, Parker earned a one-episode guest role on the Netflix crime drama LilyHammer. That same year, he made his feature film debut in the dramedy Hyde Park on Hudson, which starred Bill Murray and Laura Linney, followed by a small role in the Oscar-winning war drama Zero Dark Thirty (2012). Over the next couple of years, the budding actor struggled to find work that would increase his star profile, earning bit roles in such films as Austenland (2013) and Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014), as well as a starring role in the little-known action flick Survivor(2015).

The tide began to turn for Parker when he was cast in the role that would change his life — as a young Barack Obama in Southside With You (2016). The dramatic biopic chronicles President Obama's early years as a law associate trying to win the heart of a young lawyer named Michelle Robinson (Tika Sumpter).

The year 2016 was a busy one for this up-and-coming actor. Not only did he star in Southside With You, but he also appeared in the independent sci-fi flick The Call Up, the biopic Snowden, the war dramas Sand Castle and Megan Leavey, and the horror flicks The Autopsy of Jane Doe, and Don't Hang Up.

Parker currently resides in London, England with his wife.

Filmography:

Don't Hang Up (2016)
The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
Megan Leavey (2016)
Sand Castle (2016)
Snowden (2016)
The Call Up (2016)
Southside With You (2016)
Survivor (2015)
Monsters: Dark Continent (2014)
Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit (2014)
Kick-Ass 2 (2013)
Austenland (2013)
Zero Dark Thirty (2012)
Hyde Park on Hudson (2012)