Francois Battiste

Francois Battiste is an award-winning actor known for his work in theatre, television, and film. He most recently appears as Captain Randolph Southard in Academy Award winning William Friedkin's final film: The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial (Showtime). As FBI Special Agent Curtis McCrary he appears in a four-episode arc on NBC's Law & Order Organized Crime, and SVU. He was a series regular on ABC's 10 Days in the Valley opposite Kyra Sedgewick. Other television credits include: Godfather of Harlem (MGM+), New Amsterdam (NBC), Station 19 (ABC), EVIL (CBS), The Family (ABC), The Normal Heart with Mark Ruffalo (HBO), Person of Interest (CBS), Are We There Yet? (TBS), and The Good Wife (CBS). Film: Men in Black III, A Long Walk, You Bury Your Own, Delivering the Goods, and One Week.

His most recent project was creating the role of Colonel Jock Martin, alongside an exceptional ensemble of creatives in the World Premiere production of HERE WE ARE the final musical by the incomparable Stephen Sondheim, written by David Ives, and directed by Tony Award winning director Joe Mantello.

Francois also played the role of Malcolm X in the London premier of One Night in Miami written by Academy Award winning author Kemp Powers, and directed by the Artistic Director of the Young Vic Theatre Kwame Kwei Armah at the Donmar Warehouse, which received a 2017 Olivier nomination for Best Play. Prior to that, he received the OBIE Award, Lucille Lortel nomination, and AUDELCO nomination for his performance in the Pulitzer Prize finalist play The Good Negro directed by Liesl Tommy at the Public Theatre. Broadway: Reggie Jackson in the Bronx Bombers, Prelude to a Kiss directed by Dan Sullivan, and Magic/Bird directed by Thomas Kail. Broadway National Tour: TONY Award winning production of August Wilson's Jitney. Off-Broadway: Head of Passes by Academy Award winning author Tarell Alvin McCraney with Phylicia Rashad, Broke-ology (AUDELCO nomination) directed by Thomas Kail at Lincoln Center, Dominique Morriseu's Paradise Blue directed by Ruben Santiago Hudson at the Signature, Detroit '67 at the Public, New York City's Shakespeare in the Park: The Winter's Tale directed by Michael Greif & The Merchant of Venice with Al Pacino.

Francois recently received the 2023 AUDELCO award for Best Leading Actor for his starring role as Walter Lee Younger in A Raisin in the Sun at The Public Theater. He appeared alongside his, then, ten year old son, Toussaint F. Battiste, who was making his stage debut as Travis Younger. This production received the 2023 Lucille Lortel Award for Best Revival, and was directed by the TONY-nominated director Robert O' Hara.

Other Regional credits include Ebenezer Scrooge in the 5-time TONY Award winning production of A Christmas Carol adapted by Jack Thorne, and directed by Matthew Warchus at the Golden Gate Theatre in San Francisco. Other notable productions have been at New York Stage and Film, Williamstown, Sundance, Chicago Shakespeare, The Goodman Theatre, Victory Gardens, Lookingglass, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, Dallas Theatre Center, Berkeley Rep, The Old Globe, The Mark Taper Forum, and Seattle Rep

Francois is a graduate of the Juilliard School where he became the first African American to win the John Housman Award for excellence in Classical Theatre. He's also a graduate of the British American Drama Academy at Oxford University. He received his undergraduate degree from Illinois State University where, in 2021 he was inducted into the ISU College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame.