Why Darryl Reid From Blue Bloods Looks So Familiar

There are many police officers in CBS' hit police drama "Blue Bloods." Some of them are stand-up people, others less so — and a handful manage to be both at the same time.

Take Darryl Reid, Danny Reagan's (Donnie Wahlberg) old partner who turns up on the show's Season 6 episode "Flags of Our Fathers," for example. Much to Danny's surprise, the otherwise affable Darryl is facing prison time for tampering with a nasty homicide case's evidence, which puts Danny in a difficult position ... especially since he knows that the guy Darryl has framed is absolutely guilty.

Darryl eventually returns for the "Blue Bloods" Season 14 opener, "Loyalty Part 1," where he is once again played by Malik Yoba. The three-time NAACP Image Award winner is a perfect choice to play the role of a morally gray police officer, thanks to his experience portraying characters who face difficult situations and decisions. Despite his comparatively small role in "Blue Bloods," the actor's lengthy Hollywood career may very well cause fans of the police procedural to wonder why Yoba's face seems so familiar. Here are some of his best-known film and TV roles.

Malik Yoba's very first screen credit was in the 1993 classic, "Cool Runnings." Beloved by critics and audiences alike, the sports comedy was inspired by the true story of four Jamaican men who recruit former bobsledding champion Irv Blitzer (John Candy) to train them to become their country's first Olympic bobsledding team.

Yoba plays Yul Brenner, an ambitious, hard-as-nails sprinter who dislikes fellow team member Junior Bevil (Rawle D. Lewis) for accidentally tripping him during their 1988 Summer Olympics tryouts, but eventually forms an unlikely friendship with his enemy turned teammate. The captain of the real-life Jamaican bobsled team that "Cool Runnings" is based on has pointed out that the film gets some things wrong, but it's still considered one of the best movies ever made about the Olympics.

In addition to giving Yoba a bona fide cult classic to kick off his acting career, it also allowed him to meet Candy, who died soon after the movie was released, and to learn a lesson from the comedy legend's personal struggle to remain relevant despite his stellar reputation. "He was 42 at that point and had never taken a vacation in his professional career," Yoba told The Independent of his experience working with Candy. "He said it was because he was afraid he'd never work again. That always stuck with me."

One of Malik Yoba's longest-running roles was on the Dick Wolf police procedural "New York Undercover." Yoba plays the main character, the worn-down but determined single father J.C. Williams, throughout the show's run from 1994 to 1999. His time on the Fox series wasn't without controversy, however, as he and co-lead Michael DeLorenzo clashed with Wolf over several issues. It eventually escalated to the point where the actors briefly no-showed on set during the making of "New York Undercover" Season 3.

The reported points of contention spanned disputes over salary and working conditions, the amount of creative influence the actors wanted, and their frustration over the show's relative lack of promotion. While the stars' demands were ultimately not met, and the comments they and Wolf made about the situation seemed worlds apart, both Yoba and DeLorenzo ultimately returned to the fold. "It's better for me to stay on this platform," Yoba told the Los Angeles Times in 1996. "There are a lot of things I want to do. This is not about entertainment. We can shift social norms with this show."

Ultimately, however, the show didn't get as much time to spread its message as Yoba might have hoped. Season 3 was followed by a shortened Season 4, after which the show joined the ranks of canceled 1990s cop shows.

Any "Empire" character who gets caught in the Lyon family's various power plays is due for some seriously bad times. One of the first major characters who finds this out in Fox's record company drama is Malik Yoba's Vernon Turner, Lucious Lyon's (Terrence Howard) close friend and chairman of Empire Entertainment.

A notable presence throughout the show's first season, Vernon's calm and collected nature belies his true self as a duplicitous and violent man, who we learn is the person who informs authorities of Lucious' role in the death of Bunkie Williams (Antoine McKay). By the end of "Empire" Season 1, he permanently exits the show via a fatal encounter with Rhonda (Kaitlin Doubleday) and Andre Lyon (Trai Byers).

In an interview with The A.V. Club, Yoba revealed a fascinating behind-the-scenes tidbit about how he landed his "Empire" role. He joined the show because he was a fan of co-creator Lee Daniels' (who has produced movies like "Monster's Ball," "The Woodsman," "Precious," and "The Butler") and ended up getting a massive compliment from him. "We were just having a conversation, and [Daniels] said, 'You've been in this business for all of these years, how do you still put yourself through this process of auditioning?'" Yoba recalled. "He said, 'They're making me do this. If it was up to me, I wouldn't make you go through this process. I know you. I know your work.' I said, 'I wish I could record you saying this right now.' But of course he wouldn't let me do it."

In 2016, Malik Yoba joined the cast of ABC's "Designated Survivor," a political drama where Secretary of Urban Housing and Development Tom Kirkman (Kiefer Sutherland) unexpectedly becomes the President of the United States after a terror attack at the Capitol Building kills every other high-level government official. Yoba plays FBI Deputy Director Jason Atwood, an important character whose life slowly unravels throughout the show's first season.

Atwood is a prominent figure in FBI Agent Hannah Wells' (Maggie Q) storyline about the investigation of the Capitol attack. He also has an extremely personal stake in the greater game because his son Luke (Lyric Justice) has been kidnapped by the perpetrators. 

Much like his experience with Lee Daniels on "Empire," Yoba discovered that the person behind "Designated Survivor," David Guggenheim, knew and admired his résumé before they worked together. "Sometimes you have producers tell you 'I'm a huge fan, I'm a huge fan.' But David Guggenheim, I have so much love for this dude," the actor told CNN Entertainment. "He's the type of fan who remembers your dialogue from his favorite roles you've done. That was a shock."

Yoba has also appeared in dozens of other television shows, including guest-star stints in lauded series like "Justified" and "The Good Wife." He also has plenty of recurring and starring roles in his acting CV. He was part of the main cast on the Wall Street drama "Bull" as Corey Granville. He played bounty hunter-slash-caterer Ice on "Arrested Development." He was the superpowered Bill Harken on Syfy's sci-fi drama "Alphas," Jim Hudson in "Supernatural" and "The Boys" creator Eric Kripke's "Revolution," and Wavy in the Jordan Peele-created comedy show "The Last O.G.," among many other roles.

Malik Yoba is also known for his work in many movie projects, including the 1997 police drama "Cop Land," in which he appeared alongside A-listers Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro, as well as the Tyler Perry comedy "Why Did I Get Married?" and its sequel, "Why Did I Get Married, Too?" He's also played police chief Sam Johnson in the 2022 drama "The Good Nurse," opposite Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne.

"To me, acting is simple," Malik Yoba told CNN Entertainment. "People put other things in front of it, but it's staying in truth." Perhaps it's because of this philosophy that the actor has been able to work so consistently since his first job in "Cool Runnings."