Why Davis From Code 8 Looks So Familiar

The 2019 sci-fi film Code 8 has officially dropped on Netflix. A feature-length version of a Canadian short (just 10 minutes of action) by the same name, the new Code 8 offers more drama for fans to indulge in and more time to spend with familiar faces.

The film follows Connor Reed (Robbie Amell), a super-human "Power" whose mother has fallen gravely ill. He's forced to take casual work for which he is poorly paid — if at all — and is soon on the receiving end of a raid by detectives, which sees him and a number of other Powers arrested by police in the chaos after one is killed. Losing hope of saving his mother and finding an unexpected opportunity, Connor is recruited to join a crime syndicate where his supernatural abilities will come in handy; his aim is to make the money he needs to get his mother the treatment that will save her life.

Code 8 also stars includes Kari Matchett as Mary Reed, Arrow star as Connor's brother Garret, Laysla de Oliveira as Maddy, Sung Kang as police officer Park, and Aaron Abrams as his Park's partner, Davis.

Abrams may have had a relatively small role in the film, but audiences have definitely seen his face in a few places before. Here's why Davis from Code 8 looks so familiar.

Aaron Abrams has a long list of credits to his name. The 41-year old Canadian actor has taken supporting roles in both film and television projects over the years — with his first dating all the way back to 2003, in The In-Laws. He made a single appearance as Ralph on the 2003 Tarzan series. 2005 saw him appear as a fan in Cinderella Man, as well as making numerous appearances on television series — including as Kanayo on two episodes of Stargate: Atlantis, a security guard on two episodes of This Is Wonderland, and as Anthony "Tone" Tosetti on an episode of Kojak.

Between 2003 and 2006, Abrams also had a recurring role on Slings And Arrows, appearing on six episodes of the theatrical comedy show as Paul. In 2006, the actor did plenty of work on other shows. He held a role as series regular Matthew Weiss on the miniseries The State Within, a political drama series that lasted just six episodes, and another recurring role as Tannen on the Donnie Wahlberg-led series Runaway. The drama also only lasted a single season of 10 episodes before it was pulled from the air; Abrams appeared on the first six episodes.

The following years saw Abrams take on a number of extra roles on television series such as Little Mosque on the Prairie and Love You To Death (2007), M.V.P. (2008), and Flashpoint and The Dating Guy (2009). He then landed a recurring role as Simon Nolan on Producing Parker (2009-2011) and as Detective Donovan Boyd on Rookie Blue (2010-2011).

After that, Abrams appeared in smaller roles on some bigger name shows — including NCIS: Los Angeles in 2011, NCIS in 2014, CSI: Cyber in 2015, Murder in the First in 2016, and even Grey's Anatomy in 2017.

One of Abrams' biggest roles to date came on Hannibal, the NBC horror series led by Mads Mikkelsen in the titular role of cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter. On 27 episodes of the show (which lasted for only 39 episodes), Abrams portrayed crime scene investigator Brian Zeller, who had plenty of sass to offer up on screen. Abrams' Zeller was one of the more mentally stable characters on Hannibal, and provided some much-needed reprieve alongside his on-screen partner Jimmy Price (Scott Thompson). 

Speaking about the role to Scream Horror Mag, Abrams shared that he and Thompson found humor in all the madness going on around their characters. "I think that it became that way, where we were a little bit like Rosencrantz and Guildenstern where the craziness is happening around us and we're sort of commenting on it from within it, which was really fun to do," said Abrams. "Especially with Scott, where there's such great chemistry there and he's obviously hilarious. They were crazy in their own way, I think. If there was some secret craziness to them, it would almost have been too much."

Another major role on Abrams' resume is that of Congressman Matthew Weitz on Blindspot, a recurring role he's held since 2016. While his appearances were patchy over the first few seasons, in 2019 and 2020, he appeared on most episodes of the crime drama series. Abrams' character is a love interest for Tasha Zapata (Audrey Esparza) and an assistant US attorney. Matthew isn't exactly the nicest guy, but it's a role Abrams loves playing because of his character's attitude. 

More recently, Abrams has done voice-acting for the Spider-Man TV series of shorts that aired on DisneyXD, on which he played a number of different roles across three episodes. When we say "extra," we mean it: Abrams' characters on the show weren't even named — with him lending his voice to a tinkerer, a policeman, and an old man.

The actor also took a recurring role on The Oath in 2018. For five episodes, Abrams got to sink his teeth into another arrogant character in the form of David Shankman. Deadline describes the character as the "young hotshot CEO of Helixa Corporation" — a rich kid who turned into a richer adult who's trying to cut corners to get his drug on the market with or without approval from the FDA. His readiness to deal with drug lords to do so sets the events of the first season of The Oath in motion. 

Aside from his role in 2019's Code 8, Abrams also appeared as a guest star on the Baroness Von Sketch Show for a single episode that year.