Why Tevin From Raising Dion Season 2 Looks So Familiar

One of the most prominent newcomers in Netflix's "Raising Dion" Season 2 is BIONA employee Tevin Wakefield (Rome Flynn). He's arguably the most straightforward example of a superhero archetype the show's introduced since Dion (Ja'Siah Youn) and Mark Warren (Michael B. Jordan). In fact, since the former is still a kid and the latter more of a science hero type despite his powers, Tevin's Olympic-level athleticism and force field powers might fit the bill better than either ... and, as it turns out, he even catches the eye of Dion's mom, Nicole (Alisha Wainwright.)

Picking up the mentor and love interest roles previously occupied by a Michael B. Jordan character is no easy feat. However, fresh-faced as he may be, Flynn is actually a seasoned acting veteran with plenty of notable roles under his belt. Because of this, there's a very good chance that you've seen him in one of his numerous high-profile projects before. Let's take a look at why the man playing Tevin in "Raising Dion" Season 2 looks so familiar. 

From 2015 to 2017, Rome Flynn portrayed Zende Forrester Dominguez, the adoptive son of Kristen Forrester (Tracy Melchior) and Tony Dominguez (Paulo Benedeti). Flynn "only" appeared in a little over 190 episodes of the show, as opposed to the most seasoned "The Bold and the Beautiful" vets, whose episode counts are measured by the thousand. However, thanks to the magic of daytime drama recasting, Zende's tenure in the soap is considerably longer. In fact, Zende was originally portrayed by Daniel Smith, and Flynn took over as the grown-up version of the character a decade after his predecessor's last appearance. Likewise, when Flynn departed the role, Zende was absent for a few years — and in 2020, the character returned, now portrayed by Delon de Metz. 

Flynn can't have been an easy act to follow, though. After all, he was so good that in 2018, he won a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Younger Actor in a Drama Series for playing Zende (via IMDb). 

In 2018, Rome Flynn turned up in the Season 4 finale of ABC's legal thriller "How to Get Away With Murder." He plays Gabriel Maddox, a character who becomes a major player in the show as a member of Annalise Keating's (Viola Davis) legal clinic, and due to his personal background and secret goals. 

In a 2020 interview with Pop Culturalist, Flynn reflected on the biggest moment of his career at that point, and ended up splitting the answer between his Daytime Emmy win and his role in "How to Get Away With Murder," which gave him the opportunity to work with Davis and the rest of the show's cast, as well as taught him a whole new level of professionalism.

"I was really obsessed about everything revolving around this character and being on the show," Flynn said. "It taught me really good work habits, being on a schedule, and being a series regular on a show like this! You don't have a lot of room for mistakes. You have to be prepared and on point."

In February 2021, Deadline announced that Rome Flynn was joining the cast of Netflix's college comedy-drama "Dear White People" for its fourth and final season. Flynn plays David, an integral part of Coco Conners' (Antoinette Robertson) storyline in the show's final season. In an interview with Mud, Flynn was quick to note how delighted he was to be able to be a part of the series. 

"[Dear White People] was a very unique project," he said. "I feel very lucky and humble for being able to be on it, for being a part of its history. That show has a lot of lineage and was immensely prominent since its first season." 

However, he does have one very, very minor gripe about his own character in the show's musically inclined final season (per Baller Alert). "I didn't get to sing that much. I only sang a concise part of a scene, but it was still cool. I wish I could've had more opportunity to be more involved in that aspect, but that's not what they wanted for this character."

With all these shows and more in his ever-expanding résumé, it's probably safe to say that you'll hear a lot more from Flynn in the future.