Biography

Born and raised in the "City of Brotherly Love," Philadelphia, PA; Tomas Boykin was born to a musician father and a stay at home mom. It could be said that the trajectory of Boykin's career as a creative was set early in childhood. He was encouraged to act in plays as early as the 3rd grade. "I was fortunate in that I had a few teachers in the Philly public school system who were also creatives and pretty active in the Philadelphia theatre scene when I was coming up. With my parents also encouraging me to express myself through the arts, performing in school plays seemed like a natural segue." By the end of his college career, which by the way was pre-law with a major in criminal justice, Boykin's resume included "A Chorus Line," "Pippin," "Finians Rainbow," "Oklahoma" and "The Little Foxes" as well as many other musical productions. Boykin trained and performed professionally in both Philly and NYC where he acted in all kinds of productions including children's theatre, community theatre, theatre in the park, dinner theatre, regional tours, national tours in addition to numerous Off Broadway productions. Having done quite a few short films in New York many of which were avant-garde and experimental, but nonetheless thoroughly enjoyable collaborations, a pivotal move to Los Angeles via the Actors Equity Association's (LORT) lottery seemed logical. However, Boykin's long career as an "actor on the boards" continued with award winning performances in Sheri Bailey's theatrical adaptation of Nella Larsen's novel "Passing" where he originated the role of Albert Brickhouse at LA's historic Towne Street Theatre in 1997/98 and a decade later playing the role of Crooks in John Steinbeck's classic "Of Mice and Men" at Theatre Banshee in Burbank, CA. Ever the ascending, journeyman actor, Boykin's onscreen credits include his feature film debut in 1999's "Among Thieves," "Haunting of Winchester House," 20th Century Fox's riveting religious drama "I Am," "Voodoo Possession," "Lazarus Rising," "Junkie," the multi-award winning anti-apartheid thriller "Elegy for a Revolutionary," Rob Zombie's "3 From Hell" and 2022's "The Munsters." Boykin's most recent feature film credit is the critically acclaimed SXSW2024 standout "Dead Mail." TV credits include Fox Networks "Lucky Chance," NBC's "Parenthood" and ABC's "How To Get Away with Murder."