Charles Michael Davis

Actor Charles Michael Davis, with Asian and African-American roots, started out as a model, but began winning one-off TV spots in 2005. Davis gained little screen time until 2011, when he appeared in a recurring part on the football-centric series "The Game" (The CW/BET, 2006-09/2011-15) and on numerous episodes of the teen drama "Switched at Birth" (ABC Family, 2011-17).

In 2013, he became an in-demand presence, with stints on "The Client List" (Lifetime, 2012-13) and "Grey's Anatomy" (ABC, 2005- ). That year, his appearance on "The Vampire Diaries" (The CW, 2009-17) proved to be a backdoor pilot to "The Originals" (The CW, 2013- ), a supernatural series that featured him as the powerful vampire Marcel. With this regular role, Davis was finally able to put his charisma behind a major character, making him a significant player in youth-oriented television.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, to a mother from the Philippines and an African-American father, Davis began his career in the entertainment industry as a model in prints ads and TV commercials, but graduated to guest spots on various shows by the time he was in his early 20s. He first garnered more than passing attention in 2011 as football player Kwan Kirkland on select episodes of the sports-oriented drama series "The Game," and followed it up with a brief stint on the teen-angst show "Switched at Birth."

Davis really hit his stride, however, in 2013. Beginning the year as another hunky-doctor addition to "Grey's Anatomy," he popped up temporarily on "The Client List," much to the delight of Lifetime audiences. However, Davis had his biggest break as a notable new arrival in a spring episode of "The Vampire Diaries." This installment introduced his ruthless vampire character, Marcel, who wages a bitter feud with the ages-old Mikaelson family of fellow bloodsuckers.

In fall of 2013, Marcel returned as a key figure in "The Originals," which relates the further exploits of the fanged schemer and his paranormal-powered rivals.