JOHNELL YOUNG IS BUILDING BEYOND THE BREAKTHROUGH (BOSS XL MAG EXCLUSIVE)

Before the breakthrough roles, Hollywood sets, premieres and recognition, Johnell Young was a young man from Staten Island, New York — shaped by the borough, its culture and the community that raised him.

Those New York roots remain central to Young’s story. Long before audiences around the world would recognize him as Gary “GZA” Grice in Hulu’s Wu-Tang: An American Saga, Staten Island was already helping shape the resilience, discipline and determination he would carry into entertainment.

Young’s Staten Island background is not simply part of his biography. It became intertwined with the role that changed the trajectory of his career. Public profiles identify him as a Staten Island native, while MTV previously featured him discussing both his Staten Island roots and the experience of portraying GZA.

But as Young’s career continues to expand, the conversation is no longer simply about the role that introduced him to a wider audience.

It’s about what he’s building after it.

Becoming GZA

Young made his breakthrough portraying Gary E. Grice, better known as GZA, in Hulu’s critically recognized drama Wu-Tang: An American Saga.

The series ran from 2019 through 2023, with Young appearing across the show’s three-season run as the future Wu-Tang Clan founding member. Hulu’s official press materials list Young among the principal cast, alongside Ashton Sanders, Shameik Moore, Siddiq Saunderson, Dave East, T.J. Atoms and others.

For an actor from Staten Island, the connection carried particular significance.

Young wasn’t merely entering a successful television franchise. He was helping dramatize the history of a musical movement that emerged from the same borough that raised him.

Portraying a living cultural figure also required him to move beyond surface imitation. GZA’s intelligence, quiet intensity and distinctive presence had to become part of a fully realized character rather than simply an impersonation.

The role opened doors, but Young has been deliberate about ensuring it doesn’t become the limit of how audiences see him.

GZA was the breakthrough.

The next challenge was proving there was much more behind it.

Before and After the Breakthrough

Young’s screen career was already underway before Wu-Tang.

His credits include the 2017 Tupac Shakur biopic All Eyez on Me and BET’s anthology series Tales, where he appeared as Woody. His subsequent credits include A Holiday Chance, Secret Society 2: Never Enough, Kold x Windy, Legends of the Highway, End Zone, I Know Where You Live and D.O.P.E. Unit.

That progression is important.

Instead of spending his career repeating variations of the character that first made audiences notice him, Young has continued moving across television and film, taking on roles that allow him to broaden his range.

The objective appears increasingly clear: build a body of work rather than live forever inside one breakthrough.

One Spoon of Chocolate: Returning to the Wu-Tang Creative Universe

One of the most notable additions to Young’s expanding résumé is RZA’s One Spoon of Chocolate.

Written and directed by RZA, the action-thriller stars Shameik Moore alongside RJ Cyler, Paris Jackson, Rockmond Dunbar, E’myri Crutchfield, Blair Underwood, Michael Harney and Young, who portrays Dap.

The film premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 8, 2025, before receiving a U.S. theatrical release on May 1, 2026.

For Young, the project represents an interesting full-circle moment.

The role that helped introduce him internationally came through a dramatization of Wu-Tang’s history. Years later, he is appearing in a feature film written and directed by RZA himself.

But this time Young isn’t portraying another member of the Clan. He’s appearing as Johnell Young, an actor continuing to expand his own filmography.

D.O.P.E. Unit: A New Television Chapter

Young’s newest chapter can be seen in ALLBLK’s crime drama D.O.P.E. Unit.

The series follows the fallout after the murder of a Philadelphia police chief’s son, leading to the formation of a covert D.O.P.E. Unit tasked with taking on the powerful Roth crime organization. Young portrays J’Von Dorsey, appearing as part of an ensemble that includes Erica Peeples, Jhoné Lucas, Robert Ri’chard, Terayle Hill and others.

The role places Young inside another morally complicated world — one built around law enforcement, organized crime, loyalty, secrecy and the consequences of operating within systems where trust can disappear quickly.

For viewers who first discovered him through Wu-Tang: An American Saga, D.O.P.E. Unit offers another opportunity to see the actor separated from GZA and working inside a completely different dramatic environment.

As of August 2026, D.O.P.E. Unit is available through ALLBLK, with viewing options including Philo, the ALLBLK Apple TV channel, the ALLBLK Amazon channel and Spectrum On Demand, depending on subscription and region.

Beyond Acting

The most interesting part of Young’s evolution may ultimately happen beyond the roles themselves.

During his conversation with BOSS XL, Young’s ambitions extended beyond simply being hired for the next project. The larger vision involves creation, ownership and building opportunities that can extend beyond a single acting career.

That’s an important transition for any performer.

Acting gives an artist the opportunity to interpret a story.

Producing and creating offer the opportunity to help decide which stories exist in the first place.

For Young, the progression can be understood simply:

Breakthrough. Evolution. Expansion. Ownership. Legacy.

As his career matures, success increasingly appears connected not only to visibility but to longevity — having a meaningful voice in the work, developing ideas and creating opportunities that aren’t dependent entirely on someone else’s invitation.

Family Changes the Definition of Success

Family also gives that ambition a different meaning.

In his conversation with BOSS XL, Young spoke about fatherhood and the way it has influenced how he thinks about success, responsibility and legacy.

Hollywood often measures achievement through credits, ratings, premieres, followers and awards.

Fatherhood introduces another measurement entirely.

What are you building?

What example are you leaving?

And when the cameras stop rolling, what remains?

For Young, those questions are becoming increasingly connected to the next phase of his career.

The goal isn’t merely to continue appearing on screen.

It’s to build something that lasts.

Staten Island to Hollywood — and Beyond

There’s something fitting about Johnell Young’s journey.

A Staten Island native entered Hollywood and found his breakthrough portraying one of the founding members of one of the most influential musical groups ever to emerge from Staten Island.

Then he kept moving.

His credits now stretch from All Eyez on Me and Tales to Wu-Tang: An American Saga, A Holiday Chance, Secret Society 2: Never Enough, Kold x Windy, Legends of the Highway, One Spoon of Chocolate, End Zone and D.O.P.E. Unit.

But credits only tell part of the story.

The more compelling picture is the man continuing to develop behind them:

A Staten Island son. A father. An actor. An emerging creator. And a man thinking seriously about ownership and legacy.

Wu-Tang: An American Saga will always remain an extraordinary chapter in Johnell Young’s story.

Playing GZA gave millions of viewers a reason to learn his name.

Every project since has given him another opportunity to show them who Johnell Young is.

GZA was the breakthrough. Johnell Young is the evolution. And his legacy is still being written.