One Chicago performer of the week: Mykelti Williamson, Chicago PD

Our One Chicago Performer of the Week for the week of February 6 is Chicago PD guest star Mykelti Williamson for his work in the episode Anthem.

It’s time to name another One Chicago Performer of the Week, and this week we’re doing it a bit differently as we recognize Chicago PD recurring guest actor Mykelti Williamson.

This is the first POTW award we’ve ever given out to a guest performer, but Mykelti Williamson put on an outstanding performance in “Anthem” that caught our eye.

Denny Woods is never going to be any One Chicago fan’s favorite character. Not with the way he tried to frame Hank Voight last season, and has now been a menace through all of this season.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Mykelti is a great actor. TV fans will recognize him from his starring role as an LAPD cop on NBC‘s Boomtown, as well as roles on 24 and Justified.

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“Anthem” gave him his biggest amount of screen time this season, as well as a look at the life of Denny Woods outside of his obsession with taking down Voight.

We learned that he had a daughter, Brianna, when she became a key witness in the shooting death of a fellow college student. We saw Woods as a father, when he tried to protect his daughter to a fault, then tried to knock some sense into her when she wasn’t getting out of trouble.

It was a welcome difference from the Denny Woods who was just on Chicago PD to cause trouble (even if that one reared his head by the end of the episode) and it was the first time since he’d been introduced that One Chicago fans really got to see the full range of Mykelti Williamson’s talent.

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He’s an actor with an incredible amount of presence; that’s what makes him so good for the show, is that we honestly believe he can hold his own with the large personality of Jason Beghe‘s Hank Voight. He’s a worthy adversary.

(Can you believe that Voight and Woods used to be partners? It’s hard to imagine that these two ever liked each other, yet alone were able to work closely together for several years. How quickly things change.)

But with Woods being so focused on taking out Voight, Chicago PD season 5 hasn’t given us the full picture. He shows up, makes the situation worse somehow, and leaves. With “Anthem” we got to be reminded that Denny Woods is a human being—a person and a father in addition to being Voight’s adversary. And Mykelti Williamson took that opportunity and ran with it.

Now will we get to see any more of that this season? Only time will tell, but we enjoyed getting a glimpse at a whole other side of a relatively unexplored character.

Next: Updated Chicago PD season 5 ratings

Congratulations to Chicago PD‘s Mykelti Williamson for being our Performer of the Week! Which One Chicago actor stood out to you this week? Let us know in the comments.

Chicago PD airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on NBC.

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