A top-performing beat cop who just got promoted to detective

A 2010 Tony Award nominee for his Broadway debut in Superior Donuts, Jon Michael Hill got hooked on acting as a first-grader in Waukegan, Illinois, after watching a performance of a story he wrote about his brother getting lost at the zoo. Though playing high school football and saxophone in the band later occupied much of his extracurricular time, it was the school stage where Hill continued to find his true passion.

After attending a summer drama program for high school students at Northwestern University, Hill decided to make his passion his future. He went on to earn a BFA in Acting from the University of Illinois, where his favorite roles included Edgar in King Lear, Paul in Six Degrees of Separation, Pete Gint in Gint, and himself in Ain't Misbehavin'. Still in college, Hill was the youngest ensemble member of the acclaimed Steppenwolf Theater Company in Chicago, which premiered Superior Donuts by Tracy Letts -- the play that later would bring him to Broadway. In addition to scoring a Tony nomination that year, Hill's performance as Franco Wicks in Superior Donuts brought him an Outer Critics Circle Award, Theater World Award and Drama League nomination.

Hill has also won over audiences in New York and Houston as Puck in different stagings of A Midsummer Night's Dream -- Dan Sullivan's production of the Shakespearean classic in New York City's Central Park and Neil Armfield's production of a version by Benjamin Britten at the Houston Grand Opera. Audiences in Atlanta have also cheered him at the Alliance Theater in Tina Landau's production of In the Red and Brown Water.

The Character

Change is coming for Damon Washington. This homegrown kid is making a career change by becoming a homicide detective and he'll be making diaper changes as a brand new daddy. He has a solid track record on the beat and brings his enthusiasm to prove his keep in homicide. Washington anxiously awaits the "baby call" during his first day chasing down killers. His spirit and eagerness serve as a nice compliment to his resourcefulness and smarts.

Washington has to quickly adapt the art of balancing his personal and professional lives. His struggles growing up in Detroit will hopefully prep him for the growing pains he'll get on the job and in his marriage.

We're confident he'll learn and mature with a little guidance. We're just wondering if that'll come from his new partner, Louis Fitch. Time will tell if Washington has what it takes to earn Fitch's respect. We'll also get to see if his positive spirit rubs off on his hardened partner.