He grew up on rough inner city streets, he was a scrapper by nature. He started disciplined fighting (martial arts) when he was very young, and was always mistaken for being much older than his years. White's dynamic presence reeks of the self-control and self-discipline of a man who's learned to harness the energy of his inner beast, making it a powerful ally of self-preservation rather than a demon of self-destruction.

BORN TO PROTECT THE WEAK
Born in Brooklyn, Michael Jai White grew up fast on the mean streets of New York. "I loved to fight," says Michael, "but I always went after bullies who pushed their weight around. To this day, anybody who abuses authority and power over someone else gets to me." Michael thinks maybe he had a "superhero complex" because he befriended kids who couldn't defend themselves--"the nerdiest of the nerds"--and accepted that it was his mission to protect them.

Michael started martial arts training at around age eight, while he was still living in New York. Then his mother moved the family to Bridgeport, Connecticut when he was 11, and he began training with an all-Japan champion, who was running a dojo in nearby Fairfield.

Because Michael was a big kid for his age (at 12, he was already 6-ft. tall), his Japanese instructors placed him in the adult classes, which were very stringent. "If the instructor didn't think you were trying hard enough, he would crack you across the thigh or your back with a stick. It may sound barbaric, but with training like that, you pull out a part of yourself and discipline that no other martial arts really gives to you." Michael explained that gradually the school became more Westernized and some of the tougher practices were dropped. But by then, he had already gotten his first black belt at age 12!

A LEGEND IN HIS OWN TIME
By the time he was 13, Michael was 6'1" and weighed 195 lbs., and at 14, his height topped out at 6'2". He was already teaching karate at a couple of community centers and the YMCA, and managed to get around town with a fake ID. It was not White's intention to deceive; it's just that he got tired of trying to convince people of his actual age. "I got to be an undercover adult," Michael chuckles as he remembers some of his best charades.

Michael continued his martial arts studies through high school, also participating in track and field, and for a time, was a member of the football team. "But I got into a fight with the football coach. He was a guy who I felt abused his authority. He made some derogatory remarks about my race so I stuffed him in a locker." Needless to say, Michael was thrown off the football team, but his superhero antics were already becoming legendary, not only at school but throughout the community. "People who didn't know me would walk up and ask me if I knew Michael White. I would say 'no' and then they would tell me all kinds of amazing stories--about how huge Michael White was, how dangerous he was, that he had jumped over a school bus, how he and his friend Dutchie had beaten up 75 people, and so on."

Michael was in and out of college, attending Southern Connecticut University, University of Connecticut, and taking a few acting classes at Yale. During this time, he also took on a "permanent substitute" teacher position for emotionally disturbed (ED) children, when their regular teacher was hospitalized by one of the students. White soon discovered he had a gift for reaching these kids, because by the end of the year, their academic performance was up to curriculum.

HIS ACTING CAREER TAKES OFF
In 1992, after his son Devin was born, Michael decided it was time to set out for California and pursue his acting career, marry his fianc�e, and make a home for his family. But the engagement was broken off and Mike found himself living the struggling actor's life by himself. Well, not exactly. Keep in mind he now had black belts in six karate styles (he's currently working on a seventh in a weapons style) and more than 26 martial arts titles, including the U.S. Open, North American Open and New England Grand Champion. And after "To Kill A Mockingbird" he also appeared in the off-Broadway productions of "Anything Goes" and "A Raisin in the Sun."

Soon, along with commercials and bit parts, he landed a recurring role in the TV series NYPD Blue, starred in the HBO movie Tyson, and co-starred with Lou Gossett, Jr. in the CBS movie Captive Heart.

TRAINING AND PREPARATION FOR THE ROLE OF SPAWN
Michael was definitely on a roll when he was approached by New Line Cinema to read for the part of the comic book-based superhero Spawn, which, ultimately, the producers felt was custom-made for this intensely energetic actor.

But once inside the full latex suit (which took four to five hours of make-up every day), White was faced with one of his biggest acting challenges. "I was sweating as soon as the headpiece to the suit was attached," Michael explains. "It was hot and I was itching and burning." The dynamics of the character not only had to shine through the layers of the suit and make-up, Michael had to sustain the intensity required for the part for sometimes 12 to 14 hours a day. Along with employing the mental and physical discipline he's developed through martial arts, White cleverly concocted his own electrolyte-balancing drink, which included TWINLAB's Rx-Fuel, something called White Lightning, Miracle Water, and a few other odds and ends thrown in to sustain his energy. "I never wanted to be on the set a single day or have a single take where I'm just barely making it... By maintaining my energy level I prevented a lot of inconsistencies with the character."

Todd McFarlane, the creator of the comic book character Spawn and co-producer of the movie, thought White's dynamic presence and his tremendous dramatic range were underscored by his awesome physique. "Unlike George Clooney, Val Kilmer and Michael Keaton, who had to get padded pecs and various other bodyparts enhanced under their superhero costumes, Michael's got the goods. I don't think people realize how thin that Spawn costume was. The shape of it was his body."