Benjamin Patterson- Talks Working On OWN's Greenleaf & The Power Of Seeing Yourself Represented On Screen

Charismatic television actor and Hollywood’s next  leading man Ben Patterson, best known for his pivotal and culturally  important roles as the trans-gendered brother of ‘Dr. Ben Warren’ on  ABC's massively popular "Grey's Anatomy" and the groundbreaking drama  series “Noah’s Arc,” is set to return to television this summer on OWN’s  “Greenleaf,” alongside executive producer Oprah Winfrey, who also stars  on the show. Set in Memphis, “Greenleaf” follows the unscrupulous world  of the Greenleaf family with scandalous secrets and lies, and their  powerful megachurch with predominantly African-American church members.  The series is headed by Keith David as Bishop James Greenleaf, and Lynn  Whitfield as his wife and matriarch of the family, Lady Mae Greenleaf.  Merle Dandridge plays series' protagonist, Grace Greenleaf, their  estranged daughter who has returned home after 20 years following the  mysterious death of her sister, Faith. Oprah stars as Mavis McCready,  Lady Mae's sister and a close confidant of Grace who is also a blues  club owner. An Oakland native, Ben grew up in a diverse neighborhood  of Maxwell Park, playing the drums and swimming competitively through  high school in the same community that also produced future television  stars Lance Gross (Tyler Perry’s “House of Payne”) and Russell Hornsby  (NBC’s “Grimm”). As an aspiring musician he picked up the guitar and  piano, while booking DJ gigs at house parties and local nightclubs,  which continued while he was a psych major at San Diego State  University. Discovered by a scout for a local modeling competition that  he ultimately won as “International Model of the Year,” he quickly  booked campaigns for Macy’s, Bud Light and various infomercials. Another  model suggested him for a walk on role on “The Bold and the Beautiful”  thus launching his acting career and the rest is history. He has since  appeared on “CSI-Miami,” “Happy Endings,” “Brother and Sisters,” and  “Castle” to name a few.