The New York Times critic Ben Brantley described Thompson as "one of the most compelling classical stage actors of his generation".
[1] Thompson was born in Bath, England, to Jamaican parents, and was raised in Montreal, Quebec then Rochester, New York.
After losing his job, Thompson decided to pursue acting and enrolled at the Brown University/Trinity Repertory Company program in Providence, Rhode Island.
Thompson received rave reviews for originating the role of Louis Armstrong and other characters in the 2014 Off-Broadway production of the one-actor play Satchmo at the Waldorf, which he reprised at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts in Beverly Hills.
[12] In 2018, Thompson appeared in the role of The Starkeeper in Broadway's Carousel at Imperial Theatre, New York, alongside Joshua Henry, Jessie Mueller, and Renee Fleming.