Working extensively in theatre, Jelks is also known for screen roles, including in films such as Compensation (1999), Miracle at St. Anna (2008), Enter the Dangerous Mind (2013), and Night Comes On (2018),[1] and television series such as True Detective (2019),[2] The I-Land (2019),[3] and On Becoming a God in Central Florida (2019).
[4][5][6] In 2007, he was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play for his role as Sterling Johnson in August Wilson's Radio Golf.
He began his career in 1979 when he acted in his first play, Pinocchio Jones, which also starred Cindy Herron and was performed at Balboa High School.
[17] Gem of the Ocean was the first installment in Wilson's decade-by-decade ten-play chronicle, The Pittsburgh Cycle, dramatizing the African-American experience in the 20th century.
Jelks played the part of Red in the production directed by Peter Sheridan and adapted for the stage by Owen O'Neil and Dave Johns.
[20] Jelks has worked extensively in other Broadway and regional productions including Magnolia (2009), Fetch Clay, Make Man (2010),[21][22] The Break of Noon (2010), Two Trains Running (2013), Sunset Baby (2013), Holler If Ya Hear Me (2014), ToasT (2015), The Piano Lesson (2016), and Head of Passes (2016).
[31] He has also appeared in Spike Lee's 2008 World War II historical film Miracle at St. Anna, and in Jordana Spiro's 2018 drama Night Comes On, which premiered at Sundance.