Brian "Smash" Williams

Smash Williams is Dillon High's star running back, and he wants everyone to know it. Fast, flashy, and hungry for a scholarship out of Texas, he struts through hallways with the confidence of a kid who has never had to imagine failing. Football is his ticket, and he plans to punch it loudly.

The show lets Smash's bravado be real talent and real vulnerability at once, so his swagger never reads as empty. Gaius Charles plays the ego with just enough ache underneath that you sense how much is riding on it for him, and how thin that armor actually is.