Andre D. Shanks was born, Andre De'Sean Shanks in Schweinfurt, Germany. Andre spent much of his early life moving with his parents around the country living in New York, North Carolina, Louisiana and abroad due to his father's active role in the military. He and his family moved to DeRidder, LA, where he graduated from DeRidder High School, and decided to call the city home. It was not until his senior year of high school, when his youth pastor gave him the lead role in a play did Andre begin to think about acting. Andre had caught a serious case of the "acting bug." Andre was already enrolled at Our Lady of the Lake College in Baton Rouge, LA, to study Physical Therapy. After three semesters, he dropped out of college to pursue his dream of becoming an actor. His introduction to the acting industry came from an advertisement heard on the radio that was seeking talent and through that, met an agent by the name of David McDermott who gave Andre his starting foundation. He worked as an extra and non-paid actor in indie films for two years, also stating while shooting Green Lantern, "I would spend the night in my car and take showers at the truck stops. New Orleans was an unfamiliar place and I didn't know anybody at the time." In 2010 Andre found talent representation in New Orleans, LA. It was a rough start to his acting career, full of disappointments, but in 2012, things began to look up. He booked his first principal role in the television series "Breakout Kings" in the episode entitled "SEALd Fate." The following month, Andre decided to further develop his skills and mold his craft as an actor. He enrolled in to the Winter Intensive Program at the Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York City. Since then, with God on his side, he has booked national commercials, television episodes and a role in the Oscar winner "Best Picture" "12 Years A Slave" Show less «