Wes Chatham was born on October 11, 1978, in northern Georgia. His parents divorced when he was just two years old, and he spent most of his childhood with his mother, sister, and brother.
When Wes was five years old, his mother took his sister to an audition for a Tide commercial in Savannah, Georgia. On a whim, she brought Wes along, and the casting director discovered him. Wes was subsequently offered a national campaign for Tide.
At the age of 13, Wes moved in with his father, but without much supervision, he was kicked out of high school and sent to the Give Center in Lawrenceville, Georgia, to finish his education. The Give Center was a second-chance school for troubled youth, offering small classes and a higher standard of education than public school.
During his time at the Give Center, a professional theater company from Atlanta started a mentoring program with the school, and Wes was chosen to write a play that was later performed by his classmates. This experience sparked his passion for the arts.
After graduating high school, Wes joined the military, where he worked as an aviation firefighter on the flight deck of the USS Essex for four years. Just before his tour was finished, he was discovered by casting director Robi Reed while filming the movie "Antwone Fisher" with Denzel Washington.
This experience convinced Wes to pursue his lifelong dream of acting, and he subsequently landed his first series regular role on Showtime's "Barbershop".
