Richard T Jones at Comic Con Africa 2026: appearance details

Richard T Jones, best known to current television audiences as Sergeant Wade Grey in The Rookie, was scheduled to appear in Johannesburg for Comic Con Africa 2026.

Jones was scheduled to appear at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec from Friday, 25 September to Sunday, 27 September 2026, giving South African fans three days to see the American actor on stage and through separate autograph and professional photo sessions.

His television career stretches back more than three decades and includes appearances in The Rookie, Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Judging Amy, Hawaii Five-O, American Horror Story, Narcos, Criminal Minds and several other major US television productions.

Comic Con Africa itself runs from 24 to 27 September 2026, meaning Jones joins the convention from its second day.

Readers planning the wider weekend can see our Comic Con Africa 2026 tickets, dates, prices and guests guide for the broader event programme.

Richard T Jones is Wade Grey in The Rookie

For many viewers attending Comic Con Africa, Jones will be immediately recognisable as Wade Grey from The Rookie.

Jones joined the series when it began in 2018 and plays the experienced police sergeant who initially takes a sceptical view of John Nolan, the show’s unusually late entrant into the Los Angeles Police Department.

Over the course of the series, Grey develops into an important leadership figure within the fictional department.

The role has exposed Jones to another generation of television viewers after an already lengthy career across drama, science fiction and crime television.

It also makes his Johannesburg appearance particularly relevant to South African viewers following The Rookie.

Rather than being attached to a single nostalgic role, Jones arrives at Comic Con Africa while audiences continue to associate him strongly with a contemporary television series.

His television career started long before The Rookie

Jones’s television work dates back to the early 1990s.

His earlier credits include appearances in NYPD Blue, Courthouse and Dangerous Minds.

From 1997 to 1998, he played Officer Clements Johnson in the police drama Brooklyn South.

That was followed by a recurring role as Matt Griffin in the second season of Ally McBeal before Jones joined Judging Amy.

He played Bruce Calvin van Exel in Judging Amy from 1998 until 2005, establishing one of the longer-running roles of his career.

His subsequent television work included Girlfriends and CSI: Miami, but science-fiction audiences may particularly remember what came next.

Terminator fans may remember James Ellison

From 2008 to 2009, Jones appeared as James Ellison in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles.

The television series expanded the Terminator universe around Sarah and John Connor while introducing new characters and threats connected to the franchise’s time-travel story.

Jones’s Ellison begins the series as an FBI agent investigating Sarah Connor and gradually becomes increasingly entangled in the larger conflict surrounding Skynet and the machines.

For Comic Con audiences, the role gives Jones an important link to science fiction in addition to the police and legal dramas that make up much of his television résumé.

That becomes particularly relevant at a convention where film, television, gaming, comics, animation and science-fiction fandoms share the same venue.

From Hawaii Five-O to American Horror Story and Narcos

Jones continued appearing across major television productions through the 2010s.

His credits include appearances in Bones and Grey’s Anatomy, followed by a recurring role as Governor Samuel “Sam” Denning in Hawaii Five-O between 2011 and 2013.

He later appeared as Detective Andrew Hahn in American Horror Story: Hotel.

Jones also had roles in Narcos between 2015 and 2016 before appearing as Officer Lionel Wilkins in Criminal Minds in 2017.

The variety of those productions demonstrates how frequently Jones has moved between different television genres.

Police procedurals, legal drama, horror, crime, action and science fiction have all formed part of a career that began decades before The Rookie introduced him to another large television audience.

Richard T Jones was scheduled for three days at Comic Con Africa

Jones had been scheduled to attend Comic Con Africa on:

Friday, 25 September 2026
Saturday, 26 September 2026
Sunday, 27 September 2026

He is not currently scheduled for the opening Thursday.

In its published programme, Comic Con Africa said Jones would participate in live stage activities and discussions, giving fans an opportunity to hear about his work and television career.

The convention also plans autograph sessions and professional photo opportunities.

These operate separately from standard Comic Con Africa admission.

Fans wanting an autograph or professional photograph therefore need the applicable celebrity add-on in addition to a valid event ticket for that day.

Individual session availability and programme times can change, so anyone travelling specifically to meet Jones should check the final schedule before heading to Nasrec.

Comic Con Africa is bringing multiple television stars to Johannesburg

Jones joins a guest line-up spanning television, gaming, animation and comics.

Christopher Judge will appeal to both God of War players and Stargate SG-1 viewers, while Alison Sealy-Smith brings her long association with Storm from X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ’97.

The Rick and Morty contingent includes Ian Cardoni, Harry Belden and Spencer Grammer.

Comic Con Africa is also bringing actors associated with Netflix’s live-action One Piece production to the Johannesburg event.

Jones gives that line-up another substantial live-action television connection, particularly for viewers following The Rookie.

From Kobe to a career in American television

Jones was born Richard Timothy Jones in Kobe, Japan, to American parents and grew up in California.

His acting career subsequently developed into a lengthy run of recurring and main-cast television roles.

That background also makes his Comic Con Africa appearance an opportunity to discuss considerably more than one successful series.

Fans of The Rookie may arrive wanting to hear about Wade Grey, while others may know Jones from Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, Judging Amy, Hawaii Five-O or one of his numerous guest appearances.

The overlap is part of what makes established television performers useful additions to a convention programme: different generations of viewers can recognise the same actor from entirely different productions.

IMAGE PLACEMENT: Use Wade Grey_002.jpg here unchanged.

The 2026 Johannesburg event has now concluded. For the organiser’s published event details, see the official Comic Con Africa venue information.

Comic Con Africa opens on 24 September

Comic Con Africa 2026 takes place at the Johannesburg Expo Centre in Nasrec from Thursday, 24 September to Sunday, 27 September.

The convention is scheduled to run from 09:00 to 18:00 each day.

Jones was scheduled to join the event on Friday and remain through the final Sunday.

For South African fans who have followed his television work for years, Comic Con Africa provides an opportunity to see the actor in Johannesburg without needing to travel to one of the larger international conventions where appearances of this kind are more common.

Anyone planning a visit specifically around Richard T Jones should choose a ticket for 25, 26 or 27 September and check the final programme before travelling.