If you could build, in the manner of those Build-A-Bear workshops, the perfect celebrity, what would they look like? They'd be attractive, obviously. Talented, too. And, in an ideal world, they'd also be politically-minded, unafraid to take a stand on the big issues. Well, alert the press and tell them we've found the guy: step forward, actor Jesse Williams.

Where to start? Let's go to the very beginning, when Williams followed in his parents' footsteps and became a teacher in the US public school system. Is there a more swoon-worthy profession for a young man? (No, there is not.)

One of his first acting roles was in the teen drama Sisterhood Of The Travelling Pants 2, in which he played an artist-cum-life model. Two things: 1) I love that he debuted in a sequel; and 2) he has his top off for a good portion of the film. These days, he plays Dr Jackson Avery in Grey's Anatomy, saving lives (babies! kids on exploding buses!) and looks lovely in blue scrubs while doing so.

Even better, though, is Williams' commitment to calling out the most egregious instances of racism and sexism. Two years ago, after the murder of teenager Jordan Davis, Williams went on CNN and said, "It's not a black problem. This is a white problem. It's an American problem." This summer, after a fan tweeted that he was "disappointed" by Williams' protests about the circumstances of Mike Brown's death in Ferguson, Missouri, he tweeted back, "Please disabuse yourself of the notion that my purpose on Earth is to tuck ignorance in at night." Interviewed by CNN, he observed that "a certain element of this country has the privilege of being treated like human beings, and the rest of us are not treated like human beings".

Is he perfect? You bet your life he is.