Teyonah Parris

Biography

Teyonah Parris (born in Hopkins, South Carolina, in 1987) is an American actress whose career spans television and film. A graduate of the Juilliard School, she began acting in 2010 and became widely noticed through her roles in high-profile series during the 2010s.

Her television debut came in 2010 with a guest role on The Good Wife. In 2012 she joined the cast of AMC's Mad Men as Dawn Chambers, a recurring part that made her one of the first major African American characters on the show. Her breakthrough in film came in 2014 with the independent comedy Dear White People, and that same year she began starring in the Starz comedy Survivor's Remorse. She later appeared on Fox's Empire, playing Detective Pamela Rose in a recurring role in 2017.

In 2015 she starred in Spike Lee's satirical crime comedy Chi-Raq, and in 2018 she co-starred in If Beale Street Could Talk, Barry Jenkins's adaptation of James Baldwin's novel. In 2021 she led the horror film Candyman. She has also worked on stage, playing the lead role of Kaneisha in the 2018 Off-Broadway production of Slave Play.

Since 2021 she has played Monica Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, beginning with the Disney+ series WandaVision and returning in The Marvels (2023). She has won two Black Reel Awards and has received nominations from the Screen Actors Guild and the NAACP Image Awards. In 2022 she and her husband announced they were expecting their first child, a daughter born in 2023. In 2024 she also launched a hair extensions line, blūm by Teyonah.

Key films

• Dear White People (2014): her breakthrough in film, in an independent comedy about campus life and racial identity.
• Chi-Raq (2015): lead role in Spike Lee's satirical crime comedy, a modern retelling of Lysistrata set in Chicago.
• If Beale Street Could Talk (2018): supporting role in Barry Jenkins's drama based on James Baldwin's novel.
• Candyman (2021): lead role in the horror film revisiting the character's legend.
• The Marvels (2023): returns as Monica Rambeau in this Marvel Cinematic Universe film.