Marianne Jean-Baptiste

Marianne Raigipcien Jean-Baptiste (born 26 April 1967) is an English actress. She is known for her role in the 1996 film Secrets & Lies, for which she received acclaim and earned nominations for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award in the same category. Jean-Baptiste is also known for her role as Vivian Johnson on the television series Without a Trace from 2002 to 2009, and has since starred in television shows such as Blindspot (2015–2016) and Homecoming (2018).

Marianne Jean-Baptiste
Jean-Baptiste at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	Marianne Raigipcien Jean-Baptiste (1967-04-26) 26 April 1967 (age 57) Camberwell, London, England
Education	Royal Academy of Dramatic Art Barking and Dagenham College
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1991–present
Spouse	Evan Williams ​ (m. 1997)​
Children	2

Early life

Jean-Baptiste was born in London to a mother from Antigua and a father from Saint Lucia, growing up in Peckham.^[1] She attended St Saviour's and St Olave's secondary school.^[2] She was classically trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and performed at the Royal National Theatre. She was nominated for a 1994 Ian Charleson Award for her performance in William Shakespeare's Measure For Measure with theatre company Cheek by Jowl.

Career

Jean-Baptiste gained international acclaim for the Mike Leigh-directed drama Secrets & Lies (1996), receiving both Golden Globe and Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress nominations for her performance, becoming the first black British actress to be nominated for an Academy Award and the second black Briton to be nominated, succeeding Jaye Davidson. She had previously collaborated with Leigh onstage in It's a Great Big Shame (1993).^[3] She caused controversy when she accused the film industry of racism, noting that leading actors had been asked to attend the Cannes Film Festival, but despite her success, she was not invited.^[4]

A writer and composer, Jean-Baptiste recorded an album of blues songs and composed the musical score for Leigh's 1997 film Career Girls.^[5] In 1999, she performed in Paris in a French-language production by Peter Brook of The Suit (Le Costume), a one-act play by Barney Simon and Mothobi Mutloatse, based on the short story by Can Themba.^[6][7] She was also acclaimed for her role as Doreen Lawrence in The Murder of Stephen Lawrence (1999).^[1]

Jean-Baptiste in 2009

Jean-Baptiste relocated for work reasons to the U.S. and lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.^[1][8] She honed her American accent and starred in the American television series Without a Trace as FBI agent Vivian Johnson. More recently, the actress has appeared in such films and television shows as Takers (2010), Secrets in the Walls (2010), and Harry's Law (2012). She was praised for her stage performance in the 2013 National Theatre production of James Baldwin's play The Amen Corner, directed by Rufus Norris.^[9][10][11] As a friend of Angela Bassett, Jean-Baptiste attended Women's Image Network Awards and on Bassett's behalf picked up an award, reading Bassett's poetic acceptance speech for her winning role in the 2013 film Betty & Coretta.^[12] She played Detroit police chief Karen Dean in RoboCop (2014).^[13]

Jean-Baptiste reteamed with Mike Leigh when she played the lead role in his 2024 film Hard Truths. In October 2024, Jean-Baptiste was given the "Virtuoso Award" at the San Diego International Film Festival.^[14]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Once Upon a Time	Babysitter	Short film
	London Kills Me	Nanny
1996	Distinction	Secretary	Short film
	Secrets & Lies	Hortense Cumberbatch	Nominated – Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress Nominated – BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Motion Picture
1997	Mr. Jealousy	Lucretia
1998	How to Make the Cruelest Month	Christina Parks
	Nowhere to Go	Lynne Jacobs
	A Murder of Crows	Elizabeth Pope
1999	The 24 Hour Woman	Madeline Labelle
2000	28 Days	Roshanda
	The Cell	Dr. Miriam Kent
2001	Women in Film	Sara
	New Year's Day	Veronica
	Spy Game	Gladys Jennip
2002	Don't Explain	Elana
2005	Welcome to California	Tina
2006	Jam	Lorraine
2008	City of Ember	Clary
2009	Rooms		Short film
	The Bake Shop Ghost	Annie Washington
2010	Takers	Naomi	Nominated – Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
2011	Violet & Daisy	Number 1
	360	Fran
	Breaking Waves	Sarah Williams
2012	Won't Back Down	Olivia Lopez
2013	The Moment	Dr. Bloom
2014	RoboCop	Chief Karen Dean
	Edge of Tomorrow	Dr. Whittle	Uncredited role[15]
2017	Home	Lois Fox	Short film
2018	Peter Rabbit	General Manager June
	In Fabric	Sheila Woolchapel
	Moving On	Jill	Short film
2020	Fatman	Ruth Cringle[16]
2021	Boxing Day	Shirley MacKenzie
2022	The Sea Beast	Sarah Sharpe (voice)
2023	The Book of Clarence	Amina
	Rumble Through the Dark	Big Momma Sweet
2024	Hard Truths	Pansy

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Cracker	Marcia Reid	Episode: "Men Should Weep: Part 2" Credited as Marianne Jean Baptiste
1996	Sharman	Precious	Episode: "A Good Year for the Roses"
1998	The Wedding	Ellen Coles	Television miniseries Nominated – Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor – Female
1999	The Murder of Stephen Lawrence	Doreen Lawrence	Television miniseries Nominated – Royal Television Society Award for Best Actor – Female
	The Man	Michelle	Television film
2001	Men Only	Gemma	Television film
	The Fear	Storyteller	Episode: "Sleep Tight"
2002–2009	Without a Trace	Vivian Johnson	Main role Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series (2006) Nominated – NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2007, 2008) Nominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (2003)
2003	Loving You	Jude	Television film
2010	Secrets in the Walls	Belle	Television film
2011	Sons of Anarchy	Vivica	Episode: "Dorylus"
2011–2012	Harry's Law	Judge Patricia Seabrook	Episodes: "American Girl" and "New Kidney on the Block"
2012	Private Practice	Gabi Rivera	2 episodes: "Good Grief" and "Life Support"
2015	Broadchurch	Sharon Bishop	8 episodes
2015–2017	Blindspot	FBI Assistant Director Bethany Mayfair	Main role (season 1), 23 episodes; special guest star (season 2), 1 episode (voice only)
2017	Training Day	Deputy Chief Joy Lockhart	9 episodes
	How to Get Away with Murder	Virginia Cross	Episode: "It's for the Greater Good"
2018	Animals.	Grace (voice)	Episode: "Horses"
	Homecoming	Gloria Morisseau	5 episodes
2019	Soundtrack	Annette Sands	Main role; 10 episodes
2021	Master of None	Sharon (voice)	Episode: "Moments in Love, Chapter 4"
2022	Surface	Hannah	Main role; 8 episodes
2023	The Following Events Are Based on a Pack of Lies	Cheryl Harker	5 episodes

Other projects, contributions

• When Love Speaks (2002, EMI Classics) – "Sonnet 15" ("When I consider everything that grows...")

Awards and nominations

Year	Organization	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
1996	Awards Circuit Community Awards	Best Supporting Actress	Secrets & Lies	Nominated
1997	Academy Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated	[17]
	British Academy Film Awards	Best Actress in a Supporting Role		Nominated
	Chlotrudis Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
	Golden Globe Awards	Best Supporting Actress - Motion Picture		Nominated	[18]
1998	Online Film & Television Association	Best Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture or Miniseries	The Wedding	Nominated
2000	Royal Television Society	Best Actor - Female	The Murder of Stephen Lawrence	Nominated
2004	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Without a Trace	Nominated	[19]
2006	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series		Nominated
2007		Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series		Nominated
2008				Nominated
2009	LA Femme Film Festival	Thespian Award	—	Won
2017	USA Film Festival	Performance Award	Home	Won
2019	Indiana Film Journalists Association	Best Actress	In Fabric	Nominated
2020	Fangoria Chainsaw Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
2024	Denver Film Festival	Excellence in Acting Award	Hard Truths	Won
	Gotham Awards	Outstanding Lead Performance		Pending	[20]

References

1. Hattenstone, Simon (15 June 2015). "Marianne Jean-Baptiste: 'It's not a sob story - I could have stayed in the UK and fought it out'". The Guardian.
2. Marsh, Stefanie (19 January 2015). "Marianne Jean Baptiste: the most hated woman in Broadchurch (for now)". The Times. ISSN 0140-0460. Retrieved 18 February 2020.
3. Painter, Jamie (5 November 2019). "ACTOR'S ACTOR: Marianne Jean-Baptiste". Backstage. Retrieved 10 June 2023.
4. Bourne, Stephen (2005). Elisabeth Welch: Soft Lights and Sweet Music. Scarecrow Press. p. 105. ISBN 978-0-8108-5413-0.
5. James Berardinelli, review of Career Girls (1997).
6. Powell, Nicholas (30 January 2000). "Review: The Suit". Variety.
7. Billington, Michael (15 January 2000). "Judgment of Paris". The Guardian.
8. "Role at National tempts London star Marianne Jean-Baptiste out of LA garden", Evening Standard, 12 June 2013.
9. Hemming, Sarah (12 June 2013). "The Amen Corner, National Theatre (Olivier), London – review". The Financial Times.
10. Taylor, Paul (28 June 2013). "Theatre review: The Amen Corner, Olivier, National Theatre, London". The Independent.
11. Spencer, Charles (12 June 2013). "The Amen Corner, National Theatre, review". The Daily Telegraph.
12. "Marianne Jean-Baptiste in Arrivals at the WIN Awards Ceremony". Zimbio. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 26 December 2015.
13. Jean-Baptiste reference, screenrant.com, 25 August 2012.
14. "Tribute Honorees". sdfilmfest.com. Retrieved 12 October 2024.
15. O'Sullivan, Michael (30 May 2014). "I admit it: I dig Tom Cruise, and I can't wait for 'Edge of Tomorrow'". The Washington Post. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
16. N'Duka, Amanda (3 February 2020). "'Homecoming' Actress Marianne Jean-Baptiste Joins Mel Gibson & Walton Goggins In Dark Comedy 'Fatman'". www.deadline.com. Deadline. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
17. "The 69th Academy Awards". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
18. Puig, Claudia; Dutka, Elaine (20 December 1996). "'English Patient' Basks in Globe Nominations". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 11 January 2018.
19. "Nominations announced for the 10th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards" (Press release). Screen Actors Guild. 15 January 2004. Archived from the original on 21 August 2004. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
20. "Gotham Awards 2024 Nominations: 'Anora' Leads With Four Nods". Variety. 29 October 2024. Retrieved 31 October 2024.

External links

• Marianne Jean-Baptiste at IMDb
• "Marianne Jean-Baptiste as Vivian Johnson". Without a Trace. CBS. Archived from the original on 15 February 2009.