Teyonah Parris

Teyonah Parris (/tiˈɒnə/ tee-ON-ə;^[1] born September 22, 1987)^[2] is an American actress. A graduate of Juilliard School, she began acting in 2010. Her first prominent roles were in the drama series Mad Men (2012–2015) and in the independent film Dear White People (2014). She then appeared in the drama series Empire (2014), Spike Lee's crime comedy Chi-Raq (2015), and the drama film If Beale Street Could Talk (2018).

Teyonah Parris
Parris in 2019
Born	(1987-09-22) September 22, 1987 (age 37) Hopkins, South Carolina, U.S.
Education	Juilliard School (BFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2010–present
Spouse	James Parris
Children	1

In 2021, Parris starred in the horror film Candyman, and began portraying Monica Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with the Disney+ series WandaVision.^[3] She has since featured in the black comedy series No Good Deed (2024).

Early life and education

Parris was born on September 22, 1987,^[2] and raised in Hopkins, South Carolina.^{[citation needed]} She attended Lower Richland High School until her sophomore year. She was accepted into the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities where she finished 11th and 12th grades, before attending and graduating from the Juilliard School.^[4]

Career

She made her television debut in 2010, with a guest-starring role on The Good Wife. In 2012, she was cast in a recurring role as Dawn Chambers in the AMC drama series, Mad Men.^[5] She played the first major African American character on Mad Men.^[6]

In 2014, Parris had her breakthrough role in the independent film Dear White People.^[4][7] Later in that year, Parris began starring in the Starz comedy series, Survivor's Remorse.^[8][9][10] In 2015, Parris went to star in the satirical drama film Chi-Raq directed by Spike Lee.^[11] She received her first NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture nomination for this film.^[12] She played the leading role in Where Children Play directed by Leila Djansi, and starred alongside David Oyelowo in Five Nights in Maine.^[13][14] Later in 2015, she played R&B/Jazz singer Miki Howard in the biopic Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story.^[15]

In 2016, Parris was cast as lead character in the period drama film Buffalo Soldier Girl about a woman who, disguised as a man, enlisted and fought with the African American Post Civil War era as a Buffalo Soldier.^[16] In 2017, she had a recurring role on the Fox prime time soap opera Empire playing Detective Pamela Rose.^[17] In early 2018, Parris was cast in a leading role on the CBS drama pilot Murder.^[18] Also that year, she co-starred in If Beale Street Could Talk, a drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins and based on James Baldwin's novel of the same name.^[19] She played the lead role of Kaneisha in the 2018 Off-Broadway production of Slave Play at the New York Theatre Workshop.^[20]

Parris plays the adult version of Monica Rambeau (introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain Marvel) in the Disney+ series WandaVision.^[21] She reprised the role in The Marvels released in November 2023.^[3]

Personal life

In September 2022, Parris and her husband James announced that they were expecting their first child;^[22] their daughter was born in early 2023.^[23]

On August 22nd 2024, Teyonah launched her hair extensions line blūm by Teyonah.^[24] This hair extensions line includes clip-ins, headband wigs, ponytail wigs, wefts, bundles, and u-part wigs in six unique textures.^[25]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	How Do You Know	Riva
2013	A Picture of You	Mika
2014	Dear White People	Colandrea "Coco" Conners
	They Came Together	Wanda
2015	Five Nights in Maine	Penelope
	Where Children Play	Bellissima Mccain
	Chi-Raq	Lysistrata
2016	Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story	Miki Howard	Also producer
	90 Days	Jessica	Short
2018	If Beale Street Could Talk	Ernestine Rivers
2019	Point Blank	Taryn
2020	Charm City Kings	Terri
	The Photograph	Asia
2021	Candyman	Brianna Cartwright
2023	They Cloned Tyrone	Yo-Yo
	The Marvels	Monica Rambeau
	Dashing Through the Snow	Allison Garrick
TBA	Matchbox †		Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2010	The Good Wife	Melinda Gossett	Episode: "Double Jeopardy"
2012–15	Mad Men	Dawn Chambers	Recurring cast: season 5-7a, guest: season 7b
2013	CSI: Crime Scene Investigation	Karen Branston	Episode: "Take the Money and Run"
2014–17	Survivor's Remorse	Missy Vaughn	Main cast
2017	Placeholders	Marla	2 episodes
	Empire	Detective Pamela Rose	Recurring cast: season 4
2018	Murder	Det. Ayana Lake	TV movie
2021	WandaVision	Monica Rambeau / "Geraldine"	Main cast
2021-24	Marvel Studios: Assembled	Herself	2 episodes
2024	What If...?	Monica Rambeau (voice)	Episode: "What If... the Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?"
2024	No Good Deed	Carla Owens	Main cast[26]

Awards and nominations

Association	Year	Work	Category	Result	Ref.
AAFCA Awards	2015	Chi-Raq	Best Actress	Won	[27]
Black Reel Awards	2015	Dear White People	Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female	Won	[28]
			Outstanding Supporting Actress, Motion Picture	Nominated
	2016	Chi-Raq	Outstanding Actress, Motion Picture	Won	[29]
	2017	Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story	Outstanding TV Movie or Limited Series (as producer)	Nominated	[30]
			Outstanding Actress in a TV Movie or Limited Series	Nominated
	2021	WandaVision		Nominated
Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards	2021	WandaVision	Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or Television Movie	Nominated	[31]
Hollywood Film Festival	2017	90 Days	Exceptional Emerging Artist - Acting	Won	[32]
MTV Movie & TV Awards	2021	WandaVision	Best Hero	Nominated	[33]
NAACP Image Awards	2016	Chi-Raq	Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	Nominated	[34]
Screen Actors Guild Awards	2013	Mad Men	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series	Nominated	[35]
Seattle Film Critics Society	2018	If Beale Street Could Talk	Best Ensemble Cast	Nominated	[36]
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	2018	If Beale Street Could Talk	Best Acting Ensemble	Nominated	[37]