Teyonah Parris Biography

Born in Hopkins, South Carolina, Teyonah Parris has proven her talent from the time she was in high school. Spending her junior and senior years studying at the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities, Teyonah went on to attend and graduate from The Julliard School.

Her first role came in 2010 guest starring on The Good Wife episode "Double Jeopardy" as Melinda Gossett. From there, Teyonah appeared in short films for two years before getting cast as the first starring African American character on the show Mad Men. She played secretary Dawn Chambers and was a recurring character from 2012 to the show's end in 2015.

She landed her first big-time movie role as Colandrea Conners in Dear White People (2014), a film that follows the lives of four Black students at a predominantly white Ivy league school. Parris was cast as the lead in Spike Lee’s film Chi-Raq (2015) as Lysistrata — in which an assortment of women begin an activist group protesting the ongoing racially motivated violence in Chicago, brought to light by a child who was killed by a stray bullet. She received an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture nomination for her role.

Teyonah found herself immersed in the Marvel Cinematic Universe when she was cast as the adult version of Monica Rambeau on the 2021 series Wandavision. She’s continuing her role in the new film The Marvels (2023), working alongside Captain Marvel and Ms. Marvel to save the universe.

Teyonah has been a Marvel fan since the first Iron Man (2008) was released, recalling a memory to Good Morning America when she was in school and went to see the film after class. She was stunned by the movie, saying she "needs to be a part of this," dreaming her way into her Marvel role.

Filmography:

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
Candyman (2021)
The Photograph (2020)
Charm City Kings (2020)
Point Blank (2019)
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
90 Days (2016)
Love Under New Management: The Miki Howard Story (2016)
Where Children Play (2015)
Chi-Raq (2015)
Five Nights in Maine (2015)
Caught a Ghost: Get Your Life (2014)
They Came Together (2014)
Dear White People (2014)
A Picture of You (2013)
How Do You Know (2010)