CELEBS

Mya Marie Harrison was born on October 10, 1979 in Washington D.C. She's an American R&B/pop singer, entertainer, philanthropist & actress known professionally as Mýa. She started taking ballet lessons at 2, adding jazz & tap dancing lessons 2 years later. As a teen, she began to shift her focus to music. Gifted & musically-inclined, she put together a demo tape at 15 w/ the help of her parents, garnering the interest of a record label. At 16, she began recording her first solo album, which was later released on Interscope Records in spring April 1998. It sold over 1 million copies in the U.S. & produced the gold-certified top 10 single It's All About Me featuring Sisqó.

Deborah Cox Grammy® Award-nominated and multi-platinum R&B/pop recording artist and film/TV actress Deborah Cox made her Broadway debut in the lead role in Elton John and Tim Rice's musical, Aida. She most recently starred on Broadway in 2013 as Lucy in Jekyll & Hyde, and will star as legendary Josephine Baker in Josephine at Asolo Repertory Theatre in April of 2016. Cox began her recording career as a background singer with Celine Dion, before securing her first recording contract with Rock and Roll Hall of Famer Clive Davis. She has recorded six award-winning and critically-acclaimed albums, and has written and recorded on numerous celebrated soundtracks. Her platinum selling debut album Deborah Cox earned her an American Music Award nomination. She won her first of 3 Juno Awards including a Female Vocalist of the Year nomination. From her second CD One Wish, came the double platinum "Nobody's Supposed To Be Here" which held the record for being the longest running #1 R&B Single for 14 consecutive weeks and earned her an NAACP Image Award nomination, a Soul Train Award, A Lady Of Soul Award, Best Female vocalist Juno nomination and a Billboard Music Award Nomination for R&B Single Of The Year. Cox has collaborated with such artists as Andrea Bocelli, David Foster, Josh Groban, The Isley Brothers, Cyndi Lauper, Sarah McLachlan and numerous others. The Canadian born star has an impressive list of #1 Billboard hit records, including twelve #1 songs on Billboard's Hot Dance Club Play chart. In 2000, Cox collaborated with Whitney Houston to record the duet "Same Script Different Cast" for Houston's Greatest Hits CD. Cox has been recognized for her longstanding commitment to various social issues in the LGBTQ community. In January 2015, she received the Out Music Pillar Award. In 2014, she received the California State Senate Award and in 2007, she received The Civil Rights Award from the New York Senate for her efforts in the fight for Human Rights and Equality. She was recently honoured by The Harvey Milk Foundation at the 2015 Diversity Honors for all of her efforts in the fight against HIV/AIDS in the LGBTQ community.

Katherine George is known for Two Grown (2017) and The Duke and Duchess of Queens (2022).

Renee Goldsberry was born in San Jose, California, and raised in both Houston, Texas, and Detroit, Michigan. She graduated from Carnegie-Mellon University with a bachelors degree in acting, and went on to attend graduate school at the University of Southern California, where she received her masters in vocal jazz performance.

She has worked in numerous Broadway plays, including a production of Disney's "The Lion King" in 2003 (as "Nala"). She also appears in the daytime drama One Life to Live (1968) as the determined lawyer Evangeline Williamson.

Susan Kelechi Watson was born in Brooklyn, New York, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for This Is Us (2016), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019) and NCIS (2003).

Tiffany Mann is known for Rise (2018), Orange Is the New Black (2013) and Livin' On a Prairie (2018).

Billy Slaughter has acted in over a 100 feature films and television series, including: The Magnificent 7, The Campaign, The Big Short, Bad Moms, Daddy's Home, Mindhunter, and American Horror Story; and has starred in films such as 4 To Go and Laundry Day. He additionally starred in and Executive Produced Dark Meridian, which won "Action Film of the Year" at the Action on Film Festival, and earned him a nomination for "Best Actor." Slaughter has worked with numerous industry icons from Clint Eastwood, Denzel Washington, Anthony Hopkins, Robert DeNiro and Gene Hackman to Tom Cruise, Will Ferrell, Will Smith, Mark Wahlberg, and Sylvester Stallone.

A New Orleans native, Billy is considered one of the top actors to come out of "Hollywood South" and was brought to Los Angeles at the invite of Dustin Hoffman. He was the youngest "Lead Actor" recipient of The Marquee Award for his role in Equus, the youngest acting instructor in New Orleans, and one of the youngest company members of Louisiana's Shakespeare Festival. He has been on the cover of Biz magazine; featured in The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, and The Times Picayune's 'Best of New Orleans' edition; and listed as one of Gambit magazine's top young movers and shakers.

Slaughter trained classically in England at The British American Dramatic Academy (BADA) and has lived and worked in New York and L.A. He holds a B.A. in Drama and Communications from the University of New Orleans, where he graduated #1 in the Drama program (Cum Laude), and was offered a personal scholarship to The Strasberg Institute by Anna Strasberg. Billy has recently completed shows with Disney, Netflix, Marvel, and Showtime, and has a slate of projects in development under his company Panta Rei Productions.

Isabella Ferreira has become a talent to watch in Hollywood. She embarked on her artistic journey at age 5, igniting a lifelong passion for the arts. Her love affair with the stage began with dance, but a serendipitous opportunity to perform in "The Nutcracker" ignited her deep-seated passion for acting. From that moment, Isabella devoted herself to rigorous training in dance, singing, and acting.

At her young age, she has graced the small and big screen on significant projects. Notably, she was a series regular on Hulu's beloved series, "LOVE, VICTOR," leaving an indelible mark on audiences with her talent and charisma. Her star continued to rise as she took on one of the lead roles in the American High film for Hulu, "CRUSH," captivating viewers with her remarkable performance. Beyond these accomplishments, Isabella's portfolio boasts a rich array of credits, including Jenji Kohan's thought-provoking series, "SOCIAL DISTANCE," on Netflix, and a substantial recurring role on the iconic "ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK" series, also on Netflix.

Most recently, Isabella Ferreira took center stage in the upcoming Spyglass film "INCOMING," alongside Mason Thames, under the direction of John and Dave Chernin.

Ferreira hails from Philadelphia and currently resides in Los Angeles.

Natalie Martinez began modeling at the age of 15, years before she considered giving acting a try. The Miami-born beauty's career blossomed with a simple suggestion from her mother. During her senior year at St. Brendan High School in 2002, her mother saw an ad for J.Lo's new clothing line. After beating over 5,000 other girls for the gig, Natalie packed up and moved to Los Angeles.

Abbey Lee is known for her work as a model and actress. In 2015 Abbey made her feature film debut alongside Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron in George Miller's post-apocalyptic film "Mad Max: Fury Road". Abbey has since appeared in numerous feature films in both America and Australia. She has starred in the Australian film "Ruben Guthrie", directed by Brendan Cowell; the Lionsgate/Summit epic fantasy film "Gods Of Egypt" alongside Gerard Butler and Geoffrey Rush; "Office Christmas Party" directed by Josh Gordon and Will Speck in which she starred opposite Jason Bateman, Jennifer Aniston, and TJ Miller; "The Neon Demon" from writer/director Nicolas Winding Refn in which she starred opposite Elle Fanning, Keanu Reeves, and Bella Heathcote; and "The Dark Tower", based on the best-selling novels from Stephen King and starring Matthew McConaughey and Idris Elba. She also recently starred in the award-winning Australian film "1%" opposite Eddie Baroo and Ryan Corr for which she was nominated for Best Lead Actress at the 2018 AACTA Awards. Most recently, Abbey appeared in Justin Kelly's "Welcome Stranger", opposite Riley Keough and Caleb Landry Jones, and "Elizabeth Harvest", opposite Ciaran Hinds and Carla Gugino.

Abbey made her theatre debut playing the role of Yeliena in the Hampstead Theatre's 2018 London production of "Uncle Vanya", directed by Terry Johnson.

Abbey will next be seen in the new Jordan Peele & J.J. Abrams produced HBO series "Lovecraft Country", which also stars Michael Kenneth Williams, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Courtney B Vance and Jonathan Majors, and is scheduled to be released later this year.

Prior to pursuing an acting career Abbey was well known as a highly successful international model, working with designers including Karl Lagerfeld, Gucci, Alexander McQueen, Versace, and Dolce & Gabbana. She has been featured several times on the cover of Australian Vogue.

Freya Allan (Oxfordshire, England, September 6, 2001) is a British actress known for being chosen to play Cirilla Fiona Elen Riannon in the Netflix adaptation of The Witcher (2019). She stars as the human lead in the science fiction action film Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024). Freya also appears in HBO series The Third Day and Studio Canals film Gunpowder Milkshake.

Alexa Ellesse PenaVega was born Alexa Ellesse Vega on August 27, 1988 in Ocala, Florida and raised in Los Angeles, California to Gina Denise Rue, a former model & Baruch Jairo Vega, a photographer. She is known for her role as Carmen Cortez in the Spy Kids series and Shilo Wallace in the film Repo! The Genetic Opera (2008). In 2009, she starred as the title character Ruby Gallagher in the ABC Family series Ruby & The Rockits.

Alexandra Anna Daddario was born on March 16, 1986 in New York City, New York, to Christina, a lawyer, and Richard Daddario, a prosecutor. Her brother is actor Matthew Daddario, her sister is actor Catharine Daddario, and her grandfather was congressman Emilio Daddario (Emilio Q. Daddario), of Connecticut. She has Italian, Irish, Hungarian/Slovak ancestry. She wanted to be an actress when she was young. Her first job came at age 16, when she got the role of "Laurie Lewis" on All My Children (1970). Alex co-starred, with Logan Lerman and Brandon T. Jackson, in the role of Annabeth Chase in the Percy Jackson movies, Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief (2010) and Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters (2013), which were based on Rick Riordan's best-selling teen books. At the end of 2012, Alex starred in the music video, Imagine Dragons's "Radioactive."

Alexandra became more known in the 2010s, as she starred as Blake Gaines in earthquake film San Andreas (2015), alongside Dwayne Johnson, and in the films Hall Pass (2011), Texas Chainsaw (2013), and Baywatch (2017). She has appeared on many TV series, including White Collar (2009), It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia (2005), and American Horror Story (2011): Hotel. In 2014, Daddario gained attention for her role on the first season of the HBO series, True Detective (2014).

Victoria Gabrielle Platt is an actress, singer and producer, known for Star-Crossed (2013), The Gates (2010), All My Children, Guiding Light (1952), 'Round Midnight (1986) and Winchell (1998). She was born to a West Indian mother and Polish father in Queens, NY. Victoria and Terrell Tilford have been married since September 29, 2001.

Kimberly Elise was born on 17 April 1967 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. She is an actress and executive, known for Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005), The Manchurian Candidate (2004) and John Q (2002). She was previously married to Maurice Oldham.

Laila Lockhart Kraner is a young American actress, raised in Los Angeles -now based on the East Coast. With a Dominican father and Russian-Jewish mother, Laila grew up being familiar with Spanish, Russian, and English. She began her acting journey at the age of 6, taking acting classes and attending showcases which led to her being signed with an agent and manager. Laila's most recognizable part -as of now- is her lead role of "Gabby" in Dreamworks "Gabby's Dollhouse" on Netflix, where she gained incredible experience working on set and in the voiceover booth. Besides this, Laila has played the roles of "Kai" in the mini-series "Shots Fired," "Young Rainbow" on ABC's hit-show "Blackish," as well as several commercials for "ABC mouse.com", and "Chevy World Cup" in her earlier years of acting. Outside of acting, Laila is an honor roll student who enjoys being a part of her school's track and field team, playing electric guitar, dancing, her singing lessons, and spending time with her family and friends.

Christine Hollingsworth is known for Black Panther (2018), John Wick: Chapter 2 (2017) and Gotham (2014).

2024 NAACP Award Nominee for Outstanding Television Movie for writing The First Lady of BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story.

Gabrielle M. Collins is a writer/producer/director in Los Angeles with over 15 years experience in entertainment development and production. Her talents writing sitcoms, sketch comedies, dramas, screenplays, and non-scripted formats, have made her a successful content creator.

Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Collins simultaneously attended the University of Illinois at Chicago, pursuing a degree in Marketing, and television production at Columbia College Chicago. She moved to Los Angeles and began her writing career as a WGA Writers' Trainee on MadTV (FOX), becoming a produced writer for the show.

Collins would go on to write and produce several projects, including Thinking Blue, a short film about breaking the cycle of bullying. She broke into directing with the freshman project, Danny 101, a sitcom presentation about etiquette basics; and later with her short film, Love In An INSTAnt, an Instagram inspired love story.

Today, Collins has proven herself as a prolific writer and is in demand working under her own production shingle, Ms. Adventures In Writing. The company creates, develops and packages scripted and non-scripted content across all media platforms. Next up on the producing and directing front is her feature film, Cornered, a Chicago based drama. The company's recent projects, include 2024 NAACP Nominated The First Lady Of BMF: The Tonesa Welch Story (BET+/ MegaMind), Merry Switchmas (BET+/Nferno), American Gangster Presents: Big Fifty: The DelRhonda Hood Story (BET+/Octet), Throwback Holiday (BET/Tridestined); and a 10-episode TV series Trap City (Reign). Her relationship blog, Ms. Adventures in Dating, is being developed into a book and series.

Donny Carrington is an award-winning American actor, stunt performer and producer who has enjoyed success in top-rated TV and box-office film, including Marvel's Avengers: Infinity War and Spider-Man: No Way Home, HBO's Emmy Award-winning Watchmen, and Universal Pictures' Furious 7, to name a few.

This year, Carrington can be seen acting alongside Dwayne' The Rock' Johnson in the upcoming Warner Bros. DC superhero film, Black Adam, from director Jaume Collet-Serra. The film follows Black Adam (Johnson), who was once bestowed with the Almighty powers of the Egyptian gods, freed after nearly 5,000 years of imprisonment, and is ready to unleash his unique form of justice on the modern world.

Carrington can next be seen in the Antoine Fuqua-directed Apple TV+ film Emancipation, starring Academy Award-winning actor Will Smith, the A24 action epic Silver War, starring Kirsten Dunst and Wagner Moura (Narcos), and stunt doubling Jesse Williams in the upcoming Paramount Pictures' action film Secret Headquarters, produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and Chad Oman.

As a nominee and two-time SAG-award-winning stunt performer in an ensemble cast for Marvel's Avengers: Endgame and Black Panther, Carrington is one of the few young African-American stunt actors contributing to movie success at the box office, including five of the top 15 highest-grossing films of all-time with $11.5 billion globally across features.

Additionally, he has stunt-doubled Academy Award-winning actor Jamie Foxx in Spider-Man: No Way Home, Chris 'Ludacris' Bridges in Furious 7 and Jessie T. Usher in Shaft. Other film credits include Amazon Studios' Coming 2 America and The Tomorrow Wars, Sony Pictures' Baby Driver, DC's The Suicide Squad, Christopher Nolan's Tenet, Universal Pictures' Ride Along 2, and Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay.

On the television side, Carrington can be seen acting in Fox's 9-1-1 as 911 dispatcher Antoine Banks. He can also be seen starring in the major recurring role of Red in Tyler Perry Studios' male exotic drama All the Queen's Men and as Officer Freddie Nelson in the new dramedy Johnson. He has previously starred as Arden in OWN's drama series Ambitions, created by Will Packer and James Giddens, and Gary Michael in the Bobbi Kristina biopic.

Carrington appeared on CW's fan-favorite superhero and fantasy supernatural dramas, DC's Black Lightning, The Originals and The Vampire Diaries, with additional television credits including CBS' MacGyver, Marvel's Luke Cage, Cloak & Dagger, Powers and Guardians of the Galaxy vol. 2, FX's award-winning comedy-drama Atlanta and the Starz strip-club drama P-Valley.

Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, Carrington is the son of Jaqueline Denise Carrington and Donny Rogers Carrington and spent many of his formative years in Jonesboro, Georgia, just southeast of Atlanta. It was evident that Carrington's colorful personality, full of charisma and humor, superior athletic abilities, ambition and love for the performing arts would destine him for success. He quickly developed the keen ability to nurture his talents through involvement in local youth organizations, community theater and athletics, immersing himself in acting and entertainment.

Carrington began his acting career in 2011, performing stunts in the indie sports drama Field of Vision while working behind the scenes in television as a production assistant. During this time, he gained invaluable on-set experience, which gave him a more profound desire to act and ultimately helped him discover a new love for producing and directing.

When Carrington is not on set, he enjoys spending quality time with his family and friends, traveling, playing and watching sports, brand building and entrepreneurship, collaborating with fellow filmmakers and developing original content through his company, Tobano Vision. He is also an avid supporter of black businesses and giving back through community service and peer mentoring.

Carrington currently resides in Atlanta, Georgia.

Actor Lance Gideon started his career on the opposite side of the camera as a Comedy Promoter for notable comedians such as Kym Whitley, JB Smoov, Bill Bellamy, Tommy Davidson and The African King of Comedy Michael Blackson just to name a few. After a successful run behind the scenes as a promoter, Lance decided to explore a career in front of the lens as an Actor/Model. In his first role he was cast as a featured football player, #20 Johnny Outlaw, in a movie titled "Invincible" starring Mark Wahlberg. After completion of the film Lance tried out for a television show in NYC entitled "So you want to be a Soap Star" in which he was one of the top three finalists. He then decided to seek more opportunities which ultimately lead to countless print campaign ads, several regional/national commercials & also booked starring roles in the films Brooklyn Rain & The Tested. Lance recently moved west & has successfully transitioned and has been well received in the LA market. He studies at PW Acting Studio in the Master Class under the direction of Peter Wise in North Hollywood, Calif. With the wide range of characters that Lance portrays he has booked over 50 jobs to date and his future is limitless!.

The talented vibrant Camille Bright, also known as Cammi Bright, is a native of South Carolina. Camille knew from a young age that entertaining was her passion. At eighteen a courageous Camille with dreams of making it big, decided to move to New York City after she was offered a scholarship to The New York Conservatory of Dramatic Arts. Camille spent four wonderful years gaining experience in the big city, where she booked multiple commercials and off Broadway plays. Feeling confident as an actress Camille decided to step out on faith and take her talents to Los Angeles, CA where she immediately was able to land theatrical and commercial representation. While busy pursuing her budding acting career, Camille was introduced to a music executive who loved her look and natural ability to entertain. He later asked her to be apart of a girl group. The girl group had a successful three year run, but did not continue. Once the girls parted ways Camille decided to continue her journey as a solo artist. She went through intense artist development working with new vocal coaches, producers, songwriters and choreographers. Once Camille felt comfortable as a solo artist she started recording songs with, Grammy nominated producers, "The Hitlist," who helped develop Cammi's sound as a solo artist. Cammi has now released three singles on all music streaming platforms and has had two network TV placements for her sultry R&B song, "Playhouse." Cammi's music video for her song, "You Tried It," was recently nominated for best R&B music video at The Carolina Music Video Awards. You can also watch Camille, as Triva in ALLBLK's hit TV drama, "A House Divided," and as Kim on Tales season 3. Camille considers herself, a "Jackie of all Trades," she does it all. In addition to her professional acting and music career, Camille continues to stay creative, producing her own cooking talk show, called "Kicking It in Cammi's Kitchen." Camille's enthusiasm and determination for her dreams assure that she is definitely a star on the rise.

Kent Faulcon is an actor-writer-director who has been seen in memorable films like "Selma," "War of the Worlds," "Men in Black," and television shows including ABC's hit series "Blackish" and six seasons as a series regular on OWN's "For Better or Worse." His directorial feature debut "Sister's Keeper" screened in dozens of film festivals in the U.S. and internationally. Kent's most recent television directing project was helming an episode of the new DC superhero series "Naomi" on The CW.

Lara Heller is a British/American actress who performs in 4 languages fluently and is of Polish/Russian, German and Persian heritage. Lara was a professional figure skater and graduated with a degree in law from The London School Of Economics and an MA in Acting from Arts Ed. She was born in England and raised in Luxembourg and Switzerland. Lara is based in Los Angeles and London.

Lara first came to public attention as the actress in The Cut, which won the Vittorio Veneto Award at the Venice Film Festival. The story is about a father (Tahar Rahim) searching for his twin daughters (Lara Heller). The film was endorsed by Martin Scorsese who was quoted as saying "Fatih Akin's The Cut is a genuine, hand-made epic, of the type that people just don't make anymore." Recent credits include Daughter of the Bride with Marcia Gay Harden, Stardust with Johnny Flynn, The Grand Duke Of Corsica with Timothy Spall, and the video game NBA2K with Idris Elba.

Lara has a body of action work due to her love of sports, including Krav Maga, wakeboarding, skiing, inline skating and fly boarding.

Vanessa Paul was born on 22 December 1963 in Matagorda, Texas, USA. She is an actress and producer, known for Walker, Texas Ranger (1993), Hero Story (2012) and Jump the Broom: A Musical (2009).

Jean Elie, a prominent Haitian-American actor, gained widespread recognition for his standout portrayal of Ahmal in HBO's acclaimed comedy series, "Insecure." Beyond his success on the hit show, Elie has showcased his creative prowess by creating and starring in his "SendHelp" series, which is available for streaming on AMC's WatchAllblk platform. With a dynamic range, Elie has also captivated audiences with his performance as Stanley in Issa Rae's latest series, "RapShit." Through his diverse roles and creative ventures, Jean Elie continues to make a significant impact in the entertainment world by starting his production studio, Bassett House Pictures, providing a platform and community for up-and-coming filmmakers to showcase their work and receive resources on how to green light themselves.