Tessa Thompson

Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College. She appeared in productions of "The Tempest" and "Romeo and Juliet", the latter of which earned her a NAACP Theatre Award nomination. Her breakthrough came with leading roles in Tina Mabry's independent drama film "Mississippi Damned" (2009) and Tyler Perry's drama film "For Colored Girls" (2010).
Thompson gained favorable critical notice for her performances in the comedy-drama "Dear White People", as civil rights activist Diane Nash in the historical drama "Selma" (both in 2014), and as Bianca Taylor in the sport drama films "Creed" (2015) and "Creed II" (2018). She gained mainstream recognition for her starring role as Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero films ' (2017) and ' (2019).
She also had roles in films such as the dark comedy "Sorry to Bother You" (2018), the crime thriller "Little Woods" (2018), the science-fiction horror film "Annihilation" (2018), the science fiction action film "" (2019), the musical romance "Lady and the Tramp" (2019), and the romantic drama "Sylvie's Love" (2020). On television, she starred in the noir drama series "Veronica Mars" (2005–2006), the drama series "Copper" (2012–2013), and the science fiction series "Westworld" (2016–present).
Early life.
Tessa Lynne Thompson was born on October 3, 1983, in Los Angeles, California. She was raised between Los Angeles and the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Her father, singer-songwriter Marc Anthony Thompson, is of Afro-Panamanian descent and is the founder of the musical collective Chocolate Genius, Inc. Her mother has white, Panamanian and Mexican ancestry. She has a younger half-sister, Zsela who is a singer and songwriter.
Thompson attended Santa Monica High School where she played Hermia in a student production of "A Midsummer Night's Dream". She attended Santa Monica College (SMC) where she studied cultural anthropology. While at SMC, she also attended lectures by Lisa Wolpe of the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company (LAWSC).
Career.
Acting.
In 2002, Thompson made her professional stage debut in as one of three actors portraying the role of Ariel in LAWSC's production of "The Tempest". In 2003, she appeared as Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet: Antebellum New Orleans, 1836" with The Theatre @ Boston Court in Pasadena, California, which earned her an NAACP Theatre Award nomination.
Thompson made her first television appearance in a 2005 episode of the CBS crime drama series "Cold Case" in the role of a lesbian bootlegger from the 1930s. In the same year, she rose to fame as she landed the role of Jackie Cook on the UPN/CW neo-noir drama series "Veronica Mars", starring as a series regular in season two. In 2006, she appeared on the ABC medical drama series "Grey's Anatomy".
Thompson's first feature film appearance was in the 2006 remake of the horror film "When a Stranger Calls" playing the role of Scarlett. In 2007, she was a part of the cast on the CW's short-lived drama "Hidden Palms", portraying Nikki Barnes. She was next seen opposite Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the dance film "Make it Happen" in 2008. She also worked on guest star roles on the television series "Life" and "Private Practice", and appeared in season four of "Heroes".
In 2010, Thompson appeared in Tyler Perry's stage play adaptation "For Colored Girls", after she directly approached Perry to be cast in the film. Also in 2010, she had a guest role as the wife of a detective on the drama series "Detroit 187". In 2012, Thompson had a guest role as Gavin Doran's daughter, Sasha, on the horror series "666 Park Avenue". In 2013, she starred in BBC America's first original series "Copper". 
In 2014, she starred as Samantha White in Justin Simien's Sundance-winning comedy "Dear White People". That same year, Thompson played civil rights activist Diane Nash in Ava DuVernay's Martin Luther King Jr. biopic "Selma". In 2015, she appeared in Ryan Coogler's "Rocky" sequel film "Creed", and in Nate Ruess' short film "The Grand Romantic".
In 2016, she began a starring role in the HBO science fiction drama series "Westworld" as board director Charlotte Hale. Also in 2016, Thompson appeared in the off-Broadway run of the Lydia R. Diamond play "Smart People" at Second Stage Theatre, starring alongside Mahershala Ali, Joshua Jackson and Anne Son.
In April 2016, Thompson was cast as Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe superhero film "", which was released on November 3, 2017. She then appeared in the science-fiction horror film "Annihilation", which was released on February 23, 2018. In June 2017, Thompson was cast in the science-fiction comedy "Sorry to Bother You", which was released on July 6, 2018. She reprised her role as Bianca Taylor in the sports drama sequel film "Creed II", which was released on November 21, 2018 to positive reviews and strong box office returns.
Thompson reprised her role as Valkryie in the superhero sequel film ', which was released on April 26, 2019. She starred as Agent M in the "Men in Black" spin-off film, ', opposite Chris Hemsworth, her co-star from "Thor: Ragnarok" and "Avengers: Endgame". The film was released on June 14, 2019. Also in 2019, she voiced Lady in the musical romance film "Lady and the Tramp", a live-action adaptation of the 1955 film of the same name.
At the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con, it was announced that Thompson would reprise her role as Valkyrie in the superhero film "". Valkyrie, after being declared King of New Asgard, will begin searching for her queen, revealing herself to be the MCU's first major LGBT character.
Thompson co-produced and voiced the lead role in the mystery sci-fi podcast series "The Left Right Game", which was released in 2020. The audio drama series featured Thompson as a journalist who follows a story about a group of paranormal adventurers. Amazon Studios secured the screen rights to the series, with Thompson executive producing. Also in 2020, she starred as the title character in the romantic drama film "Sylvie's Love", which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. She will next star in the drama film "Passing", which serves as Rebecca Hall's directorial debut. More recently, she started her own production company with a first look deal at HBO.
Music.
Thompson is also a singer-songwriter. She has in the past been a member of the Los Angeles-based indie electro soul band Caught A Ghost, and contributed to the soundtracks for both "Creed" and "Creed II", for which she co-wrote and performed several songs with producer Moses Sumney.
Personal life.
Thompson revealed in June 2018 that she is attracted to both men and women, but chooses not to label herself bisexual.