Teyonah Parris born September 22, 1987 is an American actress. She began her career playing a recurring role as Dawn Chambers in the AMC drama series Mad Men (2012–2015), before landing her breakthrough role in the 2014 independent film Dear White People. In 2015, Parris starred in the satirical drama film Chi-Raq directed by Spike Lee. Parris also portrayed Monica Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the Disney+ series WandaVision in 2021.
Life and career
Parris was born and raised in Hopkins, South Carolina. She was accepted into the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities where she finished 11th and 12th grade, before attending and graduating from the Juilliard School. 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. She played the first major African American character on Mad Men.
In 2014, Parris had her breakthrough role in the independent film Dear White People. Later in that year, Parris began starring in the Starz comedy series, Survivor’s Remorse. In 2015, Parris went to star in the satirical drama film Chi-Raq directed by Spike Lee. She received her first NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture nomination for this film. She played the leading role in Where Children Play directed by Leila Djansi, and starred alongside David Oyelowo in Five Nights in Maine. Later in 2015, she played R&B/Jazz singer Miki Howard in the biopic The Miki Howard Story.
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. In 2017, she had a recurring role on the Fox prime time soap opera Empire playing Detective Pamela Rose. In early 2018, Parris was cast in a leading role on the CBS drama pilot Murder. Also that year, she co-starred in If Beale Street Could Talk, a drama film written and directed by Barry Jenkins. Parris plays the adult version of Monica Rambeau (introduced in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Captain Marvel) in the Disney+ series WandaVision.