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 (2014), as civil rights activist Diane Nash in the historical drama Selma (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 Thor: Ragnarok (2017) and Avengers: Endgame (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 Men in Black: International (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 Thor: Ragnarok, 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 Avengers: Endgame, which was released on April 26, 2019. She starred as Agent M in the Men in Black spin-off film, Men in Black: International, 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 Thor: Love and Thunder. 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.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2006	When a Stranger Calls	Scarlet
2008	Make It Happen	Dana
	The Human Contract	Waitress
2009	Mississippi Damned	Kari Peterson
2010	Everyday Black Man	Claire
	Exquisite Corpse	Liz
	For Colored Girls	Nyla Adrose
2011	Periphery	Caitlin
	Red & Blue Marbles	Becca
2012	Murder on the 13th Floor	Nia Palmer
2013	Automotive	Maggie
2014	Dear White People	Samantha “Sam” White
	Grantham & Rose	Wallis	Also associate producer
	Points of Origin	Rosemary	Short film
	Selma	Diane Nash
2015	The Grand Romantic	Cindy	Short film
	Creed	Bianca Taylor	Also songwriter
2016	War on Everyone	Jackie Hollis
	Salt Water	Brit
2017	South Dakota	Chris
	Thor: Ragnarok	Valkyrie / Scrapper 142
2018	Sorry to Bother You	Detroit
	Annihilation	Josie Radek
	Furlough	Nicole Stevens
	Little Woods	Oleander “Ollie” Hale	Also executive producer
	Dirty Computer	Zen / Mary Apple 23	Short film
	Creed II	Bianca Taylor	Also songwriter
2019	Brave Girl Rising	Nasro (voice)	Short film
	Avengers: Endgame	Valkyrie
	Men in Black: International	Molly Wright / Agent M
	Between Two Ferns: The Movie	Herself
	Lady and the Tramp	Lady (voice)
2020	Sylvie’s Love	Sylvie Parker	Also executive producer
2021	Passing	Irene Redfield
2022	Thor: Love and Thunder	Valkyrie	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes	Ref.
2005	Cold Case	Wilhelmina “Billie” Doucette	Episode: “Best Friends”
2005–2006	Veronica Mars	Jackie Cook	Main role (12 episodes)
2006	Grey’s Anatomy	Camille Travis	2 episodes
	The Initiation of Sarah	Esme	Television film
2007	Hidden Palms	Nikki Barnes	Main role (7 episodes)
2008	Life	Liza	Episode: “Trapdoor”
2009	Mental	Lainey Jefferson	Episode: “Lines in the Sand”
	Private Practice	Zoe	2 episodes
	Heroes	Rebecca Taylor	3 episodes
	Three Rivers	Penelope Kirkell	Episode: “A Roll of the Dice”
2010	Betwixt	Jenny	Television pilot
	Blue Belle	Blue	Lead role (5 episodes)
2010–2011	Detroit 1-8-7	Lauren Washington	3 episodes
2011	Off the Map	Sydney	Episode: “A Doctor Time Out”
	Rizzoli & Isles	FBI Agent Anna Farrell	Episode: “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”
2012–2013	666 Park Avenue	Laurel Harris / Sasha Doran	5 episodes
	Copper	Sara Freeman	Main role (22 episodes)
2016	BoJack Horseman	Tanisha	Voice; Episode: “Love And/Or Marriage”
2016–present	Westworld	Charlotte Hale Dolores Abernathy	Main role (18 episodes)
2018	Portlandia	Bailey	Episode: “Rose Route”
	Dear White People	Rikki Carter	2 episodes
2019	Tuca & Bertie	Sophie Black	Voice; Episode: “The Sex Bugs”
	Drunk History	Eartha Kitt	Episode: “Fame”
2020	RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars	Herself	Episode: “I’m In Love!”

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Venue	Notes	Ref.
2016	Smart People	Valerie	Second Stage Theater	Off-Broadway

Music videos

Year	Song	Artist	Role	Ref.
2015	“Yoga”	Janelle Monáe	Dancer
2017	“Moonlight”	Jay-Z	Monica Geller
2018	“Make Me Feel”	Janelle Monáe	Zen / Mary Apple 53
	“Pynk”
2019	“Screwed”
	“Uneventful Days”	Beck	Herself

Awards and nominations

Year	Association	Category	Work	Result	Ref.
2009	American Black Film Festival	Best Actor	Mississippi Damned	Won
2011	Black Reel Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance	For Colored Girls	Won
2014	Gotham Awards	Breakthrough Actor	Dear White People	Won
	African-American Film Critics Association	Breakthrough Performance		Won
	Critics’ Choice Awards	Best Acting Ensemble	Selma	Nominated
	San Diego Film Critics Society	Best Ensemble		Nominated
	Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association	Best Ensemble		Nominated
2015	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture	Dear White People	Nominated
	Black Reel Awards	Best Actress		Nominated
	Hamptons International Film Festival	Breakthrough Performer	Selma	Won
	African-American Film Critics Association	Best Supporting Actress	Creed	Won
2016	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture		Nominated
	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Won
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Drama		Nominated
2018	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture	Thor: Ragnarok	Nominated
	BAFTA Awards	Rising Star		Nominated
	Black Reel Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
	Empire Awards	Best Female Newcomer		Nominated
	Saturn Awards	Best Supporting Actress		Nominated
	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Movie Actress: Sci-Fi		Nominated
	Black Reel Awards for Television	Outstanding Supporting Actress, Drama Series	Westworld	Nominated
2019	Teen Choice Awards	Choice Action Movie Actress	Men in Black: International	Nominated
	People’s Choice Awards	Favorite Female Movie Star		Nominated
2021	Critics’ Choice Television Awards	Best Actress in a Limited Series or Television Movie	Sylvie’s Love	Nominated
	NAACP Image Awards	Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Limited-Series or Dramatic Special		Pending
	Black Reel Awards	Outstanding Actress		Pending	[11