Teyonah Parris
Teyonah Parris became best known for her roles on the popular television shows "Mad Men" (AMC, 2007-2015) and "Survivor's Remorse" (Starz, 2014-). Born and raised in South Carolina, Parris was an accomplished model and beauty queen as a young girl. She won numerous beauty pageants throughout her teens, and quickly realized that she loved performing for other people. With that in mind, Parris decided to study acting, and enrolled in the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City. It was at Juilliard that Parris learned how to hone her acting skills through intense study, thus equipping her with the chops she needed to excel in the film and television industry. After graduating from Juilliard Parris began going on film and TV auditions, and nabbed her first TV role on the CBS political drama "The Good Wife" (CBS, 2009-2016) in 2010. That same year she landed a small role in James L. Brooks' ensemble comedy "How Do You Know" (2010), which also starred Oscar-winners Jack Nicholson and Reese Witherspoon. Then in 2012 she nabbed a recurring role as Don Draper's secretary Dawn Chambers on the 60s advertising drama "Mad Men." The popularity of that series made Parris a recognizable face to the show's millions of hardcore viewers. Parris continued landing roles in both films and on TV over the next few years before nabbing her breakout movie role in the 2014 indie comedy-drama "Dear White People" (2014). "Dear White People" would go on to win a number of independent film awards, while also catapulting Parris into the spotlight as a talented young film actress to watch. 2014 was also the year Parris started appearing on the Starz series "Survivor's Remorse," which was executive produced by the NBA superstar LeBron James. The following year Parris landed a starring role in the Spike Lee drama "Chi-Raq" (2015). That film also featured roles by Nick Cannon, Wesley Snipes, and John Cusack.