Teyonah Parris

About

Teyonah Parris ( tee-ON-ə; born September 22, 1987) is an American actress. A graduate of Juilliard School, she began acting in 2010. Her first prominent roles were in the drama series Mad Men (2012–2015) and in the independent film Dear White People (2014). She then appeared in the drama series Empire (2014), Spike Lee’s crime comedy Chi-Raq (2015), and the drama film If Beale Street Could Talk (2018).
In 2021, Parris starred in the horror film Candyman, and began portraying Monica Rambeau in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, starting with the Disney+ series WandaVision. She has since featured in the black comedy series No Good Deed (2024).

Parris was born on September 22, 1987, and raised in Hopkins, South Carolina. She attended Lower Richland High School until her sophomore year. She was accepted into the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities where she finished 11th and 12th grades, 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…