Ella A. Thomas (born 1981) is an

Eritrean American Eritrean Americans are an ethnic group (or hyphenated ethnicity) of Americans who are of full or partial Eritrean national origin, heritage and/or ancestry. As of 2013, there are 33,930 Eritrean-born citizens living in the U.S. History Eritrea ...

actress, model and producer.

Biography

Thomas was born to an Eritrean mother from

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The ...

and an American Air Force officer, who was stationed in

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...

. When she was still a child, Thomas' family relocated to Germany, where they lived in the small town of

Kindsbach Kindsbach is a municipality in the Kaiserslautern (district), district of Kaiserslautern, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany. Notable people *Paul Westrich (born 1947), insect specialist *Peter Immesberger (born 1960), weight lifter Refere ...

. There, she attended a local German school. Thomas also studied French, while simultaneously continuing Tigrinya and English lessons at home with her mother. Around this time, Thomas first developed an appreciation for the performing arts, and began taking part in local school and theater productions. She likewise would periodically return home to Asmara to visit relatives. Thomas has guest starred as Agent Deborah Meade on ''

CSI: NY ''CSI: NY'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: New York'', stylized as ''CSI: NY/Crime Scene Investigation'') is an American police procedural television series that ran on CBS from September 22, 2004, to February 22, 2013, for a total of nine seaso ...

'' and played one of the lead characters, Anna Roberts, in '' The Storm'' miniseries on NBC. In the fall 2009, she appeared opposite Bruce Willis in the Touchstone/Disney sci-fi thriller ''

Surrogates ''Surrogates'' is a 2009 American science fiction action film based on the 2005–2006 comic book series '' The Surrogates''. Directed by Jonathan Mostow, it stars Bruce Willis as Tom Greer, an FBI agent who ventures out into the real world to ...

'', which opened September 25, 2009. One of her most recognizable performances was as Viveca, a model who attempts to seduce Vince (played by Adrian Grenier), on the

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

hit '' Entourage'' and as

P Diddy Sean Combs (born Sean John Combs; November 4, 1969), also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Puffy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he worked as a talent direct ...

's fiancée Nadine Alcott on ''

CSI: Miami ''CSI: Miami'' (''Crime Scene Investigation: Miami'') is an American police procedural drama television series that ran from September 23, 2002 until April 8, 2012 on CBS. Featuring David Caruso as Lieutenant Horatio Caine, Emily Procter as Dete ...

''. Thomas also starred on the breakout series '' Parenthood'' opposite Monica Potter and Peter Krause as well as the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

's hit show ''

Castle A castle is a type of fortified structure built during the Middle Ages predominantly by the nobility or royalty and by military orders. Scholars debate the scope of the word ''castle'', but usually consider it to be the private fortified r ...

''. Thomas has a recurring role on '' NCIS: Los Angeles'' and returned to the show in the fall of 2015 as the character Jada Khaled. Thomas guest starred in the episode "Skin" of the

Karl Urban Karl-Heinz Urban (born 7 June 1972) is a New Zealand actor. His career began with appearances in New Zealand films and TV series such as '' Xena: Warrior Princess''. His first Hollywood role was in the 2002 horror film ''Ghost Ship''. Since t ...

and

Michael Ealy Michael Brown (born August 3, 1973), professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Barbershop'' (2002), '' 2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003), ''Takers'' (2010), ''Think Like a Man'' (2012), ''About Last Ni ...

helmed FOX series '' Almost Human''. She was seen opposite

Zoe Saldana Zoe (also ZOE, Zoë, Zoé, etc.) can refer to: *ζωή (''zōḗ''), the Ancient Greek word for "life" People * Zoe (name), including list of persons and fictional characters with the name Film and television * ''Zoe'' (film) * ZOE Broadcast ...

as the author Lorraine Hansberry in the Nina Simone biopic, ''Nina'', which was released April 22, 2016.IMDB.com access=03/17/2014
/ref> More recently she filmed one of the lead roles in the Hallmark Movie Channel film production ''Portrait of Love'' with

Francis Fisher Francis Marion Bates Fisher (22 December 1877 – 24 July 1960) was a New Zealand Member of Parliament from Wellington. He was known as Rainbow Fisher for his frequent changes of political allegiance. He was a veteran of the Boer War and an in ...

as well as recurring on the new

series '' Ballers'' alongside

Dwayne Johnson Dwayne Douglas Johnson (born May 2, 1972), also known by his ring name The Rock, is an American actor and former professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he was integral to the developm ...

and

John David Washington John David Washington (born July 28, 1984) is an American actor and former professional football player. He played college football at Morehouse College and signed with the St. Louis Rams as an undrafted free agent in 2006. Professionally, Washi ...

. Ella has also been featured in editorial spreads for ''American Vogue'' and ''Glamour'' and ''ELLE'' and she has also appeared in print ads for companies such as ''Gap'', ''Tiffany & Co.'', and'' Levi's'' and is appearing in the Lexus ES automotive commercials. She completed a recurring arc on season 4 of

's ''

Mistresses Mistress is the feminine form of the English word "master" (''master'' + ''-ess'') and may refer to: Romance and relationships * Mistress (lover), a term for a woman who is in a sexual and romantic relationship with a man who is married to a d ...

'' as well as Antoine Fuqua's series for DirectTV ''Ice'' in the role of Lala Agabaria. She starred opposite Kyra Sedgwick in the ABC series ''

Ten Days in the Valley ''Ten Days in the Valley'' is an American drama television series that aired on ABC from October 1, 2017, through January 6, 2018. The series, starring Kyra Sedgwick, was ordered direct-to-series on August 4, 2016. After airing four episodes, ABC ...

'' as Detective Isabel Knight and appeared in the CBS series ''Me, Myself & I''. She has also guest starred on '' Supergirl'' and '' The Detour''.

Filmography

Film

Television

Other works

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Thomas, Ella American television actresses American film actresses Living people People from Asmara Eritrean emigrants to the United States American people of Eritrean descent 1981 births People from Kaiserslautern (district) 21st-century American women