Ilfenesh Hadera (born December 1, 1985) is an American actress.

Early life

Hadera was born on December 1, 1985 in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...

to Kim Nichols and Asfaha Hadera. She identifies as half Ethiopian and half white. Her father is a Tigrayan refugee and founder of the African Services Committee, a Harlem-based organization that works with African refugees. She volunteered with the organization prior to beginning her acting career. Hadera attended

The Harlem School of the Arts Harlem School of the Arts (HSA) is an art school in Harlem, Manhattan, New York City. Harlem School of the Arts was founded in 1964, by soprano Dorothy Maynor. Maynor was succeeded by mezzo-soprano Betty Allen as President in 1979, when a new 3 ...

, followed by the

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia, is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, located near Lincoln Ce ...

. She went on to receive an MFA in text and performance studies from

RADA The Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA; ) is a drama school in London, England, that provides vocational conservatoire training for theatre, film, television, and radio. It is based in the Bloomsbury area of Central London, close to the Senat ...

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...

Career

In 2010, Hadera made her acting debut in the film ''1/20''. A frequent collaborator with Spike Lee, she has appeared in '' Da Brick'', ''

The Blacklist ''The Blacklist'' is an American crime thriller television series that premiered on NBC on September 23, 2013. The show follows Raymond "Red" Reddington (James Spader), a former U.S. Navy officer turned high-profile criminal who voluntarily sur ...

'', '' Oldboy'', ''

Show Me a Hero ''Show Me a Hero'' is a 2015 American miniseries based on the 1999 nonfiction book of the same name by former ''New York Times'' writer Lisa Belkin about Yonkers mayor Nick Wasicsko. Like the book, the miniseries details a white middle-class ne ...

'', ''

Chi-Raq ''Chi-Raq'' () is a 2015 American musical crime comedy drama film, directed and produced by Spike Lee and co-written by Lee and Kevin Willmott. Set in Chicago, the film focuses on the gang violence prevalent in neighborhoods on the city's sou ...

'', '' Chicago Fire'', ''

The Punisher The Punisher (Francis "Frank" Castle, born Castiglione) is an antihero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character was created by writer Gerry Conway and artists John Romita Sr. and Ross Andru. The Punisher made ...

'', and ''

She's Gotta Have It ''She's Gotta Have It'' is a 1986 American black-and-white comedy-drama film written, produced, edited and directed by Spike Lee. Filmed on a small budget and Lee's first feature-length film to be released, it earned positive reviews and lau ...

''. Hadera co-starred as Stephanie Holden in the 2017 film ''

Baywatch ''Baywatch'' is an American action drama television series about lifeguards who patrol the beaches of Los Angeles County, California, and Hawaii, starring David Hasselhoff. It was created by Michael Berk, Douglas Schwartz, and Gregory J. Bonann, ...

'', and in 2018 starred as Kay Daniels in the TV series ''

Deception Deception or falsehood is an act or statement that misleads, hides the truth, or promotes a belief, concept, or idea that is not true. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Deception can involve dissimulation, propaganda and sleight o ...

''. She had a recurring role in the Showtime Series '' Billions'', as a secretary to billionaire fund manager Bobby Axelrod, played by

Damian Lewis Damian Watcyn Lewis (born 11 February 1971) is an English actor, presenter and producer. He is best known for portraying U.S. Army Major Richard Winters in the HBO miniseries '' Band of Brothers'', which earned him a Golden Globe nomination ...

. On September 29, 2019, Hadera began starring as Mayme Johnson, the wife of

Bumpy Johnson Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson (October 31, 1905 – July 7, 1968) was an American crime boss in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. Early life Ellsworth Raymond "Bumpy" Johnson was born in Charleston, South Carolina, on October 31, 1905 ...

in the premiere of the American

crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

television series, ''

Godfather of Harlem ''Godfather of Harlem'' is an American crime drama television series which premiered on September 29, 2019, on Epix. The series is written by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein, and stars Forest Whitaker as 1960s New York City gangster Bumpy Johnso ...

'' on

Epix Epix (pronounced ''epics'' and stylized as P) is an American premium cable and satellite television network owned by the Epix Entertainment LLC subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), a subsidiary of Amazon's MGM Holdings, Inc. The channel's pr ...

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hadera, Ilfenesh American people of Ethiopian descent American film actresses American television actresses African-American actresses Living people 1985 births 21st-century American women