Javicia Leslie ( ; born May 30, 1987) is an American actress. After landing her first major role in the Lifetime film ''Swim at Your Own Risk'' (2016), she appeared as a series regular on the

BET Black Entertainment Television (acronym BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting African-American audiences. It is owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global via BET Networks and has offices in New York City, Los ...

drama '' The Family Business'' (2018–present) and the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

comedy-drama ''

God Friended Me ''God Friended Me'' is an American comedy-drama television series created by Steven Lilien and Bryan Wynbrandt. It stars Brandon Micheal Hall, Violett Beane, Suraj Sharma, Javicia Leslie, Joe Morton and Erica Gimpel. The series was ordered ...

'' (2018–2020). She also starred as the lead of the film '' Always a Bridesmaid'' (2019). In 2021, Leslie began portraying the

title role The title character in a narrative work is one who is named or referred to in the title of the work. In a performed work such as a play or film, the performer who plays the title character is said to have the title role of the piece. The title of ...

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

superhero series '' Batwoman'' for the second and third season.

Early life and education

Leslie was born into a military family on May 30, 1987, in

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ...

, Germany. Her family moved to

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

where she grew up in Upper Marlboro. She attended Hampton University where she appeared in productions of ''

Seven Guitars ''Seven Guitars'' is a 1995 play by American playwright August Wilson. It focuses on seven African-American characters in the year 1948. The play begins and ends after the funeral of one of the main characters, showing events leading to the funer ...

'', ''

for colored girls ''For Colored Girls'' is a 2010 American drama film adapted from Ntozake Shange's 1975 original choreopoem ''for colored girls who have considered suicide / when the rainbow is enuf''. Written, directed and produced by Tyler Perry, the film featu ...

'', and ''

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

''.

Career

Following her graduation, Leslie moved to Los Angeles to pursue an acting career. She appeared in the

series '' The Family Business'' and was in the 2019 film '' Always a Bridesmaid''. She previously appeared as a series regular on ''

'' from 2018 to 2020, where she portrayed the sister of

Brandon Micheal Hall Brandon Micheal Hall (born February 3, 1993) is an American actor. On television, he starred as the lead of the ABC sitcom '' The Mayor'' (2017) and the CBS comedy-drama ''God Friended Me'' (2018–2020). Hall also appeared as a series regular o ...

's character. In 2020, Leslie was cast in the

of '' Batwoman'' following the departure of original lead

Ruby Rose Ruby Rose Langenheim (born 20 March 1986) is an Australian model, actress, disc jockey and television presenter. Rose was a presenter on MTV Australia (2007–2011), followed by several high-profile modelling gigs, including Maybelline New Yor ...

. She plays

Ryan Wilder ''Batwoman'' is an American superhero television series developed by Caroline Dries based on the DC Comics character Batwoman, a costumed crime-fighter created by Geoff Johns, Grant Morrison, Greg Rucka, Mark Waid, and Keith Giffen. It is set in th ...

, an original character created for the show, who takes up the mantle of Batwoman in the second season.

Personal life

Leslie is bisexual. She is a Christian and trained in Muay Thai.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* 1987 births Living people 21st-century American actresses Actors from Augsburg German people of African-American descent Actresses from Maryland Hampton University alumni People from Upper Marlboro, Maryland Bisexual actresses LGBT African Americans German LGBT actors LGBT Christians LGBT people from Maryland African-American Christians 21st-century African-American women 21st-century African-American people American bisexual actors {{US-tv-actor-1980s-stub