Nafessa Williams is an American actress. She is most known for her 2011 role as Nicole Gordon in the

Meek Mill Robert Rihmeek Williams (born May 6, 1987), known professionally as Meek Mill, is an American rapper. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he embarked on his music career as a battle rapper, and later formed a short-lived rap group, ...

film ''Streets'', her 2011 role as Deanna Forbes on 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 ...

soap opera ''

One Life to Live ''One Life to Live'' (often abbreviated as ''OLTL'') is an American soap opera broadcast on the ABC television network for more than 43 years, from July 15, 1968, to January 13, 2012, and then on the internet as a web series on Hulu and iTunes ...

'', and her 2016 role as Dr. Charlotte Piel on 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 Entertainmen ...

drama '' Code Black''. From 2018 to 2021, she has played

Anissa Pierce Thunder is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Judd Winick and artist Tom Raney in the Modern Age of Comic Books. She is first mentioned in ''Green Arrow'' (vol. 2) # ...

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

's ''

Black Lightning Black Lightning (Jefferson Pierce) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character, created by writer Tony Isabella and artist Trevor Von Eeden, first appeared in ''Black Lightning'' #1 (April 1977), during ...

''. Williams portrayed

Robyn Crawford Robyn Crawford (born December 17, 1960) is an American author, producer, and former assistant to and creative director for Whitney Houston. Her credits include '' The Bodyguard'' (1992), ''Waiting to Exhale'' (1995), '' In Between'' (1987), and ...

in the 2022

Whitney Houston Whitney Elizabeth Houston (August 9, 1963 – February 11, 2012) was an American singer and actress. Nicknamed "The Voice", she is one of the bestselling music artists of all time, with sales of over 200 million records worldwide. Houston in ...

biopic '' Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody''.

Early life and education

Williams was raised in

West Philadelphia West Philadelphia, nicknamed West Philly, is a section of the city of Philadelphia. Alhough there are no officially defined boundaries, it is generally considered to reach from the western shore of the Schuylkill River, to City Avenue to the nort ...

. She attended Robert E. Lamberton High School. Williams studied criminal justice at

West Chester University West Chester University (also known as West Chester, WCU, or WCUPA, and officially as West Chester University of Pennsylvania) is a public research university in and around West Chester, Pennsylvania. The university is accredited by the Middle ...

and interned in the homicide unit of the District Attorney's Office.

Career

In 2010, Williams was cast opposite Philadelphia rapper

in ''Streets''. The film was released in 2012. In March 2011, it was announced that Williams would join the cast of

's ''

'' in the contract role of Deanna. When Williams auditioned, the character was only supposed to appear in three episodes. However by the time of her debut, Williams had signed a four-year contract. Only a month into her stint, it was announced that ABC had decided to cancel the series. Williams was released from her contract early and last appeared in July 2011. In March 2012, Williams announced that she would be appearing on the

soap opera ''

The Bold and the Beautiful ''The Bold and the Beautiful'' (often referred to as ''B&B'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. It premiered on March 23, 1987, as a sister show to the Bells' other soap opera ''The Yo ...

''. Williams made her debut on May 8, 2012. However, the role was short lived and Williams only appeared in two episodes. In 2015, Williams appeared in the

Queen Latifah Dana Elaine Owens (born March 18, 1970), known professionally as Queen Latifah, is an American rapper, actress, and singer. Born in Newark, New Jersey, she signed with Tommy Boy Records in 1989 and released her debut album ''All Hail the Que ...

executive produced feature film, '' Brotherly Love'', opposite

Keke Palmer Lauren Keyana "Keke" Palmer (born August 26, 1993) ( ) is an American actress, singer and television personality. Known for playing leading and character roles in comedy and drama productions, she has received a Primetime Emmy Award, five NAACP ...

. In April 2016, Williams was cast in the

Showtime Showtime or Show Time may refer to: Film * ''Showtime'' (film), a 2002 American action/comedy film * ''Showtime'' (video), a 1995 live concert video by Blur Television Networks and channels * Showtime Networks, a division of Paramount Global w ...

continuation In computer science, a continuation is an abstract representation of the control state of a computer program. A continuation implements ( reifies) the program control state, i.e. the continuation is a data structure that represents the computati ...

of the 1990s ABC drama ''

Twin Peaks ''Twin Peaks'' is an American Mystery fiction, mystery serial drama television series created by Mark Frost and David Lynch. It premiered on American Broadcasting Company, ABC on April 8, 1990, and originally ran for two seasons until its cance ...

''. In July 2016, Williams was cast in the recurring role of Charlotte on the CBS prime time drama, '' Code Black''. In 2017, Williams was cast as

in the 2018

Mara Brock Akil Mara Brock Akil (born Mara Dionne Brock; May 27, 1970) is an American screenwriter and television producer. She created the UPN comedy series '' Girlfriends'' (2000–2008) and its spin-off '' The Game'' (2006–2015). She later created the firs ...

Greg Berlanti Gregory Berlanti (born May 24, 1972) is an American screenwriter, producer and director of film and television. He is known for his work on the television series ''Dawson's Creek'', '' Brothers & Sisters'', ''Everwood'', '' Political Animals'', ...

series ''

''. In May and June 2019, Williams, DC Comics Co-Publisher

Jim Lee Jim Lee (Korean 이용철; born August 11, 1964) is a Korean American comic-book artist, writer, editor, and publisher. He is currently the Publisher and Chief Creative Officer of DC Comics. In recognition of his work, Lee has received a Harvey ...

, writer Tom King, and fellow CW series actresses

Candice Patton Candice Kristina Patton is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Iris West-Allen in the television series ''The Flash'' (2014–2023), which earned her a Saturn Award from four nominations. Early life Patton was raised in Pla ...

and

Danielle Panabaker Danielle Nicole Panabaker (born September 19, 1987) is an American actress. She began acting as a teenager and came to prominence for her roles in the Disney films '' Stuck in the Suburbs'' (2004), '' Sky High'' (2005) and ''Read It and Weep'' ( ...

toured five U.S. military bases in Kuwait with the

United Service Organizations The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is an American nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed F ...

(USO), where they visited the approximately 12,000 U.S. military personnel stationed in that country as part of DC's 80th anniversary of Batman celebration.

Filmography

Film and TV Movies

Television

Video Games

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Nafessa Living people Actresses from Philadelphia African-American actresses American soap opera actresses American television actresses West Chester University alumni 21st-century American actresses Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century African-American women