Nika King is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her role as Leslie Bennett 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 ...

television series ''

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

'' (2019–present). After starting her acting career in 2002, King moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

and became a stand-up comedian.

Early life

King has five siblings. She grew up in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

and, when King was a child, her parents and uncle were addicted to drugs. She attended

Miami Carol City Senior High School Miami Carol City Senior High School (MCCSH) is a public high school located at 3301 Miami Gardens Drive in Miami Gardens, Florida, United States. It was established in 1963. The school is part of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools system. The sc ...

, where she was president of her class, and graduated from

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida, traces its origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its ...

with a degree in theater. King briefly lived in New York City to become an actor, but soon moved back to Miami due to feeling overwhelmed. She then worked as a drama and dance teacher and a basketball coach at Miami Carol City Senior High School for two years. Although she initially planned to quit after her first year, she decided to stay for another year after the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercia ...

Career

While in Miami, King made her first acting appearance in the television movie ''Miss Miami'' in 2002, where she played the chief of police. After quitting her job as a teacher, King moved to

to pursue acting full-time and enrolled at The Groundlings School. She performed with Elite Delta Force 3, an all-Black female sketch comedy group, before transitioning into stand-up comedy. She had a recurring role on the

OWN Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

television series '' Greenleaf'' from 2016 to 2017 as Ramona Chapman. She also made guest appearances on various television series, including ''

2 Broke Girls ''2 Broke Girls'' (stylized ''2 Broke Girl$'') is an American television sitcom that aired on CBS from September 19, 2011, to April 17, 2017. The series was produced for Warner Bros. Television and created by Michael Patrick King and Whitney Cumm ...

'', ''

Hannah Montana ''Hannah Montana'' is an American teen sitcom created by Michael Poryes, Rich Correll and Barry O'Brien that aired on Disney Channel for four seasons between March2006 and January2011. The series centers on Miley Stewart (Miley Cyrus), a ...

'', ''

Best Friends Whenever ''Best Friends Whenever'' is an American comedy television series created by Jed Elinoff and Scott Thomas that premiered on Disney Channel on June 26, 2015. Its final episode aired on December 11, 2016, after two seasons. The series stars Land ...

'', and '' NCIS: Los Angeles''. In 2019, King began starring in the

teen drama In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

television series ''

'' as Leslie Bennett, the widowed single mother of teenage drug addict Rue and Rue's sister, Gia.

Sam Levinson Samuel Levinson (born January 8, 1985) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is the son of Academy Award-winning director Barry Levinson. In 2010, he received his first writing credit as a co-writer for the action comedy film '' Operation: Endg ...

, the show's creator, envisioned Leslie as a representation of his own mother. King originally joined the cast of the series in a supporting role, but was soon given a leading role. For her role on the show, she drew on experiences her mother had when she was addicted to drugs and worked with a private acting coach. She signed a contract with

Paradigm Talent Agency Paradigm Talent Agency is an American full-service entertainment agency with offices in Los Angeles, New York, London, Chicago, Toronto, Monterey, Nashville, Berkeley and Austin. Paradigm Talent Agency has more than 200 agents representing client ...

for representation in 2020, and signed a contract with Wonder Street for management in 2022. She directed the upcoming short film ''For Sale''. At the beginning of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, King launched the startup Jeli Life, an online mentorship program for marginalized communities in the entertainment industry. She also founded the

501(c)(3) organization A 501(c)(3) organization is a United States corporation, Trust (business), trust, unincorporated association or other type of organization exempt from federal income tax under section 501(c)(3) of Title 26 of the United States Code. It is one of t ...

Rose of Sharon, which focuses on improving mental health in the Black community.

Personal life

King's mother is a three-time cancer survivor.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Nika Living people 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American comedians Actresses from Miami African-American actresses African-American female comedians American women comedians Miami Carol City Senior High School alumni University of Florida alumni American nonprofit executives Women nonprofit executives Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people)