Xosha Kai Roquemore ( ; born December 11, 1984) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Jo Ann in '' Precious'' and Tamra in ''

The Mindy Project ''The Mindy Project'' is an American romantic comedy television series created by and starring Mindy Kaling that began airing on Fox in September 2012 and finished its run of six seasons on Hulu in November 2017. The series was co-produced by Un ...

''.

Early life and education

Roquemore was born in 1984 in Los Angeles, and is named after the

Xhosa people The Xhosa people, or Xhosa-speaking people (; ) are African people who are direct kinsmen of Tswana people, Sotho people and Twa people, yet are narrowly sub grouped by European as Nguni ethnic group whose traditional homeland is primarily t ...

of South Africa. She started acting when she joined The Amazing Grace Conservatory, in ninth grade. After graduating from high school, she moved to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

and graduated from the Tisch program at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

Career

Roquemore starred in her first major film as Jo Ann in '' Precious''. In 2013, she was cast in a recurring role on '' Kirstie'', based on her work in the series pilot. Her role, however, was recast after she was added as a series regular to ''

'' after a three-episode guest star stint.

Personal life

Roquemore was in a relationship with actor Lakeith Stanfield in August 2015. In March 2017, the couple announced Roquemore's pregnancy. Roquemore and Stanfield broke up after the birth of their daughter.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

* * 1984 births Living people Actresses from New York City Actresses from Los Angeles 21st-century American actresses Tisch School of the Arts alumni American television actresses African-American actresses American film actresses {{US-film-actor-1980s-stub