Lorraine Toussaint

At 64 years old, Lorraine Toussaint has this physical status:

Lorraine Toussaint (born April 4, 1960) is a Trinidadian-American actress and producer. Toussaint started her career in theatre before appearing in films such as Breaking In (1989), Hudson Hawk (1991), and Dangerous Minds (1995).

She is best known for her role as Rene Jackson in the critically acclaimed Lifetime television drama series Any Day Now, from 1998 to 2002, as lead actress Elizabeth May, and her recurring role as defense attorney Shambala Green in the NBC legal drama Law & Order.

Toussaint appeared in the NBC crime drama Saving Grace (2007–10) as a regular cast member.

Toussaint has appeared in more than 30 guest appearances on television, appeared in a number of made-for-television films, and appeared in Ugly Betty, Friday Night Lights, Body of Proof, and The Fosters.

She appeared in the ABC fantasy-drama series Forever (2014–15), and recently co-starred in the Fox comedy-drama Rosewood. Toussaint received critical praise and an Independent Spirit Award nomination for her role in the 2012 drama film Middle of Nowhere, written and directed by Ava DuVernay.

In 2014, she appeared in the role of Yvonne "Vee" Parker, the main antagonist in Netflix's second season of Orange Is the New Black, for which she received critical praise and a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

Amelia Boynton Robinson appeared in the 2014 historical drama film Selma, directed by Ava DuVernay.

Early life

Toussaint was born in Trinidad and Tobago. "I grew up under the British system, which I think is horrible for children," she said, a system that did not recognise children as individuals. You were small animals with the right to be human. The childhood of mine was incredibly painful, and as an artistic child who discovered in alternative ways, it was hell. "I was beat regularly; a good child was afraid of being alone, and I was a very, very good little girl, which meant I lived in a world of silence, black terror most of the time." Toussaint was born in Brooklyn in the late 1960s and her mother was a tutor.

Toussaint graduated from the High School of Performing Arts in Manhattan in 1978. Megan Gallagher, Penny Johnson Jerald, Jack Kenny, Jack Kenny, and Jack Stehlin were among her classmates in 1982 at Juilliard School's drama division, where she later attended Group 11 (1978-1982), where she met Megan Gallagher, Penny Johnson Jerald, Jack Kenny, Jack Kenny, and Jack Stehlin. Toussaint earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Juilliard. She began her career as a Shakespearean actress before tackling screen acting in television and film.

Personal life

Samara, Toussaint's one daughter. Toussaint's grandparents were from Martinique. She had a blog.

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Career

Toussaint made her film debut in 1983. In the television film A Case of Deadly Force, based on Lawrence O'Donnell's book, she portrayed the widow of a man shot and killed by Boston police in 1986. Vera Williams appeared in numerous television shows in the 1990s as a defense attorney in a recurring role, One Life to Live.

Toussaint made her film debut in the female lead role opposite Burt Reynolds in the 1989 crime film Breaking In (1989). Critics loved the film, but in the box office, it failed. She appeared in Hudson Hawk in 1991 and then co-starred with Michelle Pfeiffer in Dangerous Minds (1995). She has appeared in films Point of No Return (1993), Mother's Boys (1994), and Black Dog (1998). Toussaint appeared on television as a regular in the short-lived series Bodies of Evidence (CBS, 1992), Where I Live (ABC, 1995), and Leaving Los Angeles (ABC, 1997).

Toussaint appeared in Any Day Now, Annie Potts' first original television drama series starring Rene Jackson, a wealthy African-American lawyer. Both lead actresses' appearances as well as the show's script writing were lauded, but the series never received top-rated accolades. Toussaint was a strong contender for the Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series category in 2001, but she did not receive a nomination. She was also nominated five times for the Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series by the NAACP Image Award for her performance. Any Day Now ended after four seasons and 88 episodes.

Toussaint appeared on NBC's Crossing Jordan from 2002 to 2004 as Dr. Elaine Duchamps. She appeared on Frasier, Judging Amy, The Closer, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, ER, and NCIS in later years. In addition, she appeared alongside Holly Hunter in the TNT crime drama Saving Grace as Capt. Kate Perry, from 2007 to 2010. She appeared in ABC's comedy series Ugly Betty in 2006, and as Bird Merriweather in the NBC drama Friday Night Lights (2009–11). In the 2009 drama The Soloist, Toussaint appeared as Jamie Foxx's mother.

Toussaint received critical acclaim in 2012 and was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female for her daughter's (Emayatzy Corinealdi) and her husband's (Omari Hardwick) film, written and directed by Ava DuVernay. Toussaint appeared to be a good candidate for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress category in 2013, but she did not receive one.

She appeared in Grey's Anatomy (as a scientist) and Scandal (as a bereaved and betrayed pastor's wife) in 2012. Angela Martin, the villainous police chief on Dana Delany's series Body of Evidence, appeared in season 3 of Body of Evidence. Sherri Saums character's mother appeared in ABC Family's drama series The Fosters later this year. This was the first time she and Annie Potts had been reunited on film since the 2002 finale of Any Day Now.

Toussaint appeared in Netflix's original comedy-drama series Orange Is the New Black's second season in 2014. She played Yvonne "Vee" Parker, season two's leading antagonist, who is back to prison for a long time as a heroin dealer. Her performance received critical acclaim. Toussaint, a female actress, appeared nude on screen for the first time in her career. She was named in the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series for her role. Vee was ranked 28th on Rolling Stone's list of the "40 Greatest TV Villains of All Time" in February 2016.

Toussaint co-starred in Ava DuVernay's historical drama film Selma in 2014, portraying Amelia Boynton Robinson, a leading civil rights activist who was the first African-American woman to run for Congress in Alabama. Ioan Gruffudd and Alana de la Garza were both cast in the ABC fantasy-drama series Forever that year. After a single season, the show was cancelled. Toussaint appeared in the comedy film Xmas, directed and written by Jonathan Levine, which was released on November 25, 2015. She co-starred in Runaway Island and the Rising Sun in 2015. Toussaint appeared in Coco, a Lionsgate drama starring rapper Azealia Banks, later this year. She appeared in the series regular role of the titular character's mother in June 2015.

Toussaint appeared on Law & Order in March 2016, a backdoor pilot in Chicago, P.D., and Toussaint was portrayed in her role as defense attorney Shambala Green, a role she played on NBC's Law & Order in 1990. In season 3, she played Cressida, a self-styled Prophetess.

Toussaint appeared in the NBC limited drama series The Village in 2019. After one season, the series was cancelled. Louise "Lou Lou" Baptiste, the actor in Guillermo del Toro's horror film Fast Color, starred her later in the superhero film Fast Color opposite Guillermo Mbatha-Raw's. In the biographical film The Glorias directed by Julie Taymor, she played feminist, civil rights activist, and feminist activist Florynce Kennedy. On January 26, 2020, the film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival. Later, she was cast opposite Idris Elba in the drama film Concrete Cowboy. Toussaint was cast as Viola "Aunt Vi" Lascombe in the CBS remake of The Equalizer starring Queen Latifah in 2020.

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