American film and television actress

Bianca Jasmine Lawson (born March 20, 1979) is an American actress. She is known for her regular roles in the television series Saved by the Bell: The New Cl*, Goode Behavior, Pretty Little Liars, and Rogue. She has also had recurring roles in the series Sister, Sister, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Steve Harvey Show, Dawson's Creek, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, and Witches of East End. In 2016, Lawson began starring in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Queen Sugar.

Contents

• 1 Early life
• 2 Career
• 3 Filmography
  • 3.1 Film
  • 3.2 Television
  • 3.3 Video games
• 4 Awards and nominations
• 5 References
• 6 External links

Early life

Lawson was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Denise (née Gordy) and actor Richard Lawson, making her the stepdaughter to Lawson's second wife Tina Knowles, and stepsister to singers Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. Lawson is also the great-niece of Motown founder Berry Gordy. On her mother’s side of the family, her half-brother is Marvin Gaye III, son of late singer Marvin Gaye; the latter of whom she shares no relation with. Through her mother, her great uncle is Motown founder Berry Gordy; her first cousins once removed include singers Rhonda Ross Kendrick, Rockwell, and Redfoo along with her second cousin, rapper Sky Blu. On the side of her father, she is the stepsister of pop star Beyoncé and Solange Knowles through his marriage to their mother Tina Knowles. Other relatives include rapper Jay-Z and Blue Ivy Carter, who are her stepbrother-in-law and step-niece; respectively. She attended the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and graduated from Marymount High School, a Catholic school in Los Angeles. She then went on to study film and psychology at University of Southern California. Lawson's parents are both African-American, and she also has Italian, Native American, Portuguese, and Creole ancestry.

Career

Lawson began acting at the age of nine, having appeared in commercials for Barbie and Revlon. In 1993, she was cast in the television series Saved by the Bell: The New Cl* as series regular Megan Jones. She appeared in multiple episodes of The WB sitcoms Sister, Sister as Rhonda Coley and The Steve Harvey Show as Rosalind. In 1996, she co-starred in the UPN sitcom Goode Behavior—which lasted for just one season—as Bianca Goode, the teenage daughter of the *ular family. In 1997, she appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as vampire slayer Kendra Young. In 1999, she appeared in The WB's Dawson's Creek as rival character Nikki Green.

In 2009, Lawson was cast as Shawna in The Secret Life of the American Teenager. That same year, she was cast in the CW television series The Vampire Diaries, as witch Emily Bennett. In December 2009, she was cast as Maya St. Germain in the ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars, based on the book series by Sara Shepard. She appeared in that show from June 2010 through August 2012. Since 2012, she has had a recurring role as Ms. Morell in the MTV television series Teen Wolf, based on the original film from 1985. In 2014, Lawson had a recurring role as Eva in Witches of East End. In 2015, she was cast as series regular Talia Freeman in season three of Rogue.

Lawson has made appearances in two different television miniseries. In 1998, she appeared in The Temptations as Diana Ross (whom Lawson is related to through Ross's daughter Rhonda Ross Kendrick); and in 2001, she was cast as Anna Bella Monroe in Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints. Some of Lawson's film credits to date include Primary Colors (1998), Save the Last Dance (2001), Bones (2001) and Breakin' All the Rules (2004). Aside from film and television, Lawson provided her voice to the 2011 video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. In 2016, Lawson was cast in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Queen Sugar created by Ava DuVernay.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Bianca Lawson at IMDb