Nicole Beharie

Nicole Beharie was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. During her childhood, her father served in the United States Foreign Service, leading her to reside in various countries including the United Kingdom, Nigeria, and Panama. She developed an early passion for acting and attended the South Carolina Governor’s School for the Arts & Humanities in Greenville, SC, graduating in 2003. She was the first student from the Governor’s School to be accepted into the prestigious Juilliard Drama School in NYC, where she was also awarded a Shakespeare scholarship and trained in England.

Beharie made her critically acclaimed film debut in 2008 with “American Violet,” starring alongside Alfre Woodard, Tim Blake Nelson, and Will Patton. In the same year, she appeared in “The Express: The Ernie Davis Story” as Ernie Davis’ girlfriend. Her career continued to progress with prominent roles in various films, including the romantic drama “My Last Day Without You” (2011), where she performed five original songs, and Steve McQueen’s psychological drama “Shame” (2011) opposite Michael Fassbender. In “Shame,” her performance as Marianne earned praise from Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe, who described her as “a marvel of natural transparency.” In 2013, she took on the role of Rachel Robinson, wife of Jackie Robinson, in the biographical sports drama “42,” starring opposite Chadwick Boseman.

From 2013 to 2016, Beharie starred as Abbie Mills in the Fox supernatural drama series “Sleepy Hollow,” a role she held for 49 episodes. She later departed the series due to an autoimmune disease, which also made it challenging to find subsequent work. In 2019, she appeared in the Netflix anthology series “Black Mirror.” Beharie received significant recognition for her leading role as Turquoise Jones in the 2020 independent drama “Miss Juneteenth,” winning the Gotham Independent Film Award for Best Actress. More recently, she joined the cast of the Apple TV+ drama series “The Morning Show” in 2023, earning a Primetime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her performance.