Rutina Wesley

Infobox actor


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birthname = Rutina Wesley
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birthplace = Las Vegas, Nevada

Rutina Wesley is an American film, stage, and television actress.

After studying at the Las Vegas Academy, Wesley attended the University of Evansville, from where she obtained her B.F.A. in Theatre Performance in 2001, and the Juilliard School's Drama Division, where she performed in such productions as "Macbeth", "Richard III", "The Winter's Tale", and "The Marriage of Figaro". Wesley also spent a summer studying Shakespeare at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, where she landed the title role in a production of "Romeo and Juliet". Soon after her graduation from Juilliard in May 2005, she was cast by Oscar-winning director Sam Mendes in the Broadway production of "The Vertical Hour", starring alongside Julianne Moore and Bill Nighy.

In 2008, Wesley made her film debut as the lead role of Raya Green in "How She Move", from British director Ian Iqbal Rashid. She currently stars as Tara Thornton in the HBO series "True Blood", her first role in a TV series; the role was originally held by Brook Kerr. The show is based on "The Southern Vampire Mysteries" series of novels by Charlaine Harris, and a second season of the show has been commisioned, and is scheduled to air in summer 2009.

Wesley is a dark-skinned African American, and once addressed her color in an interview, saying, " [I] t's something that I've, my whole life, struggled with, being considered too dark by some..." She lives in Hollywood, California.

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2179180/ Rutina Wesley] at Internet Movie Database
* [http://newsblaze.com/story/20080120151550tsop.nb/topstory.html Interview with Kam Williams]