Charmaine Bingwa (born 13 November 1985) is an Australian actress known for her role as Carmen Moyo in '' The Good Fight''. She stars in Antoine Fuqua's recently released Emancipation as Dodienne, wife of Peter ( Will Smith), in which Variety has tipped her as one of their predictions for the 2023 Oscars in the Best Supporting Actress category. Bingwa is next set to appear as Isisa, a fierce and formidable warrior in King Shaka, also Executive Produced by Antoine Fuqua. She has also starred in ''Black Box'' as Miranda Brooks, part of Amazon's '' Welcome to the Blumhouse'' anthology film series. Bingwa won the 2018

Heath Ledger Scholarship Australians in Film (AiF) is a Los Angeles-based non-profit organization that serves the Australian community working in the film and television industry. It awards the annual Heath Ledger Scholarship to emerging Australian actors, as well as sev ...

award. She also voiced Felicia Cox in both seasons of QCode's successful podcast, The Burned Photo.

Early life and acting career

Bingwa was born in Perth, Western Australia. She began her career as a singer, but when completing her Bachelor of Music at university, until she took acting as one of her final electives. She completed the acting course in addition to her music degree and signed with an acting agent soon after graduating. She won critical acclaim in the stage role '' Doubt: A Parable'' starring as Mrs. Muller, for which she received a ''

Sydney Theatre Awards The Sydney Theatre Awards are annual awards to recognise the strength, quality and diversity of professional theatre in Sydney, Australia. They were established in 2005 by a group of major Sydney theatre critics. The awards recognise mainstage and ...

'' nomination. In 2018, she won the Australian ''

Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance The Media, Entertainment & Arts Alliance (MEAA), also sometimes referred to as the Alliance, is the Australian trade union and professional organisation which covers the media, entertainment, sports and arts industries. Its Musicians section c ...

'' Scholarship to study at the Atlantic Theater Company in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and then won the

, becoming the first woman of colour and openly gay recipient. Bingwa also starred, wrote, produced and co-directed the series ''Little Sista'', which won the LGBT Toronto Film Festival. Her role (Carmen Moyo) in The Good Fight was acclaimed as a "gust of chilly Chicago wind, quickly letting you know who's boss here"; she "made a splash upon joining Reddick & Associates", the fictional Chicago law firm in which she plays a talented, quick-witted, cool, gay, and morally complex junior lawyer.

Awards

Filmography

* 2018: ''

Nekrotronic ''Nekrotronic'' (formerly ''Nekromancer'') is a 2018 Australian comedy science-fiction horror film. It was co-written and directed by Kiah Roache-Turner, and stars Ben O'Toole and Monica Bellucci. It tells the story of demons that steal people's ...

'' * 2018: ''Hello Au Revoir'' * 2018: ''Little Sista'' (TV series, 7 episodes, also writer and director) * 2020: ''Black Box'' * 2021: ''The Pitch'' * 2021: '' The Good Fight'' (TV series) * 2022: ''Emancipation'' * 2022: Trees of Peace

References

Rising Stars of 2023

External links

* Living people Australian film actresses Actresses from Perth, Western Australia Australian people of Zimbabwean descent Australian lesbian actresses Lesbian film actresses Lesbian television actresses Australian actors of African descent 21st-century LGBT people 1985 births {{LGBT-bio-stub