Emayatzy Corinealdi ( ; born January 14, 1980) is an American actress. She starred in the

Ava DuVernay Ava Marie DuVernay (; born August 24, 1972) is an American filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer. She is a recipient of two Primetime Emmy Awards, Primetime Emmy Awards, two NAACP Image Awards, NAACP Image Awards, a British Academy Film Awards, ...

2012 drama film '' Middle of Nowhere'' for which she won Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Performer and received

Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead The Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead was one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding lead performance in an independent film. It was first presented in 1985 with Geraldine Page bei ...

nomination. Corinealdi later starred in films '' Miles Ahead'' (2016), and '' The Invitation'' (2015). On television, she played the role of Belle in the 2016 remake of ''

Roots A root is the part of a plant, generally underground, that anchors the plant body, and absorbs and stores water and nutrients. Root or roots may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''The Root'' (magazine), an online magazine focusin ...

''. She also starred in '' Hand of God'' (2014–2017), '' Ballers'' (2017–2019), and '' The Red Line'' (2019). In 2022, Corinealdi began starring in the Hulu legal drama series, ''

Reasonable Doubt Beyond (a) reasonable doubt is a legal standard of proof required to validate a criminal conviction in most adversarial legal systems. It is a higher standard of proof than the standard of balance of probabilities (US English: preponderance of ...

''.

Early life

Corinealdi was born January 14, 1980, in

Fort Knox Fort Knox is a United States Army installation in Kentucky, south of Louisville and north of Elizabethtown, Kentucky, Elizabethtown. It is adjacent to the United States Bullion Depository (also known as Fort Knox), which is used to house a larg ...

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

, the daughter of Rosemarie Hilton and Edward Corinealdi. Her father is Panamanian, while her mother is African-American from

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. As a member of a military family, she was raised between Germany and the U.S. states in Ohio, Kansas, and

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. She studied in New Jersey at the Actor's Training Studio, then at the William Esper Studio in New York City, and then at Playhouse West.

Career

In her early career, Corinealdi co-starred in a number of independent and short films, had the recurring role on the CBS daytime soap opera, ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in the fictional Genoa City (named after the real-life Genoa City, Wiscon ...

'', and appeared in the Hallmark television film, '' The Nanny Express'' (2008). In 2012, she made her feature film debut as the lead in the drama, '' Middle of Nowhere''. Corinealdi won the 14th Annual American Black Film Festival Star Project, an international acting competition for emerging multicultural artists. Later that year, she won the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor for the film. She was also nominated for an

Independent Spirit Award for best female lead The Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead was one of the annual Independent Spirit Awards to honor an actress who has delivered an outstanding lead performance in an independent film. It was first presented in 1985 with Geraldine Page bei ...

In 2013, Corinealdi appeared in the short film ''The Door'', part of

Miu Miu Miu Miu is an Italian high fashion women's clothing and accessory brand and a fully owned subsidiary of Prada. It is headed by Miuccia Prada and headquartered in Milan, Italy. Silvia Onofri is its CEO. History Miu Miu was established in 1992 ...

's fashion series ''Women's Tales'', which reunited her with her ''Middle of Nowhere'' director

. In 2014, Corinealdi was cast in the drama series '' Hand of God''. Later that year, she won the role of Frances Taylor Davis, the wife of

Miles Davis Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...

in the biographical film '' Miles Ahead''. She also starred in the horror film '' The Invitation'' and the coming-of-age drama '' Beats''. In 2016, Corinealdi played the role of Kunta Kinte's wife, Belle, in A&E's ''

'' reboot. From 2017 to 2019, she had a recurring role in the HBO comedy-drama series, '' Ballers'', and in 2019 starred in the Ava DuVernay-produced limited series '' The Red Line'' on CBS. In 2022, she was cast in her first series television leading role in the Hulu legal drama ''

'' produced by

Kerry Washington Kerry Marisa Washington (born January 31, 1977) SidebarCertificate of Live Birth: Isabelle Amarachi Asomugha(County of Los Angeles Department of Public Health). Gives Kerry Washington birth dateArchivedfrom the original on May 2, 2016.Note: Fil ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Corinealdi, Emayatzy 21st-century American actresses Actresses from Kentucky Actresses from New Jersey American film actresses American people of Panamanian descent American television actresses Living people 21st-century African-American actresses 20th-century African-American actresses 20th-century American actresses 1980 births