Monique Denise Ingram (born February 6, 1994), known professionally as Moses Ingram, is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Jolene in the
Netflix miniseries ''
The Queen's Gambit'' (2020). For this role, she was nominated for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie,
[.]. She is also known for her role as Reva Sevander / the Third Sister in the
Disney+ miniseries ''
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi () is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Within the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy, Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master as a supporting character and is portrayed by English actor Alec Guinn ...
'' (2022).
Early life and education
Ingram grew up in
Baltimore
Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was d ...
in a
blended family of six children; her mother worked at childcare and her stepfather worked in city operations. At age 10, her mother and a teacher at Windsor Hills Elementary enrolled her in an after-school theater program.
She later attended the
Baltimore School for the Arts,
graduating in 2012.
Due to financial limitations, Ingram declined an offer to attend
Howard University and enrolled at
Baltimore City Community College
Baltimore City Community College (BCCC) is a public community college in Baltimore, Maryland. It is the only community college in the city and the only state-sponsored community college in the state. It is accredited by the Middle States Commiss ...
in 2012. Although Baltimore City did not have a drama program, she was encouraged by her advisor to continue acting and audition for local plays. She also took on multiple part-time jobs and scholarships to fund her schooling. She graduated with an associate degree.
In 2015, she won a regional competition from the
National Society of Arts and Letters
The National Society of Arts and Letters (known by its abbreviation NSAL) is an American non-profit group founded in 1944 as a women's organization to assist promising young artists through arts competitions, scholarships and other career opportuni ...
, and finished fourth in the nationals. The winner of that competition,
Jonathan Majors, encouraged her to audition for the
Yale School of Drama. She was accepted with scholarship support and enrolled in the fall of 2016.
Before starting Yale, she renamed herself Moses. "So when we got to school
ale
Ale is a Type of beer, type of beer brewed using a Warm fermentation, warm fermentation method, resulting in a sweet, full-bodied and fruity taste. Historically, the term referred to a drink brewed without hops.
As with most beers, ale typicall ...
they wanted us to register our names because this is the first time they would be publicized so people can see them. And before I got to Yale I had, had such a time just trying to make things work that my name just didn’t feel suited. So I prayed and asked God, 'What is it? I know it's not my name now, but it is something.' And a few days later, I just heard Moses in my head and that was it."
She received a
Princess Grace Award
The Princess Grace Foundation – USA is a charity organization named after Princess Grace of Monaco, which supports emerging performers in theater, dance, and film in the form of awards, grants, scholarships, and fellowships. The Foundation hol ...
in 2018. In her final year at Yale, Ingram received rave reviews for her lead performance as
Viola in an Afrocentric version of
William Shakespeare's ''
Twelfth Night''. She graduated with her
Master of Fine Arts
A Master of Fine Arts (MFA or M.F.A.)
is a terminal degree in fine arts, including visual arts, creative writing, graphic design, photography, filmmaking, dance, theatre, other performing arts and in some cases, theatre management or arts admini ...
in June 2019.
Career
A month after commencement, she auditioned in
New York City for a role in ''
The Queen's Gambit'' and landed the role of Jolene, who is Beth's friend from the orphanage in the series.
For her role, she was nominated for the
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie.
Ingram next appeared in
Peter Hedges' ensemble drama ''The Same Storm'' and as
Lady Macduff in
Joel Coen
Joel Daniel Coen (born November 29, 1954) and Ethan Jesse Coen (born September 21, 1957),State of Minnesota. ''Minnesota Birth Index, 1935–2002''. Minnesota Department of Health. collectively known as the Coen brothers (), are American film ...
's ''
The Tragedy of Macbeth'', which premiered at the
New York Film Festival in September 2021. In 2022, she appeared in
Michael Bay
Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...
's ''
Ambulance'', Noting her Emmy nomination and these roles, ''
Variety'' named her one of ten actors to watch for 2021.
Ingram appeared in the
Disney+ ''
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop-culture Cultural impact of S ...
'' spin-off miniseries ''
Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi () is a fictional Character (arts), character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. Within the Star Wars original trilogy, original trilogy, Obi-Wan is a Jedi Master as a supporting character and is portrayed by English actor Alec Guinn ...
'' as Reva Sevander / the Third Sister, an Inquisitor who works to hunt down surviving Jedi after Order 66. For her role as Reva Sevander in that series, Ingram received hundreds of
direct messages on
Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
containing death threats and racist abuse which she revealed examples of on May 31, 2022. This prompted Disney and her colleagues, including
Ewan McGregor, to defend her. McGregor, in a video posted to the official ''Star Wars'' social media accounts, called the abusive messages "horrendous" and said that "if you’re sending her bullying messages, you’re no
''Star Wars'' fan in my mind".
She will next appear in two
Apple TV+ miniseries: ''
Lady in the Lake
''Lady in the Lake'' is a 1947 American film noir starring Robert Montgomery, Audrey Totter, Lloyd Nolan, Tom Tully, Leon Ames and Jayne Meadows. An adaptation of the 1943 Raymond Chandler murder mystery ''The Lady in the Lake'', the picture ...
'' opposite
Natalie Portman, and ''
The Big Cigar
''The Big Cigar'' is an upcoming biographical drama thriller miniseries developed by Jim Hecht and Joshuah Bearman.
Premise
Chronicles the manhunt for Huey P. Newton, the founder of the Black Panther Party, who seeks the help of film producer B ...
'', starring
André Holland.
Filmography
Film
Television
Theatre
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ingram, Moses
1994 births
Living people
21st-century American actresses
African-American actresses
Actresses from Baltimore
Yale School of Drama alumni
American television actresses
American film actresses
Victims of cyberbullying