Tessa Thompson

She began her professional acting career with the Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company while studying at Santa Monica College, acting in productions of The Tempest and Romeo and Juliet. Her early film debut came in the horror film When a Stranger Calls, followed by leading roles in the independent dramas Mississippi Damned and Tyler Perry's For Colored Girls. She received favourable notices for roles in the comedy-drama Dear White People and as civil rights activist Diane Nash in Ava DuVernay's historical drama Selma. She gained mainstream attention for her roles in franchise films, playing Bianca Taylor in the sports dramas Creed and its sequels, and as Valkyrie in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including Thor: Ragnarok and Thor: Love and Thunder.