Rutina Wesley
Wesley in 2012
Born (1978-12-21) December 21, 1978
Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S.
EducationUniversity of Evansville (BFA)
Juilliard School (GrDip)
OccupationActress
Years active2005–present
Spouse
Jacob Fishel
​
​
(m. 2005; sep. 2013)​

Rutina Wesley (born December 21, 1978)[1] is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Tara Thornton on the HBO television series True Blood, and Nova Bordelon on OWN’s Queen Sugar.

Early life and education

Wesley was born and raised in Las Vegas, Nevada.[2] Her father, Ivery Wheeler, is a professional tap dancer, and her mother, Cassandra Wesley, was a showgirl.[3] She attended high school at the Las Vegas Academy of International Studies, Performing and Visual Arts.[4] She studied dance at Simba Studios and the West Las Vegas Arts Center.[5]

While at the Las Vegas Academy, Wesley missed some auditions for college training programs. She finally decided to attend the University of Evansville in Indiana.[6]

After Wesley earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre Performance in 2001,[7] her grandmother suggested that she do a nursing course to have a practical fallback job, but Wesley insisted on pursuing her artistic education.[6] She enrolled at the Juilliard School in 2001[8] and graduated in May 2005 (Group 34).[9] Her studies included a summer spent at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London.[10]

Career

Wesley at the International Comic-Con San Diego with Ryan Kwanten, Deborah Ann Woll, Anna Paquin, Stephen Moyer, and Nelsan Ellis from the TV series True Blood in 2011.

In December 2006, Wesley was featured in David Hare's Broadway play The Vertical Hour.[3] In 2007, Wesley also appeared in The Public Theater production of In Darfur by playwright Winter Miller, co-starring Heather Raffo and Aaron Lohr, among others.[11]

Wesley had a minor role in the 2005 film Hitch, which was edited out in the final cut.[5] In 2007, she made her on-screen debut as the main character in the film How She Move, from British director Ian Iqbal Rashid. The character Raya Green, who enters a step-dancing competition to secure funds for her education, was inspired by Tony Manero, portrayed by John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever.[12] Prior to the shooting of the film, Wesley underwent a five-week dance rehearsal period.[5] Portraying a woman of Jamaican descent, she also took dialect coaching for the role.[13]

Wesley auditioned for the role Tara Thornton in the HBO series True Blood in 2007 and secured the part after creator Alan Ball chose her because "[she] was the first person who showed [Tara's] vulnerable side".[3]

In January 2015, it was announced that Wesley had been cast in a recurring role on the NBC drama series Hannibal. She portrayed Reba McClane, "a blind woman who enters into a relationship with Francis Dolarhyde (Richard Armitage), and helps soothe his murderous urges—at least at first."[14] Wesley appeared as Liza Warner in the fourth season of Arrow.[15][16]

In 2016, Wesley was cast as the lead character Nova Bordelon in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series Queen Sugar, produced by Ava DuVernay and Oprah Winfrey.[17]

In 2023, Wesley portrayed Maria in the HBO series The Last of Us.[18]

Personal life

Wesley divides her time between Los Angeles and Astoria, Queens. In 2005, she married her former Juilliard classmate Jacob Fishel, an actor. After separating in July, Wesley filed for divorce on August 16, 2013, citing irreconcilable differences.[19]

In November 2017, Wesley announced her partnership to Shonda, a chef from New Orleans. They later broke up in 2019.[20]

Filmography

Film

Year Movies Roles Notes
2007 How She Move Raya Green
2012 California Winter Marcy Sanchez
2013 The Championship Rounds Tina Short
2014 13 Sins Shelby
Last Weekend Nora Finley-Perkins
2015 The Perfect Guy Alicia
Broad Squad Joanne TV movie
2017 Last Looks Sister Short
2019 Live and Let Die Solitaire (voice) Video
Stucco Officer Short
2021 Outsiders Ramila

Television

Year TV show Role Notes
2008 Numb3rs Sarah/Jenny Calandro Episode: "Magic Show"
2008–14 True Blood Tara Thornton Main cast
2009 Family Guy Cheryl (voice) Episode: "Partial Terms of Endearment"
2009–12 The Cleveland Show Yvette (voice) Episode: "Ladies' Night" & "Frapp Attack"
2010 True Blood: Webisodes Tara Thornton Episode: "Sookie, Tara & Lafayette"
2010–11 Generator Rex Providence Cadet Kenwyn Jones (voice) Episode: "Basic" & "Lost Weekend"
2011 Bandwagon: The Series Auditioner Episode: "It's Your One Shot"
2012 True Blood: Jessica's Blog Tara Thornton Episode: "Big Vampire Sisters"
2015 Hannibal Reba McClane Recurring cast: season 3
2015–17 Arrow Liza Warner/Lady Cop Episode: "Beyond Redemption" & "The Sin-Eater"
2016–22 Queen Sugar Nova Bordelon Main cast
2019 The Walking Dead Jocelyn Episode: "Scars"
2023 The Last of Us Maria Episode: "Kin"

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Nominated work Result
2009 5th Scream Awards Best Supporting Actress True Blood Nominated
14th Satellite Awards Best Cast – Television Series Won
2010 16th Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Nominated
2013 44th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Nominated
2017 48th NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series Queen Sugar Nominated
17th Black Reel Awards Won
2018 49th NAACP Image Awards Nominated
18th Black Reel Awards Won
2019 50th NAACP Image Awards Nominated
19th Black Reel Awards Won
2020 51st NAACP Image Awards Nominated
20th Black Reel Awards Nominated
2022 53rd NAACP Image Awards Nominated

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Correction To Rutina Wesley's Birthday Post". trueblood-online.com. February 2, 2014. Retrieved March 1, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Community of Scholars - Rutina Wesley". University of Southern Indiana. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Rochlin, Margy (October 30, 2008). "Flesh and Blood in a Town of Vampires". The New York Times. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  4. ↑ Staff, Hollywood.com (February 6, 2015). "Rutina Wesley | Biography and Filmography | 1979". Hollywood.com. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  5. 1 2 3 Cling, Carol (January 29, 2008). "Las Vegas Academy grad a shooting star". Las Vegas Review Journal. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  6. 1 2 "Spotlight: Training to Act". Back Stage. Nielsen Business Media Inc. January 17, 2007. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  7. ↑ "Rutina Wesley". Biography.com. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Q&A With Rutina Wesley". Alumni News. The Juilliard School. May 2010. Archived from the original on November 11, 2011. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  9. ↑ "How She Make a Movie: Rutina Wesley on Auditions, Epsom Salts, and Belief in Self". The Juilliard Journal. The Juilliard School. March 2008. Archived from the original on March 16, 2012. Retrieved April 6, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Five Minutes with Rutina Wesley". W Magazine. September 30, 2011. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  11. ↑ Pincus-Roth, Zachary (April 11, 2007). "Public's in Darfur to Star Raffo, Lohr, Washington, Wesley, Jah". Playbill. Archived from the original on September 9, 2012. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  12. ↑ Marchand, Philip (January 24, 2008). "'How She Move' shows dance as escape". TheStar.com. Toronto Star Inc. Retrieved April 14, 2009.
  13. ↑ "Rutina Wesley: The How She Move Interview with Kam Williams". AALBC.com. Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  14. ↑ Prudom, Laura (January 23, 2015). "'Hannibal' Casts Rutina Wesley as 'Red Dragon's' Reba McClane". Variety. Retrieved January 24, 2015.
  15. ↑ Otterson, Joe; Sneider, Jeff (August 10, 2015). "'True Blood' Alum Rutina Wesley in Talks to Join 'Arrow' for Multi-Episode Arc (Exclusive)". The Wrap. Retrieved August 11, 2015.
  16. ↑ "'Arrow' scoop: Get details on Rutina Wesley's role - EW.com". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  17. ↑ Nellie Andreeva (January 13, 2016). "Rutina Wesley To Star In OWN Drama Series 'Queen Sugar' - Deadline". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved January 13, 2016.
  18. ↑ "Rutina Wesley wanted to play Maria in 'The Last of Us' her way". EW.com. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Rutina Wesley Divorcing Jacob Fishel". People.com. August 20, 2013. Archived from the original on November 24, 2017.
  20. ↑ Gilchrist, Tracy E. (November 20, 2017). "True Blood's Rutina Wesley Comes Out in Heartfelt Instagram Engagement Post". Retrieved November 21, 2017.
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