Tessa Thompson is a Los Angeles native who was raised part-time in Brooklyn, New York. She was drawn to the theatre at an early age, but made her professional debut at 18 playing Juliet in "Romeo and Juliet: Antebellum New Orleans 1836" (The Theatre at Boston Court) for which she received an NAACP Image Award nomination. After appearing in countless other productions, she then appeared in the American premiere of David Grieg’s "Pyrenees," opposite Frances Conroy and Tom Irwin, for Center Theatre Group at the Kirk Douglas Theatre. On television she has been a series regular on "Veronica Mars" and "Hidden Palms," and has had recurring roles on "Grey's Anatomy," "Heroes," "Private Practice," "Off the Map," and "Detroit 1-8-7." Other television credits include "Rizzoli and Isles," "Three Rivers," "Life," "Mental," and "Cold Case." In film, Thompson starred in the multi award-winning drama "Mississippi Damned," for which she was awarded a Grand Jury prize for Best Actress. She most recently starred in the film adaptation of Ntozake Shange's "For Colored Girls (Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf)" starring opposite Thandie Newton and Whoopi Goldberg. Thompson is a member of celebrated classical theater company Antaeus and sings in the indie-soul band Caught a Ghost.