# Nicole Beharie

Nicole Beharie is an American actress. She is best known for her starring roles in films such as the drama American Violet (2008), the psychological drama Shame (2011), the biographical sports drama 42 (2013), and the independent drama Miss Juneteenth (2020).
From 2013 to 2016, Beharie starred in the Fox supernatural drama series Sleepy Hollow. She went on to appear on the Netflix anthology series Black Mirror (2019). In 2023, she joined the cast of the Apple TV+ drama series The Morning Show, which earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

## Early life

Beharie was born in West Palm Beach, Florida. When Beharie was a child, her father was in the United States Foreign Service. So, she grew up in the United Kingdom, Jamaica, Nigeria and Panama. She attended Orangeburg Wilkinson High School in Orangeburg, South Carolina, and is a 2003 graduate of the South Carolina Governor's School for the Arts & Humanities, a public residential high school in Greenville. Beharie was then accepted into Juilliard School (Drama division Group 36: 2003–07). She was awarded a Shakespeare scholarship and trained in England.

## Career

Beharie made her feature film debut in the 2008 film American Violet, where she played the leading role. Also in the same year she played Sarah Ward in the American sports film The Express: The Ernie Davis Story opposite actor Rob Brown. In the Lifetime movie, Sins of the Mother (2010), Beharie portrayed Shay Hunter, a struggling university student who goes on a journey to mend her fractured relationship with her mother Nona played by Jill Scott.
In 2011, Beharie performed five original songs as a singer-songwriter opposite German actor Ken Duken in the romantic drama My Last Day Without You. In the Russell Leigh Sharman film adaptation of his play Apartment 4E, she played Piper, a troubled young woman who never leaves her apartment. Beharie played Marianne in the Steve McQueen film Shame, portraying a love interest of Michael Fassbender. Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe praised her performance, calling her "a marvel of natural transparency".
In 2013, Beharie starred as Rachel Robinson, wife of Jackie Robinson (played by Chadwick Boseman), in the historical baseball feature 42. The same year, she began portraying Abbie Mills on the Fox fantasy series Sleepy Hollow, which is based on the 1820 short story "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving. In early 2016, Beharie departed the series, with her character dying in the series' third-season finale, the episode entitled "Ragnarok", which was aired April 8, 2016. She later stated that an autoimmune disease was one of the causes of her exit and also revealed that she struggled to find work and was labelled as problematic after her departure from the show.
In 2020, she starred in Miss Juneteenth, a film about a former pageant winner preparing her teenage daughter to assume her former crown. In 2023, she joined the cast of season three of the Apple TV+ series The Morning Show. Her performance in the series earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

## Personal life

In 2015, Beharie posed for the May issue of Allure magazine.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2008 | American Violet | Dee Roberts | |
| 2008 | The Express: The Ernie Davis Story | Sarah Ward | |
| 2011 | My Last Day Without You | Leticia Johnson | |
| 2011 | Shame | Marianne | |
| 2012 | Apartment 4E | Piper | |
| 2012 | The Last Fall | Faith Davis | |
| 2012 | The Mirror Between Us | Zora | Short film |
| 2012 | Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the 7th Day | Beth Hutchins | |
| 2013 | 42 | Rachel Robinson | |
| 2018 | Monsters and Men | Michelle | |
| 2019 | Jacob's Ladder | Samantha Singer | |
| 2020 | Miss Juneteenth | Turquoise Jones | |
| 2022 | Breaking | Estel Valerie | |
| 2022 | Honk for Jesus. Save Your Soul. | Shakura Sumpter | |
| 2025 | Love, Brooklyn | Casey | Post-production |
| TBA | Killing Castro | TBA | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2009 | Three Rivers | Helen Reed | Episode: "Win-loss" |
| 2010 | Sins of the Mother | Shay | Television film |
| 2011 | The Good Wife | Imani Stonehouse | 2 episodes |
| 2012 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Tracy Harrison | Episode: "Child's Welfare" |
| 2013–2016 | Sleepy Hollow | Abbie Mills / Witness | Main role (50 episodes) |
| 2015 | Bones | Abbie Mills | Episode: "The Resurrection in the Remains" |
| 2017 | AfroPop: The Ultimate Cultural Exchange | Host | 5 episodes |
| 2019 | Black Mirror | Theo | Episode: "Striking Vipers" Credited as Nikki Beharie |
| 2020 | Little Fires Everywhere | Madeline Ryan | Episode: "The Uncanny" |
| 2020 | Monsterland | Annie | Episode: "New Orleans, LA" |
| 2021 | Solos | Nera | Anthology series |
| 2021 | Scenes from a Marriage | Kate | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | The Morning Show | Christina Hunter | Main role (Season 3) |

## Theatre

| Year | Title | Role | Venue |
| 2010–11 | A Free Man of Color | Margery Jolicoeur | Vivian Beaumont Theatre (Broadway) |

## Soundtrack appearances

| Year | Album | Songs |
| 2013 | My Last Day Without You | "Two Hands", "Catch Me", "Morning Light", "Scars", "My Last Day Without You" |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Association | Category | Nominated work | Result |
| 2009 | African-American Film Critics | Best Actress | American Violet | Won |
| 2010 | Black Reel Awards | Best Actress | American Violet | Nominated |
| 2010 | Black Reel Awards | Best Breakthrough Performance | American Violet | Nominated |
| 2010 | Black Reel Awards | Best Ensemble | American Violet | Nominated |
| 2012 | Black Reel Awards | Best Song | My Last Day Without You | Nominated |
| 2014 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series | Sleepy Hollow | Nominated |
| 2015 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series | Sleepy Hollow | Nominated |
| 2015 | Fangoria Chainsaw Awards | Favorite Actress on Television | Sleepy Hollow | Nominated |
| 2021 | Gotham Independent Film Awards | Best Actress | Miss Juneteenth | Won |
| 2021 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Female Lead | Miss Juneteenth | Nominated |
| 2024 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Supporting Performance in a Drama Series | The Morning Show | Won |
| 2024 | Critics' Choice Television Awards | Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | The Morning Show | Nominated |
| 2024 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series | The Morning Show | Nominated |
| 2024 | Screen Actors Guild Awards | Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series | The Morning Show | Nominated |