# Dominique Fishback

Dominique Fishback (born March 22, 1991) is an American actress. She played Billie Rowan on Show Me a Hero, Darlene on The Deuce, and Deborah Johnson in Judas and the Black Messiah, the latter of which earned nominations for a Critics' Choice Movie Award, and a BAFTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. In 2023, she began starring in the Amazon Prime Video psychological horror series Swarm; her performance in the series has received universal praise, earning her a nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie at the 75th Primetime Emmy Awards.

## Early life

Fishback first became interested in acting at about the age of 10. She graduated from Pace University with a B.A. in Theater in 2013.

## Career

In 2014, Fishback premiered her Off-Off-Broadway play Subverted, in which she played twenty two characters. Subverted was nominated for a 2015 Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Solo Performance. The actress's first major recurring role was in the Yonkers housing drama Show Me a Hero as single mother Billie Rowan. In 2016, Abingdon Theatre Company announced Fishback as one of the recipients of its inaugural Residency Program.
Her first series regular role was in the 1970s Times Square drama The Deuce. Fishback has been noted as one of the standouts in the show due to her performance as the "sweetly vulnerable" prostitute Darlene. Co-creator David Simon has noted her strengths as an actress in playing Darlene. For her role on The Deuce, Fishback was listed by USA Today as one of five new faces that people should be watching on fall 2017 television.
In December 2017, Fishback appeared as a younger version of Jay-Z’s mother, Gloria Carter, in his music video for "Smile." Her first film, Night Comes On, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. She also played the part of Kenya in the film The Hate U Give (2018), which is based on the popular young adult book.
Fishback plays a street-smart teenager in Project Power, directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost, opposite Jamie Foxx and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, which was released on August 14, 2020, by Netflix. In 2021, she starred in Judas and the Black Messiah alongside Daniel Kaluuya, as Deborah Johnson, the partner of Fred Hampton and the expectant mother of Fred Hampton Jr. In 2023, she starred in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the sequel to Bumblebee, directed by Steven Caple Jr.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role |
| 2018 | Night Comes On | Angel Lamere |
| 2018 | The Hate U Give | Kenya |
| 2020 | Project Power | Robin Reilly |
| 2021 | Judas and the Black Messiah | Deborah Johnson |
| 2023 | Transformers: Rise of the Beasts | Elena Wallace |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | The Knick | Woman | Episode: "The Busy Flea" |
| 2014 | The Affair | Keisha | Episode "8" |
| 2015 | The Americans | Nicole | Episode: "Dimebag" |
| 2015 | Blue Bloods | Charelle Tyler | Episode: "Through the Looking Glass" |
| 2015 | Royal Pains | Elan | Episodes: "Lending a Shoulder" and "The Prince of Nucleotides" |
| 2015 | Show Me a Hero | Billie Rowan | Recurring character; 4 episodes |
| 2017–2019 | The Deuce | Darlene | Series regular |
| 2018 | Random Acts of Flyness | Najja | Recurring character; 4 episodes |
| 2021 | Modern Love | Lilian "Lil" Parker | Episode: "A Life Plan for Two, Followed By One" |
| 2022 | The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey | Robyn | Main role |
| 2022–2023 | The Proud Family: Louder and Prouder | Young Charlette “Suga Mama” Towne-Proud (voice) | 2 episodes |
| 2023 | Swarm | Andrea "Dre" Greene | Lead role; also producer |

## Awards and nominations

| Year | Award | Category | Nominated Work | Result |
| 2021 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Breakthrough Performance in a Motion Picture | Project Power | Nominated |
| 2021 | African-American Film Critics Association Awards | Best Supporting Actress | Judas and the Black Messiah | Won |
| 2021 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress | Judas and the Black Messiah | Won |
| 2021 | Black Reel Awards | Outstanding Breakthrough Performance, Female | Judas and the Black Messiah | Nominated |
| 2021 | British Academy Film Awards | Best Actress in a Supporting Role | Judas and the Black Messiah | Nominated |
| 2021 | Critics' Choice Awards | Best Acting Ensemble | Judas and the Black Messiah | Nominated |
| 2021 | Washington DC Area Film Critics Association | Best Supporting Actress | Judas and the Black Messiah | Nominated |
| 2022 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture | Judas and the Black Messiah | Nominated |
| 2023 | Television Critics Association Awards | Individual Achievement in Drama | Swarm | Nominated |
| 2023 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie | Swarm | Nominated |
| 2024 | Black Reel Television Awards | Outstanding Lead Performance, TV Movie/Limited Series | Swarm | Won |
| 2024 | Independent Spirit Awards | Best Lead Performance in a New Scripted Series | Swarm | Nominated |
| 2024 | NAACP Image Awards | Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special | Swarm | Nominated |