# Tawny Newsome

Tawny Newsome (born February 24, 1983) is an American actress, musician, and comedian best known for playing Chelsea Leight-Leigh on Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, co-starring in Space Force and the third season of Brockmire, and co-hosting the podcast Yo, Is This Racist?. She is also a singer in the band Four Lost Souls. She voices one of the main characters, Beckett Mariner, on Star Trek: Lower Decks.

## Early life

Originally from Vacaville, California, Newsome grew up on a ranch. Newsome attended DePaul Theatre School in Chicago, then started her comedy career with Second City.

## Career

Newsome was a backup singer in a touring Talking Heads tribute band. This later led to her being cast in Documentary Now! in a similar role.
Newsome's first major television roles were as Chelsea Leight-Leigh on Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ and Nina on The Comedy Get Down.
Newsome has been a co-host of the podcast Yo, Is This Racist? alongside Andrew Ti since 2018. She also appears as a frequent guest on podcasts such as Comedy Bang! Bang! and Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins.
Newsome is also a musician and is a member of the band Four Lost Souls alongside Jon Langford, Bethany Thomas, and John Szymanski. The group released a debut self-titled album in 2017.
Newsome was in the main cast of Brockmire in its third season. She was also cast in the 2019 ABC pilot Woman Up. She was cast as a lead voice in the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Lower Decks.
She appeared in a lead role as Maj. Angela Ali in the Netflix series Space Force starting in 2020.
Since 2020, Newsome has co-hosted Star Trek: The Pod Directive, the official Star Trek podcast, along with comedian Paul F. Tompkins.

## Filmography
### As actor

Film roles :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2015 | Uncle John | Cute Hipster Girl | |
| 2016 | Einstein's God Model | Marcel Gutierrez | |
| 2018 | Canal Street | Kai | |
| 2019 | Spies in Disguise | Agency Employee #1 | Voice |
| 2021 | How It Ends | Celine | |
| 2021 | Vacation Friends | Brooke | |
| 2023 | Quiz Lady | Mercedes | |
Television roles :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2013 | Chicago Fire | Jen | Episode: "A Problem House" |
| 2014 | Crisis | EMT | Episode: "Best Laid Plans" |
| 2015 | Sirens | Jami | Episode: "Balls" |
| 2016 | 2 Broke Girls | Chrissy | Episode: "And the Basketball Jones" |
| 2016 | Comedy Bang! Bang! | Worried Mom | Episode: "Zach Galifianakis Wears Rolled Khakis and Shoes with Brown Laces" |
| 2016 | Take My Wife | Pam | Episode: "Punchline" |
| 2016 | Documentary Now! | Backup Singer | Episode: "Final Transmission" |
| 2016–2019 | Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ | Chelsea Leight-Leigh | 34 episodes |
| 2017 | Nobodies | Grace | 3 episodes |
| 2017 | The Carmichael Show | Jessica | Episode: "Three Year Anniversary" |
| 2017 | Do You Want to See a Dead Body? | Marion | Episode: "A Body and a High School Reunion (with Joe Lo Truglio)" |
| 2017 | The Comedy Get Down | Nina | 10 episodes |
| 2019 | Brockmire | Gabby Taylor | 6 episodes |
| 2019 | The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle | Performer | Episode: "Money" |
| 2019 | HarmonQuest | Donna (voice) / Herself | Episode: "Ivory Quay" |
| 2019 | Big Mouth | (voice) | Episode: "Duke" |
| 2019 | Perfect Harmony | Georgia | 3 episodes |
| 2019–2020 | Craig of the Creek | Jasmine Williams (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2019–2022 | Sherman's Showcase | Various | 5 episodes |
| 2020 | Superstore | Isabel | Episode: "Zephra Cares" |
| 2020 | The Twilight Zone | Zara Delancey | Episode: "Ovation" |
| 2020 | Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun | The Queen | Episode: "Dinner Party" |
| 2020–2022 | Space Force | Angela Ali | Main role |
| 2020–2024 | Star Trek: Lower Decks | Ensign/LtJG Beckett Mariner (voice) | Main role, 5 seasons Nominated—Critics' Choice Super Award for Best Voice Actress in an Animated Series (2021) |
| 2021 | True Story | Billie | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Physical | Wanda | 5 episodes |
| 2022 | Tuca & Bertie | (voice) | Episode: "Leveling Up" |
| 2022 | Murderville | Mayor Palmer | Episode: "Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery" |
| 2023 | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Ensign Beckett Mariner | Episode: "Those Old Scientists" |

### As writer

Television roles :
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| TBA | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | Writer | |
| TBA | Untitled Star Trek comedy series | Co-creator | With Alex Kurtzman and Justin Simien |