# Ella Thomas

Ella Thomas is an Eritrean American actress, model and producer.

## Early life and education

Ella Thomas was born to an Eritrean mother from Asmara and an American Air Force officer, who was stationed in the Province of Eritrea. When she was still a child, Thomas' family relocated to Germany, where they lived in the small town of Kindsbach. There, she attended a local German school. Thomas also studied French, while simultaneously continuing Tigrinya and English lessons at home with her mother. Around this time, Thomas first developed an appreciation for the performing arts, and began taking part in local school and theater productions. She likewise would periodically return home to Asmara to visit relatives.

## Career

Thomas has guest starred as Agent Deborah Meade on CSI: NY and played one of the lead characters, Anna Roberts, in The Storm miniseries on NBC. In the fall 2009, she appeared opposite Bruce Willis in the Touchstone/Disney sci-fi thriller Surrogates, which opened September 25, 2009.
She appeared as the model Viveca on the HBO series Entourage and as P Diddy's fiancée Nadine Alcott on CSI: Miami.
Thomas also starred on the series Parenthood, as well as the ABC's show Castle.
Thomas had a recurring role on NCIS: Los Angeles as the character Jada Khaled. Thomas also guest starred in the episode "Skin" of the Karl Urban and Michael Ealy helmed FOX series Almost Human. She was seen opposite Zoe Saldana as the author Lorraine Hansberry in the Nina Simone biopic, Nina.
In January of 2022 she was the co-lead roles in the Tubi original Unborn as well as recurring on the newly released to Netflix Ballers alongside Dwayne Johnson and John David Washington which aired originally aired on HBO.
Ella has also been featured in editorial spreads for American Vogue and Glamour and ELLE and she has also appeared in print ads for companies such as Gap, Tiffany & Co., and Levi's and appeared in the Lexus ES automotive commercials. She completed a recurring arc on season 4 of ABC's Mistressesas well as Antoine Fuqua's series for DirectTV Ice in the role of Lala Agabaria. She starred opposite Kyra Sedgwick in the ABC series Ten Days in the Valley as Detective Isabel Knightand appeared in the CBS series Me, Myself & I. She has also guest starred on Supergirl and The Detour. Next she will appear opposite Garrett Hedlund in Liongate's Desperation Road† as well as Searchlight's Nightbitch starring Amy Adams. Nightbitch is slated to debut at TIFF with a wide theatrical release Dec. 6, 2024.

## Personal life

As of 2024, she lives in Los Angeles. She is active with the Eritrean Youth Community and has served on the board of Eritrean Diaspora Network for two years.

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2005 | Choker | Godiva | |
| 2006 | All In | Restaurant Waitress | |
| 2009 | Surrogates | Lisa | |
| 2010 | Napoleonic | Josephine Moliet | Short |
| 2014 | Borderclash | Celia Ricodonna | Short |
| 2015 | Daniel and the Lion's Den | Ellen Robbins | Short |
| 2016 | Nina | Lorraine Hansberry | |
| 2016 | A Boy Called Po | Clarissa Evans | |
| 2017 | The Queen of Hollywood Blvd. | Josie | |
| 2023 | Desperation Road | Sarah Magee | |
| 2024 | Nightbitch | Naya | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 2006 | Shark | Call Girl #1 | Episode: "Dial M for Monica" |
| 2006 | 7th Heaven | Ethiopian Woman | Episode: "Christmas!" |
| 2006 | Misconceptions | Actress | Episode: "Bad Guy's Day Off" |
| 2007 | Ugly Betty | Striking Amazon | Episode: "I'm Coming Out" |
| 2007 | Las Vegas | Julia Thomas | Episode: "Junk in the Trunk" |
| 2007 | How I Met Your Mother | Girl #1 | Episode: "Moving Day" |
| 2007 | Point of Entry | Monique | TV film |
| 2008 | NCIS | Heidi | Episode: "Recoil" |
| 2008 | Don King Presents: Prizefighter | Tabetha | Video game |
| 2008 | Polizeiruf 110 | Janina | Episode: "Rosis Baby" |
| 2008 | Entourage | Viveca | Episode: "Gotta Look Up to Get Down" |
| 2009 | CSI: Miami | Nadine Alcott | Episode: "Sink or Swim" |
| 2009 | The Storm | Anna Roberts | TV miniseries |
| 2009 | CSI: NY | FBI Agent Deborah Meade | Episode: "Death House" |
| 2010 | Parenthood | Lisa Genatasio | Episode: "Namaste No More" |
| 2010 | Castle | Natasha Piper | Episode: "Overkill" |
| 2011 | All My Children | Diana Holden | Recurring role |
| 2011–12, 2015–16 | NCIS: Los Angeles | Jada Khaled | Recurring role (seasons 3 & 7) |
| 2013 | Almost Human | Vanessa | Episode: "Skin" |
| 2014 | Bones | Lyla Thomas | Episode: "The Drama in the Queen" |
| 2015 | Portrait of Love | Julia Robbins | TV film |
| 2015 | Ballers | Kara Cooley | Episodes: "Move the Chains", "Everything Is Everything" |
| 2016 | Mistresses | Jackie | Recurring role (season 4) |
| 2016–17 | Ice | Lala Agabaria | Main role (season 1) |
| 2017 | Me, Myself & I | Jasmine | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 2017 | Ten Days in the Valley | Isabel Knight | Recurring role |
| 2018 | Supergirl | Tormock | Episode: "Fort Rozz" |
| 2019 | The Detour | Skye | Episode: "The Entertainer" |
| 2020 | Quarantine | Willa | Series regular |
| 2022 | 9-1-1 | Willow | Episode: "Cursed" |

## Other works

| Year | Title | Notes |
| 2012 | The Scam | Executive producer, costume designer |
| 2013–14 | Top Flight Security | Executive producer, costume designer (11 episodes) |
| 2015 | Daniel and the Lion's Den | Producer, writer |