Tika Sumpter
Euphemia LatiQue "Tika" Sumpter is an American actress, singer, producer, television host, and model. Sumpter began her career as host of "Best Friend's Date" (2004–2005), a reality series on The N. In 2005, she landed the role of Layla Williamson in the ABC daytime soap opera, "One Life to Live", where she starred regularly through 2010. In the same year, Sumpter made her movie debut in her leading female role in the musical drama "". Sumpter was later featured in supporting roles for "What's Your Number?" (2011) and "Think Like a Man" (2012), before starring in "Sparkle  (2012) and A Madea Christmas" (2013). From May 2013 to July 2021, Sumpter performed the role of Candace Young, a leading character on the Oprah Winfrey Network primetime soap opera "The Haves and the Have Nots". Sumpter later played Angela Payton in the action-comedy films "Ride Along" (2014) and its sequel "Ride Along 2" (2016), as well as starring in the romantic comedy "Nobody's Fool" (2018). She starred in the biographical films "Get On Up" (2014) playing Yvonne Fair, and "The Old Man & the Gun" (2018). In 2016, Sumpter produced and starred as Michelle Robinson (later Obama) in  the critically acclaimed biographical romantic drama "Southside with You" (2016). She also starred as Maddie Wachowski in the family comedy film "Sonic the Hedgehog" (2020) and its sequel, "Sonic the Hedgehog 2" (2022). Early life. Sumpter was born in Queens, New York City. She was a cheerleader at her high school. She graduated from Longwood Senior High School in Middle Island, New York and studied at Marymount Manhattan College where she majored in communications. Career. 2004–2011. Sumpter began her modeling career and appeared in commercials for Hewlett-Packard and Liz Claiborne's Curve fragrances. She also worked as a waitress  before acting. In 2004, she served as the co-host for the reality series "Best Friend's Date", which was broadcast on Nickelodeon's defunct cable channel The N, now titled TeenNick. The following year she landed the role of Layla Williamson in the ABC daytime soap opera, "One Life to Live". For her portrayal of Layla, Sumpter was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2008. She first appeared on-screen on July 15, 2005, playing the role regularly through September 14, 2010. Sumpter reappeared in the role on November 9–10 , 2010, and January 21 and 24, 2011. In 2010, Sumpter made her film debut in "" on the female lead role, and in the same year appeared in "Salt". From January to May 2011, Sumpter appeared in The CW teen drama series, "Gossip Girl" as Raina Thorpe, the daughter of Russell Thorpe and Chuck Bass/Nate' former love interest. She played singer Jason Derülo's girlfriend in the video for his song "It Girl". In 2011, she appeared as lead character friend in the romantic comedy film "What's Your Number?". From 2011 to 2012 she also had a recurring role  as Jenna Rice in the BET comedy series, "The Game". 2012–2015. Sumpter played the middle of three singing sisters in the music-themed film "Sparkle" (2012), inspired by the story of The Supremes. The film is noted as the final role for Whitney Houston, who played the mother of the sisters and who died a few months after production ended. Sumpter is heard on the "" album, and appears in the video for "Celebrate", the last song Houston recorded for the film. After "Sparkle", Sumpter starred in the independent comedy film "My Man Is a Loser" written and directed by comedian  Mike Young. Filmed in 2012, "My Man Is a Loser" received release on July 25, 2014, by Lionsgate. From May 2013 to July 2021, Sumpter starred as Candace Young, a lead villainess, in the Oprah Winfrey Network soapy drama series "The Haves and the Have Nots", created by Tyler Perry. The series was one of the biggest hits in ratings for the Oprah Winfrey Network. It was also in 2013, the same year as Sumpter began starring in "The Haves and the Have Nots" that she appeared in the Christmas comedy-drama film "A Madea Christmas" by Tyler Perry. Sumpter  played the female lead in "Ride Along", the 2014 action comedy film directed by Tim Story, opposite Kevin Hart and Ice Cube. She returned to the role in its sequel "Ride Along 2", released on January 15, 2016. She played Yvonne Fair in "Get On Up", the biographical drama film about James Brown. In the same year she co-starred opposite Queen Latifah, Mo'Nique, and Khandi Alexander in the HBO biographical film "Bessie" about the iconic blues singer Bessie Smith. 2016–present. Sumpter played young Michelle Obama in the romantic comedy-drama film "Southside with You", a biopic about the  early romance between Barack and Michelle Obama. The film premiered at the 2016 Sundance Film Festival and received positive reviews from critics. Sumpter also co-produced the film. She received positive reviews for her performance. "Variety" placed her in its list of one of the "Biggest Breakthrough Performances" at Sundance, writing in its review, "It’s a tall order to bring a living, breathing icon to life. But that’s just what Sumpter does, checking in with America’s First Lady before she ever landed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Playing Michelle Robinson when she was just an up-and-coming  corporate lawyer, Sumpter slowly lets her guard down, allowing an idealistic Barack Obama to charm her into going to an art show, a community gathering and a Spike Lee film." Sumpter is an honorary member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. She was inducted into the organization on July 10, 2016, at the 67th annual Boule, in Atlanta, Georgia. On October 7, 2016, it was announced that Sumpter would be playing a leading role and co-executive produce political drama "The 313" for CBS. She would play Mayor of Detroit in the show. She also was set to star alongside Taraji  P. Henson in Tyler Perry's drama film "Acrimony", but left the project. In 2018, Sumpter appeared alongside Casey Affleck, Danny Glover, Sissy Spacek and Robert Redford in the drama "The Old Man & the Gun", directed by David Lowery. Also that year, she starred with Jamie Lee Curtis in "An Acceptable Loss", a political thriller written and directed by Joe Chappelle, and opposite Tiffany Haddish in the comedy-drama film "Nobody's Fool" for Paramount Players. Sumpter also is developing drama series "Trader" for HBO as executive producer and intended to star. In 2019, Sumpter was cast in the ABC  comedy series "Mixed-ish", a prequel spinoff of "Black-ish", playing the leading role of Alicia, Rainbow's mother. In 2020, she starred alongside James Marsden and Jim Carrey in the action comedy film "Sonic the Hedgehog" based on the video game franchise, and starred in the sequel in 2022. Personal life. On October 8, 2016, Sumpter gave birth to a girl she named Ella-Loren. In January 2017, Sumpter announced that she was engaged to "The Haves and the Have Nots" co-star, Nicholas James.