Early life

Ellis was born in San Francisco, California, and raised on her grandmother's farm in McComb, Mississippi. She attended Tougaloo College before transferring to Brown University, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts in African-American studies, while also studying acting with Jim Barnhill and John Emigh. During her years in Brown University, Ellis made her debut on the student play. She went on to study acting in the Graduate Acting Program at New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Career

1990s

In 1995, Ellis made her professional acting debut appearing as Ariel opposite Patrick Stewart's Prospero in a Broadway revival of William Shakespeare's The Tempest. She later made her screen debut in the episode of Fox police drama series, New York Undercover, and in 1996 had the co-leading role in the independent film, Girls Town alongside Lili Taylor. During late 1990s, Ellis also had supporting roles in films Ed's Next Move, Desert Blue, In Too Deep and A Map of the World. From 1996 to 1997, Ellis starred as Officer Leslie Joyner in the ABC police drama series, High Incident created by Steven Spielberg. The series was canceled after two seasons. In 1999, she had the recurring role of Sharon Young on the ABC legal drama, The Practice.

2000s

In 2000, Ellis starred opposite Cuba Gooding Jr. in the drama film Men of Honor directed by George Tillman, Jr.. The following year, she played daughter of Samuel L. Jackson's character's in the mystery-drama film The Caveman's Valentine directed by Kasi Lemmons and based on George Dawes Green's 1994 novel of the same name. Also in 2001, Ellis had supporting part in the critically acclaimed comedy-drama film Lovely & Amazing. In 2002, she had main role alongside Eddie Griffin in the action comedy film Undercover Brother. In 2004, she played Mary Ann Fisher in the Academy Awards-nominated biographical film about musician Ray Charles, Ray. In 2007, Ellis played the leading role in the thriller Cover. The movie received negative reviews. She also appeared in films Freedomland (2006), The Express (2008) and Notorious (2009). She also played Denzel Washington's wife in The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) directed by Tony Scott.

On television, in 2002 Ellis had regular role on the short lived ABC medical dramam MDs. From 2005 to 2006, she co-starred alongside Benjamin Bratt in another short lived drama,E-Ring on NBC. She also had recurring roles on Third Watch, 100 Centre Street, Jonny Zero, Justice and True Blood. In 2009, she co-starred alongside Cuba Gooding Jr. and Kimberly Elise in the made-for-television film Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story. Ellis also has appeared in a number of Broadway and Off-Broadway theatre productions. In January 2004, she performed in Regina Taylor's play Drowning Crow, at the Manhattan Theatre Club. In the Spring, 2012 Hampton University semester, she taught entertainment industry courses. She was also featured in a Hampton Players and Company production, "Through the Crack."

2010s

In 2010, Ellis co-starred opposite Wesley Snipes in the action film Game of Death. She played the leading role in the independent film The Tested based on the award-winning 2005 short film of the same name. In 2011, she appeared in the critically acclaimed period drama The Help directed by Tate Taylor, as Eula Mae Davis, one of the maids, for which she received awards as a part of the ensemble cast. In 2014, she played Vicki Anderson in the biographical drama film Get on Up about the life of singer James Brown, also directed by Tate Taylor. As lead actress, Ellis starred in the independent films Money Matters (2011), The Volunteer (2013), Romeo and Juliet in Harlem (2014), and Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind (2014). She also played the leading role in the 2012 television film Abducted: The Carlina White Story.

From 2010 to 2013, Ellis had a recurring role in the CBS series The Mentalist, as Madeleine Hightower. She also played Ashley Judd's best friend in the 2012 ABC miniseries Missing, and had another role on the CBS procedural, NCIS: Los Angeles. Ellis also starred as one of the lead characters in the 2013 AMC pilot The Divide, but later WE tv had decided to pick up pilot to series. She left the show and her role was recast with Nia Long.

In 2014, Ellis was cast as lead character in the international co-production epic miniseries The Book of Negroes, based on Lawrence Hill’s bestselling 2007 novel. The Book of Negroes premiered in 2015, and Ellis received critical acclaim for her performance. The Hollywood Reporter critic Whitney Matheson praised her performance, wrote in review "Ellis’ gripping performance that holds the six-part miniseries together. Except for the first installment that focuses on Aminata’s girlhood, Ellis is present in nearly every scene, aging decades and displaying a stunning range of emotion." Ellis received Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries nomination for her performance.

On February 25, 2015, it was announced that Ellis was cast as main character in the ABC drama series, Quantico. Also in 2015, she was cast in the historical drama film The Birth of a Nation based on the story of the 1831 slave rebellion led by Nat Turner. The film also stars Nate Parker, Aja Naomi King, Armie Hammer and Gabrielle Union. Ellis plays the role of Nancy Turner, Nat’s mother, in the film.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Girls Town	Nikki
1996	Ed's Next Move	Erica
1998	Side Streets	Brenda Boyce
1998	Desert Blue	Agent Summers
1999	In Too Deep	Denise
1999	A Map of the World	Dyshett
2000	John John in the Sky	Earlene
2000	Men of Honor	Jo Brashear	Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
2000	The Opponent	June
2001	The Caveman's Valentine	Lulu
2001	Lovely & Amazing	Lorraine
2002	Undercover Brother	Sistah Girl	Nominated - Black Reel Award for Best Actress
2004	Brother to Brother	Zora
2004	Ray	Mary Ann Fisher	Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2005	Perception	Vera
2006	Freedomland	Felicia
2007	Cover	Valerie Mass
2008	The Express	Marie Davis
2009	Notorious	Sandy
2009	I Love You Phillip Morris	Reba
2009	The Hungry Ghosts	Nadia
2009	Motherhood	Sample Sale Friend
2009	The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3	Therese
2010	The Tested	Darraylynn Warren
2010	Game of Death	Rachel
2011	The Resident	Sydney
2011	The Help	Yule May Davis	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Hollywood Film Festival Award for Best Cast Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Ensemble Central Ohio Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Satellite Award for Best Cast - Motion Picture Southeastern Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Women Film Critics Circle Award for Best Female Ensemble Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated - Detroit Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated - MTV Movie Award for Best Cast Nominated - San Diego Film Critics Society Award for Best Performance by an Ensemble Nominated - Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Ensemble
2011	Money Matters	Pamela Matters
2013	The Volunteer	Leigh
2014	Romeo and Juliet in Harlem	Lady Capulet
2014	Una Vida: A Fable of Music and the Mind	Una Vida	Newport Beach Film Festival Award for Best Actress American Black Film Festival Award for Best Actress
2014	Get on Up	Vicki Anderson	Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Ensemble
2016	The Birth of a Nation	Nancy Turner

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1995	New York Undercover	Claudia	Episode: "Buster and Claudia"
1996-97	High Incident	Off. Leslie Joyner	Series regular, 32 episodes
1999	The Practice	Sharon Young	Recurring role, 4 episodes
2000	Third Watch	Gail Moore	Episodes: "Journey to the Himalayas" and "32 Bullets and a Broken Heart"
2000	Disappearing Acts	Pam	Television film
2001	100 Centre Street	Amanda Davis	Recurring role, 3 episodes
2002	MDs	Quinn Joyner	Series regular, 10 episodes
2004	The D.A.	Ellen Baker	Episode: "The People vs. Sergius Kovinsky"
2005	Jonny Zero	Gloria	Recurring role, 6 episodes
2005-06	E-Ring	Jocelyn Pierce	Series regular, 23 episodes
2007	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Carmen Rivera	Episode: "Flipped"
2006-07	Justice	Miranda Lee	Recurring role, 9 episodes
2008	Numb3rs	Ivy Kirk	Episode: "Power"
2008	The Border	Amira	Episode: "Family Values"
2008	True Blood	Diane	Recurring role, 3 episodes
2008	The Prince of Motor City	Cora Neel	TV pilot
2008	Racing for Time	Officer Baker	Television film
2009	The Good Wife	Linda Underwood	Episode: "Crash"
2009	Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story	Candy Carson	Television film Nominated - NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special
2010-13	The Mentalist	Madeleine Hightower	Recurring role, 17 episodes
2012	Blue Bloods	Sylvia Marshall	Episode: "Reagan V. Reagan"
2012	Missing	Mary Dresden	Recurring role, 3 episodes
2012	Abducted: The Carlina White Story	Ann Pettway	Television film Black Reel Award for Best Actress on Mini-Series or Television Movie
2012-14	NCIS: Los Angeles	Michelle Hanna	Recurring role, 5 episodes
2014	Sleepy Hollow	Lori Mills	Episode: "Mama"
2015	The Book of Negroes	Aminata Diallo	Miniseries, 6 episodes Canadian Screen Award for Best Actress on Television Nominated — Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress in a Movie or Miniseries Nominated — Satellite Award for Best Actress - Miniseries or Television Film Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Television Movie, Mini-Series or Dramatic Special Nominated — Black Reel Award for Best Actress: T.V. Movie/Cable
2015-present	Quantico	Miranda Shaw	Series regular

[ Source: Wikipedia ]