Early life

Rochon was born in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Zelma, a nurse practitioner, and Samuel Staples, a business owner and graphic artist, who are both of Haitian descent. She graduated Cerritos High School in Cerritos, California. She attended California State University, Dominguez Hills where she earned a BA in Broadcast Journalism, with minors in Sociology and Theatre.

Career

Early works

From 1986 to 1988, while attending college, Rochon was one of the "Spudettes" featured in over 30 national spots for the Spuds Mckenzie Budweiser/Bud Light TV commercials. She also appeared in the 1985 made-for-television film A Bunny's Tale starring Kirstie Alley and Delta Burke, based on Gloria Steinem's experiences as a Playboy Bunny. She appeared as the love interest of Gerald Levert in the video for "My Forever Love" by Levert, and in Luther Vandross's "It's Over Now" video. She also appeared in the music video for Lionel Richie's single "All Night Long (All Night)", as well as in Al B. Sure's video for the song "Natalie". She had many guest starring roles in a number of sitcoms, include The Cosby Show, Amen, 227, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper.

Rochon made her film debut in 1985, when she starred opposite Fred Williamson in Fox Trap. In 1987, she played the role of Debby in the film The Wild Pair, starring Beau Bridges and Bubba Smith. In 1989, Rochon acted opposite Eddie Murphy in 1989's Harlem Nights, as the memorable "Sunshine" character. She again worked with Murphy in the successful 1992 romantic comedy, Boomerang. In 1995, she was regular cast member during the first season of The WB sitcom, The Wayans Bros.

Breakthrough

Rochon' biggest break came in 1995, when she landed one of the lead roles opposite Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine in the adaptation of the Terry McMillan novel and highly successful drama film Waiting to Exhale. She played the character Robin Stokes, for which she was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. Rochon was chosen by People magazine as one of the "50 most beautiful people in the world" in 1996.

In 1996, Rochon starred opposite Timothy Hutton in the Showtime cable network film Mr. and Mrs. Loving, receiving a Cable Ace Award nomination for Best Actress. Later that year, she played the female lead in the crime thriller film The Chamber. The following year, she starred alongside Jim Belushi and Tupac Shakur in the crime thriller Gang Related. In 1998, Rochon had the leading role alongside Halle Berry and Vivica A. Fox in the romantic drama Why Do Fools Fall in Love, and well starred in Knock Off with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and The Big Hit, as love interest to Mark Wahlberg's leading character. In 1999, she appeared in Any Given Sunday directed by Oliver Stone. In 2001, Rochon made her return to television with one of leading roles alongside Bonnie Bedelia, Nancy McKeon, Tracey Needham, and Lisa Vidal in the Lifetime crime drama series, The Division. She left the series after single season.

2000s-present

In 2004, Rochon co-starred opposite Katie Holmes in the romantic comedy film First Daughter. In 2009, she had cameo in crime drama Brooklyn's Finest directed by her husband, Antoine Fuqua. In 2013, she played one of leading roles in Regina King's directorial debut Let The Church Say Amen, the film adaptation of ReShonda Tate Billingsley's 2005 novel for BET. She later had roles in films Supremacy (2014) with Danny Glover and Derek Luke, and Reversion (2015), playing Aja Naomi King's character's mother.

Personal life

From 1982 to 1987, she was married to dancer Adolfo Quinones. In 1998, she and director Antoine Fuqua were engaged and they married on April 9, 1999. Daughter Asia Rochon Fuqua was born on July 28, 2002, followed by son Brando in May 2004. Fuqua has a son Zachary, from a previous relationship.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Breakin'	Extra	Uncredited
1984	Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo	Dancer
1985	A Bunny's Tale	Charlotte	Television film
1986	Foxtrap	Lindy
1986	Stewardess School	School Instructor
1987	The Wild Pair	Debby
1987	Into the Homeland	Exquisite Woman
1989	Harlem Nights	Sunshine
1991	Extralarge: Black and White	Wendy
1992	Boomerang	Christie
1993	The Meteor Man	Vanessa
1995	Waiting to Exhale	Robin Stokes	Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
1996	Mr. and Mrs. Loving	Mildred Loving	Television film Nominated — CableACE Award for Outstanding Actress in a Movie or Miniseries
1996	The Chamber	Nora Stark
1997	Gang Related	Cynthia Webb
1997	Legal Deceit	Sydney Banks
1998	Ruby Bridges	Lucielle 'Lucy' Bridges	Television film
1998	The Big Hit	Chantel
1998	Knock Off	Karen Lee
1998	Why Do Fools Fall in Love	Emira Eagle
1999	Any Given Sunday	Vanessa Struthers
1999	The Charlotte Austin Story	Charlotte Austin	Also executive producer
2000	Labor Pains	Lulu Brown
2004	First Daughter	Liz Pappas
2006	Running Out of Time in Hollywood
2009	Balancing the Books	Sharlene	Also executive producer
2009	Brooklyn's Finest	Investigator	Cameo
2010	Blood Done Sign My Name	Roseanna Allen
2013	Let the Church Say Amen	Loretta Jackson	Television film
2014	Supremacy	Odessa
2015	Reversion	Maya

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	The Facts of Life	Diana	Episode: "The Greek Connection"
1987	The Cosby Show	Veronica	Episode: "The Shower"
1988	Amen	Young Bride	Episode: "Wedding Bell Blues"
1990	21 Jump Street	Denise Price	Episode: "Change of Heart"
1990	227	Leslie	Episode: "Gone Fishing"
1990	1st & Ten	Joy Brock	Episode: "Don't Powerburst My Bubble"
1991	Generations	Brandy Alexander	Recurring role
1991	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Cindy	Episode: "Will Gets a Job"
1992	Homefront	Mary Louise	Episode: "At Your Age"
1992	Roc	Carol	Episode: "Roc Throws Joey Out"
1992	Tales from the Crypt	Mercedes	Episode: "Werewolf Concerto"
1993	Out All Night	Victoria	Episode: "Mall in the Family"
1993	The Sinbad Show	Denise	Episode: "Pilot"
1994	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Denise	Episode: "The Courtship of Mark Cooper"
1995	The Wayans Bros.	Lisa	Series regular, 13 episodes
1997	The Outer Limits	Beth Carter	Episode: "The Awakening"
2001	The Division	Inspector Angela Reide	Series regular, 22 episodes
2011	Reed Between the Lines	Sherri	Episode: "Let's Talk About Affairs"

Charities

Lela Rochon supports the following charitable cause: Parkinsons.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]