Personal life

Leal was born in Tucson, Arizona. Her mother, Angelita, is Filipino. Her father was an African-American military policeman who broke up with her mother before Sharon was born. Shortly after, her mother married Jesse Leal, a Master Sergeant in the United States Air Force and a police officer at Clark Air Base, Philippines; he legally adopted Sharon.

Former Guiding Light co-star Yvonna Wright has said that she and Leal are close friends; the two starred together in a community production of Dreamgirls in their hometown.

In October 2001 she married Bev Land. Their son Kai Miles Land was born in September 2001.

As of March 2012, Leal is dating Canadian actor Paul Becker.

Career

Leal's career began with the role of Dahlia Crede in the CBS daytime serial Guiding Light. Later, she joined the Broadway company of Rent. Soon after, she was cast as Mimi for the San Francisco leg of the first national tour of Rent. Leal also appeared on the 1999 original cast recording of the Off-Broadway musical Bright Lights, Big City alongside Patrick Wilson and Jesse L. Martin. She also appeared on the 2001 cast recording of Making Tracks.

From 2000 to 2004, Leal starred in the Fox prime time TV series Boston Public. Leal also had a role in the theatrical release Face the Music. She also appeared in a recurring role in the short-lived NBC series LAX, as the wife of airport co-director, Roger de Souza.

She also co-starred in the film adaptation of the Broadway musical Dreamgirls as Michelle Morris, Effie White's replacement in the pop group The Dreams, with Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Eddie Murphy and Jamie Foxx. In 2007 Leal also starred in This Christmas and in the Tyler Perry production Why Did I Get Married?. She played the character Vanessa Lodge in the series Hellcats, until it was cancelled in 2011.

Filmography

Films

Year	Name	Role	Notes
2014	Addicted	Zoe
2000	Face the Music	Tracie
2006	Dreamgirls	Michelle Morris	Nominated—Asian Excellence Award for Outstanding Film Supporting Actress Nominated—Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble Nominated—Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
2007	Motives 2	Nina
	Why Did I Get Married?	Dianne Bob
	This Christmas	Kelli Whitfield	Winner—Asian Excellence Award for Outstanding Film Actress
2008	Soul Men	Cleo Whitfield
	Linewatch	Angela Dixon
2009	Limelight	Nina
2010	Why Did I Get Married Too?	Dianne Bob
2011	Little Murder	Jennifer
2012	Woman Thou Art Loosed: On the Seventh Day	Kari Ames
2013	The Last Letter	Cathrine Wright
2014	Freedom	Vanessa

Television

Year	TV Series	Role	Notes
1998-1999	Legacy	Marita	Regular role: 18 episodes
1996-1999	Guiding Light	Dahlia Crede	Regular role: 218 episodes
2000-2004	Boston Public	Marylin Sudor	Regular supporting role: 67 Episodes
2005	Las Vegas	Nina	Episode: "Sperm Whales and Spearmint Rhinos"
2004-2005	LAX	Monique DeSouza	Recurring role: 3 episodes
2007	CSI: Miami	Lauren Sloan	Episode: "Internal Affairs"
2009	Private Practice	Dr. Sonya Nichols	Recurring role: 5 episodes
2010-2011	Hellcats	Vanessa Lodge	Regular role: 21 episodes
2011	Suits	Lisa Parker	Episode: "Dirty Little Secrets"
2012	Person of Interest	Dr. Madeleine Enright	Episode: "Critical"
2014	Perception	Inspector Liza Brahms	Episode: "Obsession"
2014	Grimm	Tyler "Zuri" Ellis	Recurring: 2 episodes
2016	Recovery Road	Charlotte Graham	Main role

[ Source: Wikipedia ]