Early life

Lawson was born in Los Angeles, California. She is the daughter of Denise (née Gordy) and actor Richard Lawson. Lawson is also the great-niece of Motown founder Berry Gordy. She attended the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and graduated from Marymount High School, a Catholic school in Los Angeles. She then went on to study film and psychology at University of Southern California. Lawson is African-American and of Italian, Native American, Portuguese, and Creole descent.

Career

Lawson began acting at the age of nine, having appeared in commercials for Barbie and Revlon. In 1993, she was cast in the television series Saved by the Bell: The New Class as series regular Megan Jones. She appeared in multiple episodes of The WB sitcoms Sister, Sister as Rhonda Coley and The Steve Harvey Show as Rosalind. In 1996, she co-starred in the UPN sitcom Goode Behavior as family sub-title character Bianca Goode, which lasted for just one season. In 1997, she appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as vampire slayer Kendra Young. In 1999, she appeared in The WB's Dawson's Creek as rival character Nikki Green.

In 2009, Lawson was cast as Shawna in The Secret Life of the American Teenager. That same year, she was cast in the CW television series The Vampire Diaries, as witch Emily Bennett. In December 2009, she was cast as Maya St. Germain in the ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars, based on the book series by Sara Shepard. She appeared in that show from June 2010 through August 2012. Since 2012, she has had a recurring role as Ms. Morell in the MTV television series Teen Wolf, based on the original film from 1985. In 2014, Lawson had a recurring role as Eva in Witches of East End. In 2015, she was cast as series regular Talia Freeman in season three of Rogue.

Lawson has made appearances in two different television miniseries. In 1998, she appeared in The Temptations as Diana Ross (whom Lawson is related to through Ross's daughter Rhonda Ross Kendrick); and in 2001, she was cast as Anna Bella Monroe in Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints.

Some of Lawson's film credits to date include Primary Colors (1998), Save the Last Dance (2001), Bones (2001) and Breakin' All the Rules (2004).

Aside from film and television, Lawson provided her voice to the 2011 video game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

In 2016, Lawson was cast in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series, Queen Sugar created by Ava DuVernay.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Twice the Fear	Girlfriend	Direct-to-video
1998	Primary Colors	Loretta
2000	Big Monster on Campus	Darien Stompanato	Direct-to-video
2001	Save the Last Dance	Nikki
2001	Bones	Cynthia
2003	Jeepers Creepers 2	(uncredited)
2004	Breakin' All the Rules	Helen Sharp
2004	Dead & Breakfast	Kate
2004	The Pavilion	Mary	Direct-to-video
2005	Flip the Script	Angel	Direct-to-video
2006	Broken	Mia	Independent film
2006	National Lampoon's Pledge This!	Monique	Direct-to-video
2007	Supergator	Carla Masters	Direct-to-video
2009	The Killing of Wendy	Brooke	Independent film

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1993-94	Saved by the Bell: The New Class	Megan Jones	Main role (seasons 1-2); 39 episodes
1994	What'z Up?	Herself	Co-host
1994	My So-Called Life	Third Bathroom Girl	Episode: "Pilot"
1995	Me and the Boys	Girl	Episode: "The Age of Reason"
1995	In the House	Rachel	Episode: "The Final Cut"
1995	Saved by the Bell: The New Class	Megan Jones	Archive footage: "Screech's Dream" (#3.19)
1995-96	Sister, Sister	Rhonda Coley	Recurring role; 7 episodes
1996-97	Goode Behavior	Bianca Goode	Regular role; 22 episodes
1997-99	Smart Guy	Shirley/Tracy	2 episodes
1997	The Parent 'Hood	Jasmine	2 episodes
1997-98	Buffy the Vampire Slayer	Kendra Young	3 episodes
1998	Silk Stalkings	Renee	Episode: "Rage"
1998	The Steve Harvey Show	Rosalind	3 episodes
1998	The Temptations	Diana Ross	TV miniseries
1999-2000	Dawson's Creek	Nikki Green	4 episodes
2001	Strong Medicine	Esperenza Maldonaldo	Episode: "Control Group"
2001	The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborn	Herself	Guest
2001	The Feast of All Saints	Anna Bella Monroe	TV miniseries
2002	For the People	Asia Portman	Episode: "Textbook Perfect"
2002	Haunted	Brandi Combs	Episode: "Blind Witness"
2003	Loose Lips	Herself	TV series documentary
2004	The Division	Marilynn Resiser	Episode: "Play Ball"
2004	The Big House	Angela	Episode: "Almost Touched by an Angel"
2004	Fearless	Harmony Kaye	Unsold TV pilot
2006	Living in TV Land	Herself	Episode: "Sherman Hemsley"
2008	The Cleaner	Jeannie	2 episodes
2009	Bones	Albie	Episode: "Fire in the Ice"
2009	The Secret Life of the American Teenager	Shawna	Recurring role; 6 episodes
2009	Sorority Wars	(uncredited)	TV movie
2009-14	The Vampire Diaries	Emily Bennett	Recurring role; 6 episodes
2010-12	Pretty Little Liars	Maya St. Germain	Main role (season 1); 22 episodes
2010	Nikita	Emily Robinson	Episode: "The Guardian"
2011	American Horror Story	Abby	Episode: "Pilot"
2011	Heavenly	Sasha Grant	TV movie
2012-14	Teen Wolf	Marin Morrell	Recurring role; 12 episodes
2012	Beauty & the Beast	Lafferty	Episode: "Trapped"
2012	All About Christmas Eve	Lila	TV movie
2012	2 Broke Girls	Stacy	Episode: "And the Silent Partner"
2013	Good Day L.A.	Herself	Guest
2014	House of Secrets	Julie	TV movie
2014	Wolf Watch	Herself	Guest
2014	Witches of East End	Eva/Selina	Recurring role; 10 episodes
2014	Pretty Little Liars: We Love You to DeAth	Herself	TV special
2015	Chicago P.D.	Kylie Rosales	Episode: "We Don't Work Together Anymore"
2015	Rogue	Talia Freeman	Main role (season 3); 10 episodes
2016	Queen Sugar	Darla	Series regular

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	Star Wars: The Old Republic	(voice)	Provided additional voices

[ Source: Wikipedia ]