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Rutina Wesley

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Rutina Wesley Fast Facts:

Decided to pursue a performance career after taking part in a production of Fame during her freshman year of high school.
Filmed a scene for Hitch (2005) that was cut from the final version, but made a splash in her big-screen debut in How She Move (2007).
Sang "I'm Not Afraid of Anything," from Jason Robert Brown's 1995 musical, Songs for a New World, at the funeral for friend and Juilliard classmate Sarah Fox, who was found murdered in Upper Manhattan's Inwood Hill Park in 2004.
Made Broadway debut in 2006 at the Music Box Theatre in David Hare's The Vertical Hour, which was directed by Sam Mendes and also marked the first time on the Great White Way for the production's stars, Julianne Moore and Bill Nighy.
Studied Shakespeare during a summer at London's Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where she played the titular distaff role in Romeo and Juliet.
Was the second actress cast as Tara Thornton on True Blood. The original actress, Brook Kerr, played the role in the unaired pilot.
Active in Artists Striving to End Poverty (ASTEP), a non-profit organization that utilizes the arts to help disadvantaged children worldwide.

Rutina Wesley Relationships:
Cassandra Wesley - Mother
Ivery Wheeler - Father
Jacob Fishel - Husband
College:
University of Evansville, Evansville, IN (BFA in Theatre Performance, 2001); The Juilliard School, New York, NY (2005)