Adina Porter

'Adina Porter' (qv) was born and raised in New York City, more specifically, The South Bronx. She is a first generation American; her father was born and spent his youth in Sierra Leone, Africa, while her mother was born in Bermuda. As a young child, Porter entertained her parents by staging plays in the family living room. They noticed her artistic streak and enrolled her in a children's acting class at St. Mark's AME Church in Harlem; her first acting teacher was the legendary 'Butterfly McQueen' (qv) who ran the church's holiday programs.During her early high school years, Porter was encouraged by a teacher to audition for High School of Performing Arts AKA the _Fame (1982)_ (qv) school. She followed that advice, auditioned and was accepted. After that, Porter studied acting and graduated from SUNY Purchase. During her senior year, the university held showcases for New York agents, where she was "discovered" by a talent agent.Porter then went on to work steadily in the theatre, appearing in off Broadway plays and in regional theatre. Porter has worked in many of the best venues, with some of the country's best stage directors: 'George C. Wolfe' (qv), 'Lisa Peterson (II)', 'Mark Wing-Davey' (qv), 'Richard Foreman' (qv), 'Don Scardino' (qv), 'Michael Greif' (qv), and 'Risa Bramon Garcia' (qv). Other theatre credits include The Debutante Ball by 'Beth Henley' (qv) at Manhattan Theatre Club, numerous plays at the NY Shakespeare Festival, and most notably her Obie Award-winning performance in Venus, written by 'Suzan-Lori Parks' (qv). In 2001, Porter made her Broadway debut in The Women, directed by 'Scott Elliott' (qv). This was her second project with Elliot, having collaborated with him at The Williamstown Theatre Festival, in the classic 'Arthur Miller (I)' play A Ride Down Mt. Morgan.Porter has made her mark in all areas of entertainment: television, film and theatre. She is most recognizable from seven seasons as Lettie Mae Thornton in HBO's cornerstone series _True Blood (2008)_ (qv). Viewers also know her as Kendra James from three seasons of the 'Aaron Sorkin' (qv) HBO drama, The 'News' (qv)room (2012). This past year Porter made a Guest Star appearance as the leader of the Guilty Remnant on _The Leftovers (2014)_ (qv). This marked Porter's sixth venture with HBO, along with memorable performances in highly acclaimed HBO films _Lackawanna Blues (2005)_ (qv) and _Gia (1998)_ (qv).In addition to her work on HBO, Porter portrays fierce, Grounder warrior, Indra, in CW's post-apocalyptic hit, _The 100 (2014)_ (qv). This season she also starred as Pearly Mae, in WGN's period piece, _Underground (2016)_ (qv) was cast in ABC's _The Jury (2016)_ (qv), opposite 'Archie Panjabi' (qv) and 'Jeremy Sisto' (qv), as well as guest starring in 'Shonda Rhimes' (qv) The Catch.Porter appeared as Gwen Walker for two seasons of NBC's _American Dreams (2002)_ (qv). She has worked in pivotal roles on numerous TV series including _Code Black (2015)_ (qv), _Grey's Anatomy (2005)_ (qv) , _American Horror Story: Murder House (2011)_ (qv) , _Glee (2009)_ (qv) , _CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)_ (qv) , _The Vampire Diaries: We'll Always Have Bourbon Street (2012)_ (qv) , _Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Fight (2007)_ (qv) , _Criminal Minds: Suspect Behavior (2011)_ (qv) _Private Practice (2007)_ (qv) and _House (2004)_ (qv) , among many others.On the big screen, Porter will soon be seen alongside 'Shirley MacLaine' (qv) in _The Last Word (2017)_ (qv) and more recently, starred opposite 'Emily Mortimer' (qv) in _Wig Shop (2016)_ (qv). Additional film credits include: multi award-winning _The Social Network (2010)_ (qv), _The Peacemaker (1997)_ (qv), and _About Sunny (2011)_ (qv) , and others.Porter spends most of her spare time chasing after her two children. She splits her time between Los Angeles and New York.::Isabella Martine