Shalita Grant
{{short description|American actress (born 1988)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Shalita Grant
| image = Cropped image of Shalita Grant in 2012.png
| caption = Shalita Grant performing in 2012 with the Huntington Theatre Company
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1988|8|28}}
| birth_place = Petersburg, Virginia, U.S.
| education = Juilliard School (BFA)
| occupation = Actress
| years_active = 2009–present
| spouse = {{marriage|Sabrina Skau|2018|2020|end=div}}
| partner = Jessica Aguilar
}}
Shalita Grant (born August 28, 1988) is an American actress best known for portraying NCIS Special Agent Sonja Percy on NCIS: New Orleans. She is also known from her roles on Mercy Street, You, Santa Clarita Diet, and Search Party.{{cite web | url=http://www.essence.com/2015/11/13/7-things-know-ncis-new-orleans-star-shalita-grant | title=7 Things to Know About 'NCIS: New Orleans' Star Shalita Grant | work=Essence | date=November 13, 2015 | accessdate=December 10, 2016 | author=Lewis, Taylor}}{{cite web|title=Cast and Characters {{!}} Mercy Street|url=https://www.pbs.org/mercy-street/about/cast-characters/|website=pbs.org}}{{Cite web|last=Petski|first=Denise|date=2018-08-17|title='Santa Clarita Diet': Shalita Grant To Recur In Season 3 Of Netflix Zombie Comedy|url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/santa-clarita-diet-shalita-grant-recur-season-3-netflix-zombie-comedy-drew-barrymore-timothy-olyphant-1202447468/|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Deadline|language=en}}{{Cite web|last=Studarus|first=Laura|date=2020-06-24|title=Meet 'Search Party' Scene-Stealer Shalita Grant|url=https://www.shondaland.com/inspire/a32949411/search-party-shalita-grant-feature/|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Shondaland|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Shalita Grant on 'You' and her acting career: 'What people project onto me is about them'|url=https://news.yahoo.com/shalita-grant-her-acting-career-230255358.html|access-date=2021-11-02|website=Yahoo News|date=November 2021 |language=en-US}}
Early life and education
Grant was born in Petersburg, Virginia. She attended Appomattox Regional Governor's School For the Arts and Technology for a year before transferring to the Baltimore School for the Arts in Maryland, where she was a YoungArts Winner in Theater and Presidential Scholar in the Arts. At 17, she received a scholarship to attend the Juilliard School. In 2010, she graduated from Juilliard with a B.F.A. in Drama.{{cite news |last=Small |first=Leah |date=June 3, 2013 |title=Former ARGS student receives Tony nomination |url=http://www.progress-index.com/article/20130603/NEWS/306039937 |work=The Progress-Index |location=Petersburg, VA}}
Career
= Stage =
Grant's earlier theater work includes The Public Theater's 2010 productions of Measure for Measure,{{Cite web|last=Hetrick|first=Adam|date=2010-10-25|title=Public Theater's Mobile Unit Will Bring Shakespeare to New Audiences|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/public-theaters-mobile-unit-will-bring-shakespeare-to-new-audiences-com-172992|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Playbill|language=en}} The Winter's Tale,{{Cite web|last=Stasio|first=Marilyn|date=2010-07-02|title=The Winter's Tale|url=https://variety.com/2010/legit/reviews/the-winter-s-tale-1117943111/|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Variety|language=en}} and The Merchant of Venice.{{Cite web|last=Hetrick|first=Adam|date=2010-06-30|title=The Merchant of Venice, With Al Pacino, Lily Rabe, Byron Jennings, Opens in Central Park June 30|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/the-merchant-of-venice-with-al-pacino-lily-rabe-byron-jennings-opens-in-central-park-june-30-com-169670|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Playbill|language=en}}
Grant originated the role of Cassandra in Christopher Durang's comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike since the beginning of the show's development as a one-act play.{{Cite web|last=Haun|first=Harry|date=2013-03-15|title=PLAYBILL ON OPENING NIGHT: Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike; A Weekend in the Country|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/playbill-on-opening-night-vanya-and-sonia-and-masha-and-spike-a-weekend-in-the-country-com-203501|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Playbill|language=en}} She performed alongside Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce, Kristine Nielsen, Genevieve Angelson, and Billy Magnussen in the world-premiere at the McCarter Theatre Center in Princeton, NJ from September to October 2012{{Cite web|last=Gans|first=Andrew|date=2012-09-14|title=Christopher Durang's Vanya and Sonia..., With Sigourney Weaver, David Hyde Pierce and Kristine Nielsen, Opens in NJ|url=http://www.playbill.com/article/christopher-durangs-vanya-and-sonia-with-sigourney-weaver-david-hyde-pierce-and-kristine-nielsen-opens-in-nj-com-197517|archive-url=|archive-date=|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Playbill|language=en}} before moving to the Lincoln Center Theatre in an off-Broadway run October 2012 to January 2013.{{Cite news|last=Brantley|first=Ben|date=2013-01-20|title=Insecure Namesakes With a Gloomy Worldview|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/13/theater/reviews/vanya-and-sonia-and-masha-and-spike-at-lincoln-center.html|access-date=2020-06-25|issn=0362-4331}} The show's success continued with a Broadway run and Grant's Broadway debut March through August 2013.{{Cite web|title=Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike Broadway @ John Golden Theatre - Tickets and Discounts|url=http://www.playbill.com/production/vanya-and-sonia-and-masha-and-spike-john-golden-theatre-vault-0000013999|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Playbill|language=en}}
In 2012, she appeared in The Philanderer for the off-Broadway Pearl Theatre Company{{Cite news|last=Gold|first=Daniel M.|date=2012-02-19|title=Modern Love à la Shaw, From His Life|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/theater/reviews/the-philanderer-from-the-pearl-theater-company.html|access-date=2020-06-25|issn=0362-4331}} and the world-premiere of Kirsten Greenidge's play Luck of the Irish at the Huntington Theatre Company.{{Cite web|first=Don |last=Aucoin|date=April 13, 2012|title='The Luck of the Irish' shines at Huntington - The Boston Globe|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/arts/2012/04/12/the-luck-irish-shines-huntington-the-luck-irish-shines-huntington/REmP2fNK4xYQenP4Nz3C6K/story.html|access-date=2020-06-25|website=BostonGlobe.com|language=en-US}}
Grant was nominated for a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play in 2013 for her performance as Cassandra in the comedy Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike. The play won the Tony for Best Play as well as the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play. She also won the 2013 Theatre World Award for Outstanding Broadway Debut.{{Cite web|last=|first=|date=2013-04-30|title=Tony Awards 2013 winners and nominees: Complete list|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-et-cm-tony-awards-2013-nomination-list-story.html|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Los Angeles Times|language=en-US}}{{Cite web|title=Theatre World Awards - Theatre World Awards|url=https://www.theatreworldawards.org/past-recipients.html|access-date=2020-06-25|website=www.theatreworldawards.org}}
She returned to The Public Theater in 2017 for the Shakespeare in the Park production of A Midsummer Night's Dream.{{Cite web|last=Scheps|first=Leigh|title=BWW Interview: A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S DREAM's Shalita Grant Talks Return to Theater|url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW-Interview-A-MIDSUMMER-NIGHTS-DREAMs-Shalita-Grant-Talks-Return-to-Theater-20170731|access-date=2020-06-25|website=BroadwayWorld.com|language=en}}
=Film=
Her film credits include shorts Empire Corner (2010), Invisible (2010), and the Oscar-nominated short documentary, Rehearsing a Dream (2006).{{Cite web|title=Shalita Grant|url=http://www.imdb.com/name/nm3659314/|access-date=2020-06-25|website=IMDb}}
=Television=
Following her Tony Award nomination, Grant moved to Los Angeles to pursue television where she fondly recalls her struggles in auditioning 54 times within one year for various roles and, at one point, while running out of savings, briefly turned to bartending before landing a series regular role on NCIS: New Orleans in 2015.{{cite news|date=January 31, 2018|title=NCIS: New Orleans' Actress Shalita Grant to Leave Show (EXCLUSIVE)|url=https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/ncis-new-orleans-shalita-grant-leaving-1202683232/}} After she departed NCIS: New Orleans in 2018, she was cast in the recurring role of FBI Agent Tess Rogers on the third season of the Netflix horror-comedy series Santa Clarita Diet.{{cite web|last=Petski|first=Denise|date=August 17, 2018|title='Santa Clarita Diet': Shalita Grant To Recur In Season 3 Of Netflix Zombie Comedy|url=https://deadline.com/2018/08/santa-clarita-diet-shalita-grant-recur-season-3-netflix-zombie-comedy-drew-barrymore-timothy-olyphant-1202447468/|accessdate=August 17, 2018|work=Deadline}} In 2020, Grant recurred on the third season of HBO Max's Search Party in the role of first-time, in over-her-head attorney Cassidy.
In October 2020, it was announced that Grant had been cast in the main role of Sherry Conrad on the third season of the Netflix thriller series You.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2020/10/you-travis-van-winkle-shalita-grant-season-3-netflix-series-1234598368/|title='You': Travis Van Winkle & Shalita Grant Join Season 3 Of Netflix Series|work=Deadline Hollywood|first=Denise|last=Petski|date=October 15, 2020|access-date=October 15, 2020}}
Personal life
On August 8, 2018, Grant married commercial director Sabrina Skau in San Francisco, CA.{{cite web|last=Nahas|first=Aili|title=NCIS: New Orleans Star Shalita Grant Marries Her Partner Sabrina Skau|url=https://people.com/tv/ncis-shalita-grant-weds-partner-sabrina-skau/amp/|date=August 8, 2018|website=People}}{{Cite web|date=2018-08-22|last=Palladino|first=Kirsten|title=Shalita Grant and Sabrina Skau's San Francisco City Hall summer wedding|url=https://equallywed.com/shalita-grant-and-sabrina-skau-san-francisco-city-hall-summer-wedding/|access-date=2020-06-25|website=Equally Wed|language=en-US}} They later divorced.{{Cite web|last=Schultz|first=Ken|date=2021-06-02|title=Jessica Aguilar and Shalita Grant discuss building their relationship|url=https://www.outsports.com/2021/6/2/22461893/jessica-aguilar-shalita-grant-mma-fight-relationship-actress-netflix|access-date=2021-10-27|website=Outsports|language=en}} Since 2020, she has been in a relationship with MMA fighter Jessica Aguilar.{{Cite web|last=Rude|first=Mey|date=26 April 2021|title=How an Actress and an MMA Fighter Found a Lesbian Happy Ending|url=https://www.advocate.com/women/2021/4/26/how-actress-and-mma-fighter-found-lesbian-happy-ending}}
Awards and nominations
- 2013 - Tony Award, Best Featured Actress in a Play (Nomination), Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
- 2013 - Theatre World Award, Outstanding Broadway Debut
Filmography
| class="wikitable sortable"
! Year ! Title ! Role ! class="unsortable"| Notes |
| 2011
| Sergeant Nora Swan | Episode: "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" |
| 2014–2015
| Bones | Andie Roberts | Episode: "The Putter in the Rough" & "The Mutilation of the Master Manipulator" |
| 2015–2018
| Sonja Percy | (Recurring, Season 1; Main, Seasons 2–4) |
| rowspan="2"| 2015
| Evita Freeman | Episode: "Gone Girl" & "Parental Guidance" |
| Battle Creek
| Olivia | Episode: "Man's Best Friend" |
| rowspan="2"| 2016
| NCIS | Sonja Percy | Episode: "Sister City, Part I" |
| Mercy Street
| Aurelia Johnson | Main cast (Season 1) |
| 2019
| Agent Tess Rogers | Recurring role (Season 3) |
| 2020
| Cassidy Diamond | Recurring role (Season 3) |
| 2021
|Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike |Cassandra |
| 2021
|Rae |1 episode |
| 2021
|First Date |Jennifer |
| 2021
|Haunt the Johnsons |Ava Johnson |
| 2021
| You | Main cast (Season 3) |
| 2023
|Janet Elton |1 episode |
| 2023
|The Flash: Escape the Midnight Circus |Iris West |
| rowspan="2" |2025
|Female DEA Agent / Susan (voice) |2 episodes |
| Side Quest
|Janae |Episode: "Pull List" |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb name|3659314}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Grant, Shalita}}
Category:21st-century American actresses
Category:American lesbian actresses
Category:American television actresses
Category:Place of birth missing (living people)
Category:People from Petersburg, Virginia
Category:Actresses from Virginia
Category:Juilliard School alumni
Category:African-American LGBTQ people
Category:LGBTQ people from Virginia
Category:Theatre World Award winners
Category:21st-century African-American actresses