About this Artist
Tony Award winner ANIKA NONI ROSE most recently starred as the title character in Carmen Jones at the CSC this summer, where she received rave reviews across the board. She will soon be seen in the upcoming thriller Assassination Nation alongside Suki Waterhouse, which premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival. Anika led the cast of BET’s series The Quad, as Eva Fletcher, for two seasons. Last year, she was seen in the film Everything, Everything, based on the popular young adult novel of the same name by Nicola Yoon. The film also starred Amandla Stenberg and Nick Robinson.
Previously Anika starred as Kizzy in History Channel’s adaption of Roots. Her performance received a nomination for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Actress. She had a guest arc in the Starz hit series Power as LaVerne “Jukebox” Thomas and quickly became a fan favorite. Anika has starred alongside Denzel Washington in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun. Her outstanding performance not only earned her numerous rave reviews, but also a Tony Award and Outer Critics Circle nominations.
On the big screen, Anika starred as Lorell Robinson in Dreamgirls, which went on to receive an AFI ensemble award, as well as SAG award nomination for outstanding cast. In addition, the Dreamgirls soundtrack received a Grammy® Award nomination. Anika voiced Princess Tiana in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, featuring the first African American Disney princess. The film received three Oscar nominations and Anika became the youngest inductee to ever be honored as a Disney Legend.
She appeared as Whoopi Goldberg’s daughter in the Lifetime movie A Day Late and a Dollar Short, as well as the feature film Half of a Yellow Sun. Anika’s many film credits include Imperial Dreams, For Colored Girls, and the comedy feature Just Add Water. Additional film credits include As Cool as I Am and the animated feature Khumba, where she voiced the character Lungisa.
No stranger to television, Anika starred in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency for HBO/BBC/Weinstein Company, where she was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series; the Hallmark special The Watsons Go to Birmingham; and she appeared on some of the networks’ highest rated shows, including her re-occurring roles on CBS’s The Good Wife and ABC’s Private Practice. In addition, she guest starred on CBS’s Elementary and FOX’s The Simpsons (voice of Abie’s longlost wife). Other TV credits include the A&E mini-series Stephen King’s Bag of Bones, opposite Pierce Brosnan,
Anika won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role in Caroline, or Change. She starred in Deborah Allen’s Broadway revival of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, opposite James Earl Jones and Phylicia Rashad. She also starred in Footloose and the Off-Broadway production of the Laura Nyro musical Eli’s Comin’, as well as Stephen Sondheim’s Company for the New York Philharmonic and PBS. Other stage work includes Juliet opposite Orlando Bloom with Gustavo Dudamel conducting Tchaikovsky live with the Los Angeles Philharmonic.
In addition to winning the Tony Award, Anika has also received the Theater World Award, the Clarence Derwent Award, a Drama Desk nomination, the Los Angeles Critics’ Circle Award, an Ovation Award, and an Obie Award. She has also received NAACP Image nominations for her work on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (NBC) and Hallmark Hall of Fame: Mitch Albom’s Have a Little Faith (ABC).
Anika has sung all over the world, including at the 79th Annual Academy Awards, concerts in London’s West End with Jason Robert Brown, the Vatican, the Kennedy Center, and Carnegie Hall.