Dominique Fishback

Fishback first became interested in acting around the age of 10.^[7] She graduated from Pace University with a B.A. in Theater in 2013.^[8] While in college, she learned American Sign Language.^[9]

In 2014, Fishback premiered her off-off-Broadway play Subverted, in which she played twenty two characters.^[10][11][12] Subverted was nominated for a 2015 Innovative Theater Award for Outstanding Solo Performance.^[13][14] Fishback's first major recurring role was in the Yonkers housing drama Show Me a Hero as single mother Billie Rowan.^[15] In 2016, Abingdon Theatre Company announced Fishback as one of the recipients of its inaugural Residency Program.^[16][17]

Her first series regular role was in the 1970s Times Square drama The Deuce.^[18] Fishback has been noted as one of the standouts in the show due to her performance as the "sweetly vulnerable" prostitute Darlene.^[19][20] Co-creator David Simon has noted her strengths as an actress in playing Darlene.^[21] For her role on The Deuce, Fishback was listed by USA Today as one of "5 faces you should be watching on fall TV" in 2017.^[22]

In December 2017, Fishback appeared as a younger version of Gloria Carter, the mother of Jay-Z, in the music video for his song "Smile."^[23] Her first film, Night Comes On, premiered at the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.^[24] She also played the part of Kenya in the 2018 film The Hate U Give, which is based on the popular young adult book.^[25]

Fishback plays a street-smart teenager in Project Power, which was released by Netflix on August 14, 2020.^[26][27] In 2021, she starred in Judas and the Black Messiah as Deborah Johnson, the partner of Fred Hampton. In 2023, she starred in Transformers: Rise of the Beasts, the sequel to Bumblebee.