Grace Byers

Grace was born in Butler, Pennsylvania to Caymanian parents, who moved the family back to the Cayman Islands when she was two.^[1][2] Her parents are deaf, so she communicates with them using sign language.^[3] After moving back to the United States at age 18,^[1] she received her bachelor's degree in Theater Arts at the University of South Florida in Tampa.^[2] Grace later attended the University of California, Irvine, where she received her Master’s of Fine Arts in acting.^[2]

Byers then moved to New York City, where she performed Off-Broadway, including in Venus Flytrap: A Femme Noir Mystery, and Rent.^[4][5] In 2013, she performed in the Chicago productions of The Misanthrope and Tartuffe.^[6][7] In 2014, Gealey was cast as Anika Calhoun in the Fox musical prime time drama, Empire opposite Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.^[8][9] The series debuted on January 7, 2015.^[10] She left the series after four seasons in 2018.

In 2017, Byers was cast as Kate, a jazz singer and lounge owner, in the indie thriller Bent, making her big screen debut.^[11] In 2018, Byers published a children's book titled I Am Enough, based on her experiences being bullied as a child for having deaf parents. She wrote it to empower children to love and accept themselves.^[12]

From 2018 to 2019, Byers starred as Reeva Payge in the Fox superhero series The Gifted. In 2021, she began starring as Quinn Joseph in the Amazon comedy series, Harlem.^[13] The following year, she starred in the comedy horror film, The Blackening.^[14]

Byers became engaged to her Empire costar Trai Byers in 2015.^[15] She and Byers married on Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands on April 14, 2016.^[16][17] Their son was born in 2023.^[18]

• I Believe I Can (2020) 9780062667137 ^[20][21]
• I Am Enough (2018) 9780062667120 ^[22][23]