Jayme Lawson

Lawson grew up in the Washington, D.C. Metro Area as the youngest of six siblings. She attended Duke Ellington School of the Arts and spent summers attending theatre camp. Upon graduation, Lawson moved to New York City to attend Juilliard School. Lawson has cited her love of poetry and literature of the Harlem Renaissance as an early influence, as well as the talent of actresses Phylicia Rashad and Lucille Ball.^[2][3]

After graduating Juilliard in May 2019,^[4] Lawson appeared in the off-Broadway play For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide / When the Rainbow Is Enuf, a revival of the 1976 hit play by Ntozake Shange. Lawson's performance was considered a stand out.^[5] Lawson's film debut was in the 2020 film Farewell Amor as Sylvia.^[6][7][8] In 2019, she gained attention when she was cast in the film The Batman (2022) as Bella Reál, a mayoral candidate for Gotham City.^[9][10][11] She would reprise her The Batman role in the 2024 HBO television series The Penguin.

In January 2021, she was cast as a young Michelle Obama in the television series The First Lady (2022).^[12] In 2022, she appeared in the drama films Till, How to Blow Up a Pipeline, and The Woman King as Myrlie Evers, Alisha, and Shante, respectively.^[13][14][15]

In 2025, Lawson co-starred in Ryan Coogler's supernatural period horror film Sinners. The film was released to widespread acclaim and gave Lawson a Gotham Independent Film Awards Ensemble Tribute Award.^[16][17] She also appears as Sheila in Edgar Wright’s The Running Man, an adaptation of the 1982 novel by Stephen King.^[18]