Tawny Newsome
American actress, musician, comedian, and writer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Tawny Newsome is an American actress, musician, comedian, and writer best known for playing Chelsea Leight-Leigh on Bajillion Dollar Propertie$, co-starring in Space Force and the third season of Brockmire, and co-hosting the podcast Yo, Is This Racist?. She is also a singer in the band Four Lost Souls.[1] She voiced one of the main characters, Beckett Mariner, on Star Trek: Lower Decks and has recently appeared in Starfleet Academy as Professor Illa Dax, a new host of the Dax Symbiont.
Tawny Newsome | |
|---|---|
Newsome at the 2019 San Diego Comic-Con | |
| Born | February 24, 1983 Vacaville, California, U.S. |
| Education | DePaul University (BFA) |
| Occupations | Musician, actress, comedian, writer, podcaster |
| Years active | 2008–present |
| Spouse |
Nate Urbansky (m. 2013) |
| Website | tawnynewsome |
Early life
Tawny Newsome was born on February 24, 1983 in Vacaville, California to a biracial couple and grew up on a ranch that her mother still lives on. As a teenager she was a junior rodeo champion.[2] Newsome attended the DePaul Theatre School in Chicago. After graduating she became a regular performer in Chicago Theatre. Newsome was a member of The Second City from 2013-2014.[3]
Career
Newsome was a backup singer in a touring Talking Heads tribute band. This later led to her being cast in Documentary Now! in a similar role.[4]
Newsome's first major television roles were as Chelsea Leight-Leigh on Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ and Nina on The Comedy Get Down.[3]
Newsome has been a co-host of the podcast Yo, Is This Racist? alongside Andrew Ti since 2018.[1] She also appears as a frequent guest on podcasts such as Comedy Bang! Bang! and Spontaneanation with Paul F. Tompkins.[5][6]
Newsome is also a musician and is a member of the band Four Lost Souls alongside Jon Langford, Bethany Thomas, and John Szymanski.[7] The group released a debut self-titled album in 2017.[8]
Newsome was in the main cast of Brockmire in its third season.[9] She was also cast in the 2019 ABC pilot Woman Up.[10] She was cast as a lead voice in the CBS All Access series Star Trek: Lower Decks.[11]
She appeared in a lead role as Maj. Angela Ali in the Netflix series Space Force starting in 2020.[12]
Since 2020, Newsome has co-hosted Star Trek: The Pod Directive, the official Star Trek podcast, along with comedian Paul F. Tompkins.[13]
Personal life
Since 2020 Newsome and her husband have lived in Southern California.
Filmography
As actor
Film roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Uncle John | Cute Hipster Girl | |
| 2016 | Einstein's God Model | Marcel Gutierrez | |
| 2018 | Canal Street | Kai | |
| 2019 | Spies in Disguise | Agency Employee #1 | Voice |
| 2021 | How It Ends | Celine | |
| Vacation Friends | Brooke | ||
| 2023 | Quiz Lady | Mercedes |
Television roles
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Chicago Fire | Jen | Episode: "A Problem House" |
| 2014 | Crisis | EMT | Episode: "Best Laid Plans" |
| 2015 | Sirens | Jami | Episode: "Balls" |
| 2016 | 2 Broke Girls | Chrissy | Episode: "And the Basketball Jones" |
| Comedy Bang! Bang! | Worried Mom | Episode: "Zach Galifianakis Wears Rolled Khakis and Shoes with Brown Laces" | |
| Take My Wife | Pam | Episode: "Punchline" | |
| Documentary Now! | Backup Singer | Episode: "Final Transmission" | |
| 2016–2019 | Bajillion Dollar Propertie$ | Chelsea Leight-Leigh | 34 episodes |
| 2017 | Nobodies | Grace | 3 episodes |
| The Carmichael Show | Jessica | Episode: "Three Year Anniversary" | |
| Do You Want to See a Dead Body? | Marion | Episode: "A Body and a High School Reunion (with Joe Lo Truglio)" | |
| The Comedy Get Down | Nina | 10 episodes | |
| 2019 | Brockmire | Gabby Taylor | 6 episodes |
| The New Negroes with Baron Vaughn and Open Mike Eagle | Performer | Episode: "Money" | |
| HarmonQuest | Donna (voice) / Herself | Episode: "Ivory Quay" | |
| Big Mouth | (voice) | Episode: "Duke" | |
| Perfect Harmony | Georgia | 3 episodes | |
| 2019–2020 | Craig of the Creek | Jasmine Williams (voice) | 3 episodes |
| 2019–2022 | Sherman's Showcase | Various | 5 episodes |
| 2020 | Superstore | Isabel | Episode: "Zephra Cares" |
| The Twilight Zone | Zara Delancey | Episode: "Ovation" | |
| Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun | The Queen | Episode: "Dinner Party" | |
| 2020–2022 | Space Force | Angela Ali | Main role |
| 2020–2024 | Star Trek: Lower Decks | Ensign/LtJG Beckett Mariner (voice) | Main role, 5 seasons Nominated—Critics' Choice Super Award for Best Voice Actress in an Animated Series (2021) |
| 2021 | True Story | Billie | 6 episodes |
| 2022 | Physical | Wanda | 5 episodes |
| Tuca & Bertie | (voice) | Episode: "Leveling Up" | |
| Murderville | Mayor Palmer | Episode: "Who Killed Santa? A Murderville Murder Mystery" | |
| 2023 | Star Trek: Strange New Worlds | Ensign Beckett Mariner | Episode: "Those Old Scientists"[14] |
| 2025 | The Paper | Harper Brewster | Episode: "The Five W's" |
| 2026 | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | Illa Dax | Episode: "Series Acclimation Mil" |
As writer
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026- | Star Trek: Starfleet Academy | Writer,[15] co-producer[16] | Writer: "Series Acclimation Mil" |
| TBA | Untitled Star Trek comedy series | Co-creator | With Alex Kurtzman and Justin Simien[17] |
