Bianca Lawson

Biography:

Bianca Lawson (born March 20, 1979) is an American actress known for her work across numerous television series. She has held regular roles in Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Goode Behavior, Pretty Little Liars, and Rogue. In addition, she has appeared in recurring roles on series such as Sister, Sister, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Steve Harvey Show, Dawson’s Creek, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, and Witches of East End. In 2016, she joined the cast of the Oprah Winfrey Network drama Queen Sugar.

Lawson was born in Los Angeles, California, to Denise (née Gordy) and actor Richard Lawson. She is the stepdaughter of Tina Knowles through her father’s former marriage and was once a stepsibling to Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. She is also the grandniece of Motown founder Berry Gordy. Lawson trained at the Stella Adler Studio of Acting, graduated from Marymount High School in Los Angeles, and later studied film and psychology at the University of Southern California. Her heritage includes African-American roots as well as Italian, Native American, Portuguese, and Creole ancestry.

She began acting at the age of nine, appearing in commercials for brands such as Barbie and Revlon. In 1993, she landed her first major television role as Megan Jones on Saved by the Bell: The New Class. She later appeared in multiple episodes of Sister, Sister and The Steve Harvey Show. In 1996, she starred as Bianca Goode in the short-lived UPN sitcom Goode Behavior. Her subsequent roles included Kendra Young on Buffy the Vampire Slayer in 1997 and Nikki Green on Dawson’s Creek in 1999.

In 2009, Lawson joined The Secret Life of the American Teenager as Shawna and also appeared on The Vampire Diaries as the witch Emily Bennett. Later that year, she was cast as Maya St. Germain on Pretty Little Liars, a role she played from 2010 to 2012. From 2012 onward, she held a recurring role as Ms. Morell on Teen Wolf, followed by appearances on Witches of East End in 2014 and a series-regular role as Talia Freeman in the third season of Rogue in 2015.

Lawson has also appeared in television miniseries, portraying Diana Ross in The Temptations (1998) and Anna Bella Monroe in Anne Rice’s The Feast of All Saints (2001). Her film credits include Primary Colors (1998), Save the Last Dance (2001), Bones (2001), and Breakin’ All the Rules (2004). Beyond acting on screen, she contributed voice work to the 2011 video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. In 2016, she began starring in Queen Sugar, created by Ava DuVernay.