Kiersey Clemons

An undeniable talent on the rise, actress and musician Kiersey Clemons has quickly become known for the diverse and captivating characters she has brought to life on-screen. Born in Pensacola, Florida, Clemons and her family settled in Redondo Beach, California, when she was 12 years old. She was immersed in creativity throughout her childhood, taking vocal lessons, modeling, participating in local theater and putting on shows for her family and friends.

By 16 years old, she yearned for a bigger platform and reached out to an agency seeking representation. They immediately signed her, and soon after, she landed her first television gig, a guest-starring role on the hit Disney Channel Original series, Shake It Up! Proving herself to the network, she eventually became the recurring character Kira Starr on Austin & Ally, and starred as Skye Sailor in the Disney Channel Original movie Cloud 9. Early on in her career, Clemons appeared on CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Good Luck Charlie and Bucket and Skinner's Epic Adventures.

2015 was a breakout year for Clemons, hitting the big screen in Open Road Films' Dope, which premiered to critical acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival. Clemons was a scene-stealer as Diggy, a tough lesbian high school student with a colorful imagination who gets caught up in a plan to unload a big stash of drugs. Dope, produced by Forest Whitaker's Significant Productions and Pharrell Williams, was released June 2015 and re-released nationwide in September. The film won the African-American Film Critics Association Award for Best Screenplay and was nominated at multiple festivals including the Cannes Film Festival and the Deauville Film Festival.

In 2016, Dope was nominated for three NAACP Image Awards including Outstanding Motion Picture, Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture and Outstanding Directing in a Motion Picture. Clemons also starred in the independent teen comedy-drama Little Bitches, directed by Nick Kreiss and produced by Scott Aversano and Will Russell-Shapiro.

Aside from her work in film, Clemons is also making her mark in television and has been seen in her recurring role as Bianca on the Golden Globe Award-and Primetime Emmy Award-winning Amazon series Transparent. Season two was nominated for People's Choice and Screen Actors Guild Award nominations including Awards for Favorite Streaming Series and Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series. Additional television credits include Steven Spielberg's Extant alongside Halle Berry and Fox's New Girl.

In addition to acting, Clemons is a talented musician. She has collaborated with Grammy Award-winning producer/artist Williams on multiple tracks, and her vocals can be heard in a handful of projects including Dope and Transparent. In September 2015, she appeared in Lady Gaga's music video to date, "Til It Happens to You," directed by Catherine Hardwicke. The song was written exclusively for The Hunting Ground, a 2015 documentary about the college campus rape epidemic around the country.

Universal Pictures