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Cynthia Addai-Robinson
Addai-Robinson in 2016
Born	(1980-01-12) January 12, 1980 (age 44) London, England
Nationality	American, British
Education	New York University (BFA)
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2002–present
Known for	Naevia in Spartacus, Amanda Waller in Arrow, Nadine Memphis in Shooter

Cynthia Addai-Robinson (born January 12, 1980) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Naevia in the Starz television series Spartacus, DC Comics character Amanda Waller in The CW TV series Arrow, and Nadine Memphis on the USA Network series Shooter. She currently plays the role of Tar-Míriel on the Amazon Prime The Lord of the Rings series The Rings of Power.

Early life

Addai-Robinson was born in London; her mother is from Ghana and her father is a U.S. citizen. She moved to the U.S. when she was 4 and was raised by her mother in a suburb of Washington, D.C. She graduated from Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland, and Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. In addition, she trained at Lee Strasberg Theater Institute.

Career

After participating in several various Off-Broadway plays, Addai-Robinson got her first role on television in 2002 in an episode of The Education of Max Bickford. In following years, she made small appearances on television shows like Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Miami, Numb3rs and Justice. In 2006, she was originally cast to play Melanie Barnett in the American sitcom The Game, but was replaced by Tia Mowry for unspecified reasons prior to the show's production. In 2009, she got her first recurring role on the ABC drama FlashForward as the character Debbie, a nurse. The same year she appeared in Tina Mabry's independent film Mississippi Damned as Milena.

In 2011, Addai-Robinson made her big screen debut as the mother of Zoe Saldana's character (played by Amandla Stenberg) in Colombiana.

Her biggest role came from 2012 to 2013 when she was cast as Naevia in the third season Spartacus: Vengeance and the fourth season Spartacus: War of the Damned after Lesley-Ann Brandt decided to leave the series.

In early 2013, Addai-Robinson played Aja, a powerful witch who came to help Bonnie on The Vampire Diaries for two episodes. She made a brief appearance as an on looker in the crowd in the film Star Trek Into Darkness. She played Leslie in Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret, a television movie about the murder of Travis Alexander. In September 2013, she was cast as the recurring character Amanda Waller in the hit The CW show Arrow.

In March 2014, she was cast as Emily D. West in the History Channel 2015 miniseries Texas Rising. Her performance was nominated for a Women's Image Network Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

In January 2015, Addai-Robinson was cast in Gavin O'Connor's The Accountant, alongside Ben Affleck and J. K. Simmons, playing a U.S. Treasury Department analyst. The film was released in October 2016.

In March 2016, it was announced that she would be taking over Emily Rios's role from the television series Shooter as the female lead.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

1. Rose, Mike (January 12, 2023). "Today's famous birthdays list for January 12, 2023 includes celebrities Howard Stern, Issa Rae". Cleveland.com. Retrieved January 12, 2023.
2. Kecskes, Alex. "Interview with Spartacus' Cynthia Addai-Robinson". ACED Magazine. Retrieved August 22, 2012.
3. Fraley, Jason (September 1, 2022). "Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power star travels from Silver Spring to Middle Earth". WTOP.
4. "Cynthia Addai Robinson Official Website". Cynthia Addai Robinson Official Website. Archived from the original on February 15, 2012.
5. "Development Update: February 14". The Futon Critic. February 14, 2006. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
6. "Development Update: February 27". The Futon Critic. February 27, 2006. Retrieved August 4, 2017.
7. Pearson, Anthony. "Zoe Saldana plays hot action chick in new 'Colombiana' trailer". Monsters and Critics. Archived from the original on 2 March 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
8. Wightman, Catriona. "Cynthia Addai-Robinson joins 'Spartacus'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 3 May 2011.
9. "Jodi Arias: Dirty Little Secret Movie" – via cinehook.com.
10. Ausiello, Michael. "Arrow Targets Spartacus Alumna as Infamous DC Comics Villain Amanda Waller". TVLine. Archived from the original on 27 February 2014. Retrieved 5 September 2013.
11. "Cynthia Addai-Robinson Lands Lead In History's Texas Rangers Miniseries". Deadline Hollywood. 18 March 2014. Archived from the original on March 20, 2014. Retrieved March 18, 2014.
12. "The Women's Image Network Awards". The Women's Image Awards.
13. Kroll, Justin (6 January 2015). "'Arrow' Actress Cynthia Addai-Robinson Joins 'The Accountant'". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
14. "Ben Affleck's 'Live by Night,' 'Accountant' Release Dates Pushed Back". Variety. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
15. Andreeva, Nellie (29 March 2016). "'Shooter': Cynthia Addai-Robinson Lands Female Lead Of USA Series In Recasting". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved March 29, 2016.
16. Grobar, Matt (7 March 2024). "Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal, J.K. Simmons & Cynthia Addai-Robinson Returning For 'The Accountant 2' As Artists Equity Sets Up Sequel At Amazon MGM". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved 7 March 2024.

External links

• Cynthia Addai-Robinson at IMDb 
• Cynthia Addai-Robinson at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Cynthia Addai-Robinson on Facebook

• 1985 births
• Living people
• Actresses from London
• Actresses from Washington, D.C.
• African-American actresses
• American people of Ghanaian descent
• American television actresses
• Black British actresses
• English emigrants to the United States
• English people of American descent
• English people of Ghanaian descent
• English television actresses
• Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute alumni
• Tisch School of the Arts alumni