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Ella Thomas

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ella Thomas
Ella Thomas in 2013
Born
Occupation(s)Actress, model, producer
Years active2006–present
SpouseRyan Krause [1]
Children1[2]
Websiteofficialellathomas.com

Ella Thomas is an Eritrean American actress, model and producer.

Early life and education

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Ella Thomas was born to an Eritrean mother from Asmara and an American Air Force officer, who was stationed in the Province of Eritrea in Ethiopia. [1] When she was still a child, Thomas' family relocated to Germany, where they lived in the small town of Kindsbach. There, she attended a local German school. Thomas also studied French, while simultaneously continuing Tigrinya and English lessons at home with her mother. Around this time, Thomas first developed an appreciation for the performing arts, and began taking part in local school and theater productions. She likewise would periodically return home to Asmara to visit relatives.[3]

Career

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Thomas has guest starred as Agent Deborah Meade on CSI: NY and played one of the lead characters, Anna Roberts, in The Storm miniseries on NBC. In the fall 2009, she appeared opposite Bruce Willis in the Touchstone/Disney sci-fi thriller Surrogates, which opened September 25, 2009.[4]

She appeared as the model Viveca on the HBO series Entourage and as P Diddy's fiancée Nadine Alcott on CSI: Miami.

Thomas also starred on the series Parenthood, as well as the ABC's show Castle.

Thomas had a recurring role on NCIS: Los Angeles as the character Jada Khaled. [5]Thomas also guest starred in the episode "Skin" of the Karl Urban and Michael Ealy helmed FOX series Almost Human. She was seen opposite Zoe Saldana as the author Lorraine Hansberry in the Nina Simone biopic, Nina. [6]

In January of 2022 she was the co-lead roles in the Tubi original Unborn as well as recurring on the newly released to Netflix Ballers alongside Dwayne Johnson and John David Washington which aired originally aired on HBO.

Ella has also been featured in editorial spreads for American Vogue and Glamour and ELLE and she has also appeared in print ads for companies such as Gap, Tiffany & Co., and Levi's and appeared in the Lexus ES automotive commercials.[7] She completed a recurring arc on season 4 of ABC's Mistresses [8]as well as Antoine Fuqua's series for DirectTV Ice in the role of Lala Agabaria.[9] She starred opposite Kyra Sedgwick in the ABC series Ten Days in the Valley as Detective Isabel Knight [10]and appeared in the CBS series Me, Myself & I. She has also guest starred on Supergirl and The Detour. Next she will appear opposite Garrett Hedlund in Liongate's Desperation Road† as well as Searchlight's Nightbitch starring Amy Adams.[11] Nightbitch is slated to debut at TIFF with a wide theatrical release Dec. 6, 2024.[12]

Personal life

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As of 2024, she lives in Los Angeles.[1] She is active with the Eritrean Youth Community and has served on the board of Eritrean Diaspora Network for two years.[13]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
2005 Choker Godiva
2006 All In Restaurant Waitress
2009 Surrogates Lisa
2010 Napoleonic Josephine Moliet Short
2014 Borderclash Celia Ricodonna Short
2015 Daniel and the Lion's Den Ellen Robbins Short
2016 Nina Lorraine Hansberry
2016 A Boy Called Po Clarissa Evans
2017 The Queen of Hollywood Blvd. Josie
2023 Desperation Road Sarah Magee
2024 Nightbitch Naya

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
2006 Shark Call Girl #1 Episode: "Dial M for Monica"
2006 7th Heaven Ethiopian Woman Episode: "Christmas!"
2006 Misconceptions Actress Episode: "Bad Guy's Day Off"
2007 Ugly Betty Striking Amazon Episode: "I'm Coming Out"
2007 Las Vegas Julia Thomas Episode: "Junk in the Trunk"
2007 How I Met Your Mother Girl #1 Episode: "Moving Day"
2007 Point of Entry Monique TV film
2008 NCIS Heidi Episode: "Recoil"
2008 Don King Presents: Prizefighter Tabetha Video game
2008 Polizeiruf 110 Janina Episode: "Rosis Baby"
2008 Entourage Viveca Episode: "Gotta Look Up to Get Down"
2009 CSI: Miami Nadine Alcott Episode: "Sink or Swim"
2009 The Storm Anna Roberts TV miniseries
2009 CSI: NY FBI Agent Deborah Meade Episode: "Death House"
2010 Parenthood Lisa Genatasio Episode: "Namaste No More"
2010 Castle Natasha Piper Episode: "Overkill"
2011 All My Children Diana Holden Recurring role
2011–12,
2015–16
NCIS: Los Angeles Jada Khaled Recurring role (seasons 3 & 7)
2013 Almost Human Vanessa Episode: "Skin"
2014 Bones Lyla Thomas Episode: "The Drama in the Queen"
2015 Portrait of Love Julia Robbins TV film
2015 Ballers Kara Cooley Episodes: "Move the Chains", "Everything Is Everything"
2016 Mistresses Jackie Recurring role (season 4)
2016–17 Ice Lala Agabaria Main role (season 1)
2017 Me, Myself & I Jasmine Episode: "Pilot"
2017 Ten Days in the Valley Isabel Knight Recurring role
2018 Supergirl Tormock Episode: "Fort Rozz"
2019 The Detour Skye Episode: "The Entertainer"
2020 Quarantine Willa Series regular
2022 9-1-1 Willow Episode: "Cursed"

Other works

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Year Title Notes
2012 The Scam Executive producer, costume designer
2013–14 Top Flight Security Executive producer, costume designer (11 episodes)
2015 Daniel and the Lion's Den Producer, writer

References

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  1. ^ a b c "BIO". Ella A. Thomas Official Website. Retrieved July 8, 2024.
  2. ^ "Ep. 15 | Parenthood W/ Ella Thomas & Ryan Krause - Everything's Okay (podcast)". Listen Notes. October 4, 2023.
  3. ^ "Ella Thomas". Movie Mire. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved May 29, 2013.
  4. ^ "TV Shows". Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 2, 2009.
  5. ^ "Paramount Press Express | THE TEAM SEARCHES FOR JADA, THE WOMAN SAM LEAD TO ASYLUM IN THE UNITED STATES FOUR YEARS AGO, AFTER SHE GOES MISSING, ON a REBROADCAST OF "NCIS: LOS ANGELES," SATURDAY, MAY 14". April 21, 2016.
  6. ^ "Film Review: Zoe Saldana in 'Nina'". April 18, 2016.
  7. ^ "2016 Lexus ES TV Spot, 'A New Point of View'" – via www.ispot.tv.
  8. ^ Petski, Denise (April 15, 2016). "'Mistresses' Casts Ella Thomas; Christopher J. Hanke Joins 'Devious Maids'".
  9. ^ Petski, Denise (August 17, 2016). "'Ice': Antoine Fuqua's Audience Drama Series Adds Ella Thomas, Rey Gallegos & Chloe East".
  10. ^ Petski, Denise (January 27, 2017). "'Ten Days In The Valley': Ella Thomas, Josh Randall, Eight More Round Out Cast".
  11. ^ Complex, Valerie (October 27, 2022). "Ella Thomas Joins Cast Of Nadine Crocker's 'Desperation Road'".
  12. ^ Chitwood, Adam (June 18, 2024). "Toronto Lineup: Amy Adams' 'Nightbitch,' Elton John Doc and 'The Wild Robot' Among First Films Slated for TIFF".
  13. ^ "Africa's 54: Eritrea: Africa's Jewel on Apple Podcasts". podcasts.apple.com. Archived from the original on May 6, 2020.
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