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IMDbPro

Lorraine Toussaint

  • Actress
  • Producer
IMDbProStarmeter
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Lorraine Toussaint in Saving Grace (2007)
In the series premiere of The Equalizer airing after Super Bowl LV on CBS, Academy Award nominee and multi-hyphenate Queen Latifah stars as Robyn McCall, an enigmatic former CIA operative who uses her extensive skills to help those with nowhere else to turn.

Watch all-new episodes of The Equalizer on Sundays at 8/7c on CBS and CBS All Access.
Play trailer0:31
The Equalizer (2021– )
11 Videos
66 Photos
SAG Award and Critics Choice Award winner for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, Lorraine Toussaint shocked audiences on the smash hit Netflix original series "Orange is the New Black" as the viciously seductive inmate Vee. Toussaint's thrilling performance has won her glowing reviews from the likes of TV Guide and Vanity Fair, stirring the Emmy buzz for her outstanding performance. Toussaint also received praise for her performance in the Academy Award-nominated feature film "Selma." Up next, Toussaint will star in the new Fox series "Rosewood", alongside Morris Chestnut, which premieres this fall.

Born in Trinidad, Toussaint and her mother moved to Brooklyn, NY, where she was raised, when she was ten years old. Growing up, she watched a lot of television while she waited for her mother to return from work, and this sparked her interest in acting. Toussaint begged her mother to enroll her in acting school, and her search led to her studying theater at New York's renowned High School of Performing Arts. After graduation, she enrolled in the Juilliard School's drama division, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. On her graduation day, she landed her first paying job as Lady Macbeth with "Shakespeare & Company."

Toussaint spent the first 12 years of her career acting on stage in New York City before moving to Los Angeles. Her first television appearance was in 1983 in "The Face of Rage." Toussaint's biggest career boost has come from her co-starring role opposite Annie Potts in the TV series "Any Day Now," which earned Toussaint an NAACP Image Award nomination for best actress in a drama series, a TV Guide Award nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series, and the Wiley A. Branton Award from the National Bar Association.

Among Toussaint's TV credits were recurring roles on several popular television shows, such as NBC's drama series "Friday Night Lights," TNT's "Saving Grace," "Law & Order," and ABC's hit "Ugly Betty." She has also had several guest appearances on the hit television shows "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," "Grey's Anatomy," and the drama thriller "Scandal" opposite Kerry Washington.

No stranger to the silver screen, Touissant's first film role was opposite Burt Reynolds in the crime comedy "Breaking In." Touissant has also appeared in "Dangerous Minds," "The Soloist," and Ava DuVernay's "Middle of Nowhere," in which her performance was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female. Up next, Toussaint stars as Salome Whitmore in the upcoming period drama "Sophie and the Rising Sun," written and directed by Maggie Greenwald. Toussaint will also play Anthony Mackie's mother in the upcoming Seth Rogen comedy "X-Mas," scheduled for theaters this November.

Toussaint and her daughter split their time between New York and Los Angeles.
BornApril 4, 1960
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BornApril 4, 1960
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • View contact info at IMDbPro
  • Awards

Photos66

Lorraine Toussaint and Caleb McLaughlin in Concrete Cowboy (2020)
Lorraine Toussaint, Idris Elba, Method Man, Ivannah-Mercedes, Jamil Prattis, and Caleb McLaughlin in Concrete Cowboy (2020)
Julianne Moore and Lorraine Toussaint in The Glorias (2020)
Lorraine Toussaint in Crossing Jordan (2001)
Lorraine Toussaint and Frankie Faison in The Village (2019)
Lorraine Toussaint in Into the Badlands (2015)
Lorraine Toussaint, Louise Lombard, and Larry Mitchell in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (2000)
Lorraine Toussaint in Black-ish (2014)
Lorraine Toussaint and Anna Konkle in Rosewood (2015)
Lorraine Toussaint and Anna Konkle in Rosewood (2015)
Lorraine Toussaint in Rosewood (2015)
Morris Chestnut, Lorraine Toussaint, and Gabrielle Dennis in Rosewood (2015)

Known for

Hudson Hawk (1991)
Hudson Hawk
5.7
  • Almond Joy
  • 1991
David Oyelowo in Selma (2014)
Selma
7.5
  • Amelia Boynton
  • 2014
Kate Mulgrew, Natasha Lyonne, Selenis Leyva, Laura Prepon, Taylor Schilling, Uzo Aduba, Dascha Polanco, and Danielle Brooks in Orange Is the New Black (2013)
Orange Is the New Black
8.1
TV Series
  • Yvonne 'Vee' Parker
Middle of Nowhere (2012)
Middle of Nowhere
6.6
  • Ruth
  • 2012

Credits

Edit
IMDbPro

Actress

  • The Magician's Elephant
    • (voice)
    • Post-production
  • Silent Retreat
    • Post-production
  • Queen Latifah in The Equalizer (2021)
    The Equalizer
  • Big City Greens (2018)
    Big City Greens
    • (voice)
  • Star Wars: Visions (2021)
    Star Wars: Visions
    • (English version, voice)
  • Summer Camp Island (2018)
    Summer Camp Island
    • (voice)
  • Cinema Toast (2021)
    Cinema Toast
    • (voice)
  • Bryan Cranston in Your Honor (2020)
    Your Honor
  • Idris Elba and Caleb McLaughlin in Concrete Cowboy (2020)
    Concrete Cowboy
  • Christine Baranski and Audra McDonald in The Good Fight (2017)
    The Good Fight
  • She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
    She-Ra and the Princesses of Power
    • (voice)
  • Julianne Moore, Timothy Hutton, Bette Midler, Enid Graham, Olivia Olson, Janelle Monáe, Alicia Vikander, Lulu Wilson, and Ryan Kiera Armstrong in The Glorias (2020)
    The Glorias
  • Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark (2019)
    Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark
  • Lorraine Toussaint, Frankie Faison, Warren Christie, Moran Atias, Grace Van Dien, Michaela McManus, and Jerod Haynes in The Village (2019)
    The Village
  • Daniel Wu in Into the Badlands (2015)
    Into the Badlands
  • Aubrey Peeples in Anne Frank Meets God (2018)
    Anne Frank Meets God
    • (voice)
  • Ser Baffo in Sprinter (2018)
    Sprinter

Producer

  • Aubrey Peeples in Anne Frank Meets God (2018)
    Anne Frank Meets God
  • Chandra Wilson in Accidental Friendship (2008)
    Accidental Friendship

Videos11

Official Trailer
Trailer 1:58
Official Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:29
Official Trailer
Superbowl 2021 Spot
Trailer 0:31
Superbowl 2021 Spot
The Village: Official Trailer
Trailer 1:45
The Village: Official Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 2:07
Trailer
Official Trailer
Trailer 2:32
Official Trailer
Theatrical Version
Trailer 2:30
Theatrical Version
Sundance Version
Trailer 0:59
Sundance Version
Fast Color
Trailer 2:27
Fast Color
Sophie and the Rising Sun Trailer
Trailer 2:09
Sophie and the Rising Sun Trailer
Selma
Featurette 3:24
Selma

Personal details

Edit
    • April 4, 1960
    • Trinidad, British West Indies [now Trinidad and Tobago]
    • June 25, 2017 - present (filed for divorce)
  • Other works
    Played Condoleezza Rice in "Stuff Happens", a play by David Hare (Mark Taper Forum, Los Angeles, California, USA).
  • Publicity listings
    • 1 Article
    • 1 Magazine Cover Photo

Did you know

Edit
  • Trivia
    Is an aficionado of architecture and an expert gardener and landscaper.
  • Quotes
    Shape draws praise from similar shaped viewers and they 'appreciate that I look like a normal woman. I care more about health than maintaining a specific size.'

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