Ciera Payton

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Ciera Payton (born January 26, 1986) is an American actress and writer. She has appeared in television series such as The Walking Dead, General Hospital, Graceland, and NCIS. She also had a supporting role as Sylvia in Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral. She currently stars in the BET soap opera The Oval.

Early life[]

Ciera Payton graduated from the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts[1] and received her bachelor of fine arts degree in drama from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts.[2]

Career[]

Payton got her start in the feature film Flight of Fury (2006), playing the female lead role of CIA agent Jessica opposite Steven Seagal. She was a junior in college while filming Flight of Fury. In 2009, she made her off-Broadway debut, starring as the lead role of Savannah in Savannah Black and Blue,[3] produced by the Negro Ensemble Company.

In 2010, Payton transitioned from New York to Los Angeles where she booked the role of Janet Tanner in the BBC American reboot of Torchwood. She later appeared on The Closer, playing opposite Keira Sedwick as Keisha Murphy.[1] After gaining a few roles on the small screen, Payton was granted the role of Capri in Spike Lee's film Oldboy, sharing the screen with Josh Brolin.[4]

In 2014, she appeared as the cheerleading coach who takes down a prominent campaign in The Runner starring Nicolas Cage.[5]

In 2016, she received the Los Angeles Pioneer Woman Award for her work providing arts programs to at-risk youth.[6]

In 2019, she starred in the film A Madea Family Funeral.[4]

Payton portrayed talk show host Wendy Williams in the 2021 Lifetime biopic Wendy Williams: The Movie.[7]

Filmography[]

Film[]

Year Title Role Notes
2007 Flight of Fury Jessica Video
2008 Jump Out Boys Maria
2009 Madea Goes to Jail Undercover Detective
2009 The Way Home Tasha Short
2010 Moth to a Flame Kara Short
2012 A Woman's Worth Short Film Melissa Short
2013 Paradise Stripper #2
2013 Oldboy Capri
2015 American Bad Boy Raven
2015 The Runner Lucy Hall
2015 Guiltless Ciera Short
2016 Forward Short
2016 59 Seconds Foster Mom
2018 Dangerous Daze Benita Bangs Short
2019 A Madea Family Funeral Sylvia
2019 Afterthoughts Det. Paige Aldridge Short
2019 SKIP: The Rhythm of Hope Jane Short, post-production
TBA Xxv (25) Chris Short, completed
TBA Stain Bernice Completed
TBA Respect the Jux Karen Post-production

Television[]

Year Title Role Notes
2008 All My Children Reporter Episode: "1.9970"
2009 Midnight Bayou Effie TV film
2010 Fake It Til You Make It MILF Episodes: "Never Sleep with Fans", "Dine and Ditch"
2011 The Closer Keisha Murphy Episode: "Unknown Trouble"
2011 Torchwood Janet Episode: "Miracle Day: The Middle Men"
2012 Californication Hooker Episode: "The Ride-Along"
2012 Body of Proof Eve Johnson Episode: "Going Viral, Part 2"
2012 The Mentalist Angel Episode: "Something Rotten in Redmund"
2012 Days of Our Lives Martine Kent Guest role
2012 Common Law Kelly Episode: "Joint Custody"
2013 NCIS: Los Angeles Ellen Episode: "History"
2013 The Other Door Melissa TV film
2013–14 Graceland Cassandra Episodes: "Goodbye High", "King's Castle", "Connects"
2014 First Nikki Episode: "The First Awkward Moment"
2014 Wild Card Laila Episode: "The Pilot"
2014 Bad Teacher Meg Episodes: "Evaluation Day", "Found Money", "What's Old Is New"
2014 It Could be Worse Episode: "Too Much Candy"
2015 Reconcilable Differences Eve Episodes: "You Have to Train 'em", "The Setup"
2015 Real Husbands of Hollywood Tracy Episode: "Cabin Pressure"
2015 What's Bullying? Teacher TV film
2016 NCIS Laurie Perkins Episode: "Pay to Play"
2017 General Hospital Grace McMorris Episodes: "1.13746", "1.13820"
2017 Indoor Boys Alyssa Episode: "Mafia"
2017 Ballers Lydia Episode: "Alley-Oops"
2017 The Walking Dead Zia Episode: "The King, the Widow, and Rick"
2019 Being Mary Jane Keia Episode: "Becoming Pauletta"
2019 She's Gotta Have It Jameelah Hawkins Guest role (season 2)
2019–present Tyler Perry’s The Oval Lily Winthrop Main role
2021 Wendy Williams: The Movie Wendy Williams TV film[8]

References[]

  1. ^ a b "Catch NOCCA graduate Ciera Payton on the premiere of 'The Closer'". The Times-Picayune. New Orleans, Louisiana. July 9, 2011.
  2. ^ "About". Ciera Payton official website. Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  3. ^ Webster, Andy (2009-11-11). "At Shetler Studios, a Woman's Tough Climb to the Police Beat". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  4. ^ a b "Credits". Ciera Payton official website. 2019-05-04. Archived from the original on 2019-05-04. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  5. ^ "The Runner (2015) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  6. ^ Apr 01, 2016. "Women's History Month 2016". Los Angeles City Council District 6. Retrieved 2019-05-04.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  7. ^ Ciera Payton on playing media mogul Wendy Williams in Lifetime's "Wendy Williams: The Movie"
  8. ^ "See the First Trailer for the Wendy Williams Biopic, Documenting Her Substance Abuse Issues: 'You've Got a Coke Habit'". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2020-12-04.

External links[]

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