Tessa Thompson is an American actress and musician. She started out in theatre, appearing in plays like The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and Smart People before making her small-screen debut in the CBS series Cold Case. Subsequently, Thompson rose to prominence courtesy of her performances in the teen noir mystery drama series Veronica Mars and the medical drama Grey's Anatomy, and made her feature film debut in the horror film When a Stranger Calls (2006). Since then, she has appeared in several critically acclaimed films, notably the comedy-drama Dear White People (2014), the historical drama Selma (2015) and the sports drama Creed (2015).

Her performance in Dear White People earned Thompson a Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor in 2014, while the portrayal of Bianca in Creed earned her a Teen Choice Awards nomination for Choice Movie Actress (Drama). In 2017, the actress debuted in the Marvel Cinematic Universe by essaying the role of Valkyrie in the superhero film Thor: Ragnarok. Notable television credits also include Hidden Palms, Heroes, Copper and Westworld. Other significant feature film credits include For Colored Girls (2010), Red & Blue Marbles (2011), War on Everyone (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Creed 2 (2018).