Making her TV debut in 1995 with an episode on the TV series, Newton's Apple (1983-1998), Kimberly Elise Trammel, better known as Kimberly Elise, is an American film and TV actress. She made her silver screen debut with director F. Gary Gray's 1996 movie, Set It Off. But it was Elise's critically acclaimed role in director Jonathan Demme's Beloved (1998) that opened the doors for her in Hollywood. She went on to star in acclaimed movies like John Q (2002), Woman Thou Art Loosed (2004), The Manchurian Candidate (2004), Diary of a Mad Black Woman (2005), Pride (2007), The Great Debaters (2007), For Colored Girls (2010), Ties That Bind (2011), Dope (2015), Back to School Mom (2015), and Almost Christmas (2016). Elise has also starred in TV episodes of shows like The Sentinel (1996-1999), The Wonderful World of Disney (1995-2005), The Twilight Zone (2002-2003), Girlfriends (2000-2008), Soul Food (2000-2004), Close to Home (2005-2007), Private Practice (2007-2013), Masters of Science Fiction (2007-2008), Grey's Anatomy (2005- ), Hawthorne (2009-2011), and Hit the Floor (2013- ). Elise was nominated at the Independent Spirit Awards in the Best Female Lead category for her performance in director Michael Schultz's 2004 movie, Woman Thou Art Loosed.

In 2018 Elise acted alongside Bruce Willis, Elisabeth Shue, Vincent D'Onofrio and Dean Norris in director Eli Roth's vigilante-drama, Death Wish. The movie is a remake of the 1974 Michael Winner movie of the same name, with Charles Bronson in the lead. Both the movies are based on the 1972 novel of the same by Brian Garfield.