Tika Sumpter

Euphemia LatiQue "Tika" Sumpter (born June 20, 1980) is an American actress and producer.

Sumpter began her career as the host of Best Friend's Date.

In 2004, she served as the co-host for the reality series Best Friend's Date, which was broadcast on Nickelodeon's defunct cable channel The N, now titled TeenNick.

The following year she landed the role of Layla Williamson in the ABC daytime soap opera, One Life to Live.

From 2005 to 2010, she appeared in the daytime soap opera One Life to Live.

She first appeared on-screen on July 15, 2005, playing the role regularly through September 14, 2010.

For her portrayal of Layla, Sumpter was nominated for an NAACP Image Award for Best Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2008.

In 2010, she made her film debut in Stomp the Yard: Homecoming and later featured in supporting roles for What's Your Number? (2011), Sparkle (2012), and A Madea Christmas (2013).

Sumpter reappeared in the role on November 9–10, 2010, and January 21 and 24, 2011.

In 2010, Sumpter made her film debut in Stomp the Yard: Homecoming and briefly appeared in Salt.

From January to May 2011, Sumpter appeared in The CW teen drama series, Gossip Girl as Raina Thorpe.

She played singer Jason Derülo's girlfriend in the video for his song "It Girl".

In 2011, she appeared in the romantic comedy film What's Your Number?.

From 2011 to 2012 she also had a recurring role as Jenna Rice in the BET comedy series, The Game.

Sumpter played Delores "Dee" Anderson in the musical-drama Sparkle, inspired by the story of The Supremes.

Sumpter is heard on the Sparkle: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, and appears in the music video for "Celebrate".

After Sparkle, she starred alongside John Stamos in the independent comedy film My Man Is a Loser.

From 2013 to 2021, Sumpter starred as Candace Young in the OWN prime time soap opera, The Haves and the Have Nots.

In 2013, she starred in the Christmas comedy film A Madea Christmas by Tyler Perry.

Perry later cast Sumpter as a lead character and main villainess Candace Young in the Oprah Winfrey Network prime time soap opera The Haves and the Have Nots.

The series was a hit for the Oprah Winfrey Network.

The series premiered on May 28, 2013, and ran for 8 seasons until July 20, 2021.

During that time, she starred in the action comedy film Ride Along (2014) and its sequel Ride Along 2 (2016), the biographical drama Get On Up (2014), the crime drama The Old Man & the Gun (2018), and the romantic comedy Nobody's Fool (2018).

The film received limited theatrical release on July 25, 2014, by Lionsgate Films.

In 2014, Sumpter co-starred in the action comedy film, Ride Along, opposite Kevin Hart and Ice Cube.

The film grossed $153,262,184 worldwide.

In 2014, She played Yvonne Fair, one of Brown’s former lovers, in Get on Up, the biographical drama film about James Brown.

She co-starred opposite Queen Latifah, Mo'Nique, and Khandi Alexander in the HBO biographical film Bessie about the blues singer Bessie Smith that premiered in 2015.

Sumpter played a young Michelle Robinson in the biographical romantic drama film, Southside with You about the early romance between Barack and Michelle Obama.

In 2016, she produced and starred as Michelle Robinson Obama in the biographical romantic drama film, Southside with You receiving NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture nomination.

She reprised her role in the 2016 sequel Ride Along 2.

Like the original film, this sequel was panned by most critics but was a box office success, grossing $124.6 million worldwide during its theatrical run.

The third film was announced but was not filmed.

From 2019 to 2021, she starred in the ABC comedy series, Mixed-ish.

She later starred as Maddie Wachowski in the action-adventure comedy film, Sonic the Hedgehog (2020), its 2022 sequel, and is set to appear in the upcoming spin-off show, Knuckles.

Sumpter was born in Queens, New York City.

She was a cheerleader at her high school.

She graduated from Longwood Senior High School in Middle Island, New York and studied at Marymount Manhattan College where she majored in communications.

Sumpter began her career as a model and appeared in commercials for Hewlett-Packard and Liz Claiborne's Curve fragrances.

She also worked as a waitress before acting.