Shareeka Epps

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Shareeka Epps (born July 11, 1989 in Brooklyn , New York ) is an American actress .

biography

Shareeka Epps grew up in New York district of Brooklyn on. In 2004, the young African American was discovered at her school by the two independent filmmakers Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden , who were looking for a leading actress for their film project Gowanus, Brooklyn . The 19-minute short film , set in the Brooklyn neighborhood of the same name, focuses on the shy thirteen-year-old Drey, who tracks down the drug use of her white junior high school teacher (played by Matt Kerr). Gowanus, Brooklyn was successful with critics and was awarded a prize at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival . Two years later, Fleck und Boden set about reprocessing the material and filmed it as a feature film under the title Half Nelson with Ryan Gosling as a disaffected history and sports teacher. Shareeka Epps was again entrusted with the female lead role of Drey and the independent film developed into a surprise success with critics and audiences in the USA in 2006. For her feature film debut, which was praised by the New York Times as a "great, subtle performance" , "whose strength derives from the restraint of her game" , Epps received the award of the Boston Film Critics Association for best supporting actress. At the 2007 Independent Spirit Awards , she triumphed over such established actresses as Catherine O'Hara ( Long Live Hollywood ) or Robin Wright Penn ( Sorry, Haters ) and was named Best Actress.

Shareeka Epps attended Binghamton High School in New York State , where she dedicates herself to dance and participated, among other things, in the school's own production of the musical Les Misérables . In 2007 she also worked in Noah Buschel's drama Neal Cassady , which is based on the life of the American author (1926–1968) of the same name .

Filmography (selection)

Awards

Black Reel Awards

  • 2007: Nominated in the categories Best Supporting Actress and Best Breakthrough Performance for Half Nelson

Boston Society of Film Critics Awards

  • 2006: Best Supporting Actress for Half Nelson

Chicago Film Critics Association Awards

  • 2006: Nominated for Best Young Actress for Half Nelson

Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards

  • 2007: Nominated for Best Young Actress for Half Nelson

Gotham Awards

  • 2006: Breakthrough Award for Half Nelson

Independent Spirit Awards

  • 2007: Best Actress for Half Nelson

Online Film Critics Society Awards

  • 2007: Nominated in the Best Breakthrough Performance category for Half Nelson

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ cf. Manohla Dargis : Teacher Has a Problem, Student Knows the Secret, And Two Lives Intertwine . In: New York Times, August 11, 2006, Section E, PT1, Column 1, Movies, Performing Arts / Weekend Desk, Film Review, p. 8

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Epps, Shareeka
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-american actress
DATE OF BIRTH July 11, 1989
PLACE OF BIRTH Brooklyn , New York