Afton Williamson

Last updated
Afton Williamson
Born
Afton C. Williamson

(1984-09-07) September 7, 1984 (age 40)
Sylvania, Ohio, U.S.
Alma mater Eastern Michigan University (B.F.A.)
Alabama Shakespeare Festival (M.F.A.)
OccupationActress
Years active2010–2020

Afton C. Williamson (born September 7, 1984) [1] is an American actress, best known for the main role of LAPD Officer Talia Bishop in the ABC series The Rookie and as Assistant District Attorney Alison Cacao Medding in the Cinemax original series Banshee .

Contents

Early life and education

Williamson was born in Toledo, Ohio. Williamson earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Fine Arts degree from the Alabama Shakespeare Festival. [2]

Career

Williamson started as the understudy to Kerry Washington in the 2010 Broadway play Race before succeeding Washington in the role of Susan. [3] Later she has made her television debut appearing in an episode of The Good Wife . Williamson later guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit , Blue Bloods , and Elementary . She had recurring roles on the CBS drama A Gifted Man from 2011 to 2012 as Autumn, and the first season of the television series Nashville as Makena. From 2014 to 2015, she had a regular role in the Cinemax network original series Banshee . In film, she made her debut in the 2011 drama Pariah .

In 2016, Williamson was cast in a leading role on the VH1 drama series The Breaks . [4] [5] She starred as Officer Wiggins in the 2016 HBO miniseries The Night Of .

In 2018, Williamson was cast in the ABC drama series The Rookie . [6] [7] In 2019, Williamson quit the show citing claims of racial discrimination, sexual harassment, and assault. [8] [9] TVLine had reported that Williamson, who portrayed Talia Bishop, would not be returning for the second season. While the outlet initially claimed that the split was amicable, Williamson, in a lengthy Instagram post, [8] stated that she had left the series due to having "experienced racial discrimination/racially charged inappropriate comments from the hair department." [10] Williamson also alleged that she was sexually harassed by guest star Demetrius Grosse, who portrays Kevin Wolfe in a recurring role, as well as an incident of bullying that escalated into sexual assault at a party; the head of the hair department was identified as Sallie Ciganovich (now known as Sallie Nicole Hotch). [11] Williamson claimed that she had gone to the showrunners multiple times with these allegations, but was ignored. [10]

All involved in the allegations denied them. An investigation was commissioned through the law firm Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp along with a third-party firm, EXTTI, which conducted nearly 400 hours of interviews and examined video and other evidence. [12] The results of the investigation were published on September 17, 2019, which found that the allegations made by Williamson had no merit, and could not be proven. Williamson stood by her claims, calling the results of the investigation "heartbreaking" and postulated that the producers had lied to cover up the truth of what happened. [13] [14]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleDirectorNotes
2011 Pariah Mika Dee Rees
2012 Man on a Ledge Janice Ackerman Asger Leth
Abducted: The Carlina White Story CassandraTelevision film
2018Write When You Get WorkValamy Vega Stacy Cochran
2019 Otherhood Julia Cindy Chupack
2020 Still Here Tiffany Watson Vlad Feier

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2010Da BrickRachelPilot
The Good Wife Yarissa MorganEpisode: "Bad Girls"
2011 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Isabelle WrightEpisode: "Reparations"
Homeland Helen Walker3 episodes (credited as Afton C. Williamson)
2011–2012 A Gifted Man Autumn9 episodes
2012 Blue Bloods Officer PerezEpisode: "No Questions Asked"
Royal Pains Heather SmallEpisode: "Business & Pleasure"
Nashville Makena3 episodes
2013–2015 The Following Haley Mercury / Kate2 episodes
2014–2015 Banshee Alison Medding8 episodes
2015 Elementary Shauna ScottEpisode: "The Best Way Out Is Always Through"
2015–2016 Blindspot Kara Sloane2 episodes
2016 The Night Of Officer Wiggins5 episode
2017 The Breaks Nikki
2017 The Blacklist Lu LuEpisode: "The Apothecary"
2018 Shades of Blue Katie Myers7 episodes
Bull ADA Gabrielle RamsdenEpisode: "Witness for the Prosecution"
2018–2019 The Rookie Talia BishopMain role (season 1)

References

  1. ↑ Williamson, Afton (2019-09-07). "Afton Williamson (@therealaftonw) on Instagram: "On September 7th, 1984 1:43pm in room 143 in Flower Hospital, Sylvania OH A Queen..."". Instagram . Archived from the original on 2025-08-21.
  2. ↑ "Afton Williamson Resume" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-02-03. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  3. ↑ Mellini, Michael (July 1, 2010). "Afton C. Williamson Races Ahead From Understudy to Leading Lady". Zap2It. Retrieved November 16, 2012.
  4. ↑ "Afton Williamson on Comparing 'Empire' to 'The Breaks': 'I Kind of Cringe'". 4 January 2016. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  5. ↑ Petski, Denise (1 June 2015). "VH1 Hip-Hop Movie 'The Breaks' Sets Cast" . Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  6. ↑ Andreeva, Nellie (7 February 2018). "'The Rookie': Eric Winter & Afton Williamson To Co-Star In ABC Series" . Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  7. ↑ Ausiello, Michael (7 February 2018). "The Rookie: Afton Williamson Cast as Nathan Fillion's New Partner in Crime". Archived from the original on 23 June 2018. Retrieved 8 February 2018.
  8. 1 2 Williamson, Afton (2019-08-04). "Afton Williamson (@therealaftonw) on Instagram: "I will not be returning for Season 2 of The Rookie. I owe it to you my amazing fans..."". Instagram . Archived from the original on 2025-08-21. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  9. ↑ "'The Rookie' Star Afton Williamson Claims Discrimination, Sexual Harassment and Assault Led to Series Exit". Variety. 2019-08-04. Archived from the original on 2019-08-04. Retrieved 2019-08-04.
  10. 1 2 Mitovich, Matt (August 4, 2019). "Afton Williamson Quit The Rookie After Allegations of Sexual Harassment, Racial Bullying Went Largely Ignored". TVLine . Archived from the original on September 18, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
  11. ↑ "Sallie Nicole Hotch | Make-Up Department". IMDb . 2025-08-21. Archived from the original on 2025-08-21. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  12. ↑ Otterson, Joe (September 17, 2019). "Afton Williamson 'Rookie' Investigation: Studio Finds No 'Inappropriate' Workplace Behavior". Variety. Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved December 26, 2019.
  13. ↑ Williamson, Afton (2019-09-18). "Afton Williamson (@therealaftonw) on Instagram: "What saddens me the most is that the lengths that were taken to Deceive,..."". Instagram . Archived from the original on 2025-08-21. Retrieved 2025-08-21.
  14. ↑ Mandell, Angela (September 17, 2019). "Afton Williamson responds after 'Rookie' investigation finds 'no inappropriate behavior'". USA Today . Archived from the original on September 20, 2019. Retrieved September 21, 2019.
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