Melissa L. Williams

Melissa L. Williams
Williams in 2020
Born	August 31, 1987 (age 37) Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2011–present

Melissa L. Williams (born August 31, 1987) is an American actress and model, known for playing Denise and Ruth Truesdale in the BET prime time soap opera The Oval and its spinoff Ruthless .

Life and career

Williams was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is the oldest of six children. ^[1] Williams moved to Atlanta and attended Clark Atlanta University. ^{[2] [3]} She began her career appearing in several musicals at the local theater before moving to Los Angeles. ^[2] On television, she guest starred on The Game , If Loving You Is Wrong and Rosewood . She received Indie Series Awards nomination for her performance in Poz Roz. ^[4]

In 2019, Tyler Perry cast Williams in a dual role as twin sisters in his BET prime time soap opera The Oval . ^[5] She later went to star in its spinoff Ruthless for streaming service BET+. ^{[6] [7]}

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2011	All the King's Horses	Officer Jane	Short
2017	The First Stone	Reigh	Short
	Escape Artist	Beatrice Evans
2021	Dutch	Nina
2023	Game of Deceit	Elle
2024	Dutch II: Angel's Revenge	Nina
2025	Dutch III: International Gangster	Nina	Post—production

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2015	The Game	Jasmine	Episode: "Get Up, Stand Up"
2016	If Loving You Is Wrong	Grace	Episodes: "An Evil Alliance" & "For Pete"
2017	Rosewood	Woman #1	Episode: "Mummies and Meltdowns"
	Hand of God	Nurse	Episode: "Not Writing a Love Letter"
2017-18	Wade's World	Vanessa	Episodes: "AfterMath" & "Chess Not Checkers"
2018	Me, Myself & I	Beyonce Impersonator	Episode: "The Breakup"
2019	Hello Cupid 3.0	Zaya	Main cast
	Poz Roz	Amber	Recurring cast
2019–21	The Oval	Denise Truesdale/Ruth Truesdale	Recurring cast: season 1-2
2020–	Ruthless	Ruth Truesdale	Main cast

Awards and nominations

Year	Awards	Category	Recipient	Outcome
2019	Indie Series Awards	Indie Series Award for Best Supporting Actress - Drama	"Poz Roz"	Nominated

References

1. "5 Things To Know About Melissa L. Williams, Star of Tyler Perry's 'Ruthless'". BET.com.
2. "BET Press | Tyler Perry's Ruthless - Biography - Melissa L. Williams". www.betpressroom.com.
3. Vo, Thao (October 4, 2019). "Melissa L. Williams Weighs In on Her Role on BET's 'The Oval'".
4. "11th Annual Indie Series Awards Nominations".
5. Swift, Andy (November 7, 2019). "Tyler Perry's The Oval Scores Spinoff About Religious Sex Cult on BET+".
6. Petski, Denise (February 21, 2020). "'Tyler Perry's Ruthless' Gets Premiere Date On BET+".
7. "The Quarantined Talent: Breakout Star Melissa L. Williams". www.goldenglobes.com. 31 March 2020.

External links

• Melissa L. Williams at IMDb