Amirah Vann

Amirah Charline Vann was born in 1980, in Queens, New York.[4] Her father is African-American from Georgia, and her mother is Puerto Rican.[4] Vann attended Midwood High School[5] and then Far Rockaway High School, graduating in 1998. She then obtained her bachelor’s degree from Fordham University in 2002,[6] and a Masters of Fine Arts degree from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2007.[4] Vann worked for many years in Off-Broadway theater before transitioning to film and television.

Vann appeared in secondary roles in films, including And So It Goes and Tracers, before her breakthrough performance as Ernestine, the head house slave of the Macon plantation, in the WGN America period drama series Underground in 2016.[4][7][8] The series was canceled after two seasons in 2017. She later guest starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and had a recurring role on the final season of Major Crimes as Special Agent Jazzma Fey.