Ellis is best known for her roles in films Men of Honor (2000), The Caveman\'s Valentine (2001), Undercover Brother (2002), Ray (2004), The Express (2008), The Taking of Pelham 123 (2009) and The Help (2011). On television, Ellis had regular role in the ABC police drama series High Incident (1996–97), and later co-starred in a number of short-lived dramas. She had recurring roles on The Practice, True Blood, and The Mentalist, and played roles in a number of made for television movies, such as Gifted Hands: The Ben Carson Story (2009) and Abducted: The Carlina White Story (2013).\n', '

In 2015, Ellis played the leading role in the miniseries The Book of Negroes, based on bestselling novel by Lawrence Hill. She received critical acclaim and a Critic\'s Choice Award nomination for Best Actress in a Movie/Miniseries. Since 2015, she has been starring as Miranda Shaw in the ABC thriller series Quantico. In 2016, Ellis played Nancy Turner, Nat Turner\'s mother, in the critically acclaimed period drama film, The Birth of a Nation.\n', '

Ellis was born in San Francisco, California, and raised on her grandmother\'s farm in McComb, Mississippi. She attended Tougaloo College before transferring to Brown University, where she completed her Bachelor of Arts in African-American studies. She also studied acting with Jim Barnhill and John Emigh. During her years at Brown University, Ellis made her debut in a student play. She went on to study acting in the Graduate Acting Program at New York University\'s Tisch School of the Arts. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.\n', '

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