Joy Bryant
Bryant at the Paleyfest 2013
Born	(1974-10-18) October 18, 1974 (age 49) New York City, U.S.
Alma mater	Yale University
Occupation(s)	Actress, model
Years active	1994–present
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Spouse	Dave Pope ​ (m. 2008)​

Joy Bryant (born October 18, 1974)^[1] is an American actress, businesswoman and fashion model. She has appeared in numerous films and television since beginning her acting career in 2001. She has received two NAACP Image Award nominations, and one Screen Actors Guild Award nomination.

Bryant began her career as a fashion model, appearing in advertisements for Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Gap, and Victoria's Secret. She made her film debut in 2001's Carmen: A Hip Hopera. Bryant had her breakthrough after being cast by Denzel Washington in his biographical drama film Antwone Fisher (2002), in which she played a U.S. Navy sailor. This was followed by a recurring guest role on the NBC series ER. Her subsequent film credits include Spider-Man 2 (2004), the horror film The Skeleton Key and the drama Get Rich or Die Tryin' (both 2005), and the historical drama Bobby (2006).

In 2010, Bryant was cast in the role of Jasmine Trussell in the NBC family drama series Parenthood, a role she portrayed for the series' entire six seasons before its finale in 2015. Bryant hosted her own action talk show Across the Board with Joy Bryant (2012–2014), which saw her interviewing celebrity guests.^[2] She has also appeared on television in guest roles on the series Girls (2017) and Ballers (2018).

Early life

Bryant was born on October 18, 1974, in the Bronx, New York to Joyce Bryant.^[1] She was raised by her grandmother,^[3] who helped support her on welfare.^[4] She started dancing at age three.^[5] Bryant would later reveal that she was conceived from a sexual assault against her mother, who was fifteen years old at the time of her birth, by an older adult male.^[1] Bryant stated: "[My mother] gave birth to me, not in love but in shame, after hiding her pregnancy from my grandmother for six months."^[1]

She described herself as a "nerd" growing up: "I read encyclopedias all day and watched TV. My grandmother, who raised me, emphasized the importance of education. For me it was about being self-sufficient and using my brain."^[4] While living in the Bronx, she graduated from CJHS 145x and was a member of the Fieldston Enrichment Program, an elite high school preparatory program.^[6] Bryant is a graduate of Westminster School, a boarding school in Simsbury, Connecticut.^[3] After graduating from Westminster, Bryant was a gifted student and earned a scholarship to Yale University, where she studied for two years before dropping out to pursue a modeling career.^[7] Bryant's grandmother died during her freshman year at Yale, which made her lose interest in studying, saying "I lost my biggest cheerleader, my rock. Being 'smart' didn’t matter to me anymore."^[8]

Career

Modeling

While enrolled as a student at Yale, Bryant was discovered by a modeling scout from Next Model Management and was selected to appear in Seventeen magazine's "Back to School" issue soon after.^[9] She began working as a fashion model in Paris.^[9] She appeared in advertisements for Gap, Victoria's Secret, Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and Rocawear.^[10][11] In 2006, Bryant signed a multi-year contract with CoverGirl.^[12] She has walked the runway for Tommy Hilfiger and Givenchy.^[11] Bryant hosted BET's 2009 Rip the Runway fashion show with Derek Luke.^[13]

She has graced the cover of numerous magazines, including Teen Vogue, Complex, Lonny, Domino and Rolling Out.^[14][15] She has appeared in pictorials for InStyle, Harper's Bazaar,^[16] Paper, Vanity Fair, Vibe, Playboy, Stuff and Celebrity Skin.^[14]

Acting

Early in her career, Bryant played a small role in Ill Al Skratch's music video for the song "I'll Take Her" (1994). She went on to appear in numerous music videos, including playing the female lead in Santana's "Nothing at All" (2003) and Usher's "Caught Up" (2004). Her acting debut came in 2001 in Robert Townsend's film Carmen: A Hip Hopera, in which she portrayed one of Carmen’s best friends opposite Beyoncé and Mekhi Phifer.^[17] After a small role in the action comedy Showtime (2002), she made her big breakthrough in Denzel Washington's directorial debut, Antwone Fisher (2002).^[18] In 2003, she co-starred in the Mario Van Peebles drama film Baadasssss!,^[19] followed by a recurring guest role on the drama series ER.^[20] She portrayed Gina, Jessica Alba's character's best friend in the dance film Honey (2003), which grossed $65.3 million at the box office worldwide.^[21]

In 2005, she appeared in several high-profile films, including the horror film The Skeleton Key^[22] and the drama films London and Get Rich or Die Tryin', in the latter of which she played the childhood sweetheart of 50 Cent.^[23] In 2007, she had a minor part in the thriller film The Hunting Party starring Richard Gere and Terrence Howard,^[24] followed by a leading role in the ensemble comedy Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008).^[25] She also played the role of Tunde Adebimpe's love interest in "Will Do", a 2011 TV on the Radio music video.

Bryant starred as Jasmine Trussell in NBC's family comedy-drama series Parenthood (2010–2015). BuddyTV ranked her #19 on its TV's 100 Sexiest Women of 2011 list.^[26] In 2012, she launched her own web series, Across the Board with Joy Bryant, which featured interviews with celebrity guests.^[27] An action talk show hosted by Bryant saw her and the guests doing different activities such as go-karting, climbing and pottery. The series consisted of ten episodes and aired on Reserve's YouTube channel.^[2] She had one of the main roles as Debbie Sullivan on the romantic comedy film About Last Night (2014) alongside Kevin Hart, Regina Hall and Michael Ealy. The film grossed $50 million at the box office.^[28]

In 2015, she had a recurring role as Erica Kincaid, a doctor, on the police procedural drama series Rosewood.^[29] In 2017, she had guest roles on television shows What Would Diplo Do? and Girls.^[30] The following year, Bryant was cast in a recurring role on the sports drama series Ballers, playing a successful public defender and mother of a rising football star.^[31] In 2019, she portrayed Lori Foster on Netflix's teen drama series Trinkets.^[32]

Business ventures

She co-founded a production company in 2016.^[33]

Fashion design

In June 2014, Bryant and her husband Dave Pope launched a clothing line, Basic Terrain, a casual sportswear to performance outerwear line.^[34][35][36] The collection was inspired by Bryant's love for the outdoors.^[37] Basic Terrain's pop-up store was opened in July 2015 at Satine, a clothing boutique in Los Angeles.^[38] 10 percent of the company's proceeds are donated to environmental organizations such as Earthjustice.^[39]

Writing

Bryant has written several personal essays for publications such as Lenny Letter and Refinery29.^[1] She has written about various topics, including her childhood, body insecurities and family. In 2016, The Cut announced that she was working on a book proposal for a collection of essays.^[33]

Philanthropy

She is an ambassador of Oxfam's Sisters on the Planet, an organization that helps women fight hunger, poverty and climate change.^[40] In 2011, she designed a handbag for Botkier, named "Botkier Joy Satchel" with fifty percent of the proceeds from every bag’s sale went to Oxfam.^[41]

Personal life

In October 2007, OK! magazine reported that Bryant was engaged to stuntman Dave Pope, who she met on the set of Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins.^[42] They married on June 28, 2008, in the Hamptons.^[43] She owns a ranch house in Glendale, California.^[3] As of 2014, Bryant resided with her husband in Glendale.^[44]

Filmography

Film

Television

Web series

Music videos

As producer

Awards and nominations

Authored articles

• Bryant Joy (April 6, 2016). "Stop Telling Me I Should Have Kids". Lenny Letter.
• Bryant, Joy (July 18, 2016). "Girl, You Beautiful". Refinery29.
• Bryant, Joy (November 15, 2017). "Her, Too: My Mother, and the Legacy of Abuse". Lenny Letter.