Tessa Lynne Thompson (born October 3, 1983) is an American actress. In film, she starred as Nyla Adrose in the film For Colored Girls (2010), as civil rights activist Diane Nash in the historical drama Selma (2014), Bianca in the sports drama Creed (2015), and Valkyrie in Thor: Ragnarok (2017). On television, Thompson starred as Jackie Cook in the mystery drama Veronica Mars (2005–2006), Sara Freeman in the period crime drama Copper (2012–2013), and Charlotte Hale in the HBO science-fiction thriller series Westworld (2016–present).
Thompson was born in Los Angeles, California, and raised there and in Brooklyn, New York City. Her father, singer/songwriter Marc Anthony Thompson of the musical collective Chocolate Genius, Inc., is of Afro-Panamanian descent and her mother is of Euro-Mexican descent. She attended Santa Monica High School and then Santa Monica College, where she studied cultural anthropology.