Zazie Olivia Beetz (/zəˈsiː ˈbeɪts/ zə-SEE BAYTS; German: [zaˈsiː ˈbeːts];[2][3] born June 1, 1991) is a German–American actress. She stars in the FX comedy-drama series Atlanta (2016–present), for which she received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series. She also appeared in the Netflix anthology series Easy (2016–19) and voices Amber Bennett in Amazon's animated superhero action series Invincible.
Zazie Beetz | |
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![]() Beetz in 2018 | |
Born | Zazie Olivia Beetz (1991-06-01) June 1, 1991 (age 31)[1] Berlin, Germany |
Nationality |
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Alma mater | Skidmore College (BA) |
Occupation | Actress |
Years active | 2013–present |
In film, Beetz has appeared in the disaster film Geostorm (2017) and has played the Marvel Comics character Domino in the superhero film Deadpool 2 (2018) and Arthur Fleck/Joker's neighbor Sophie in the psychological thriller Joker (2019).[4]
Zazie Olivia Beetz[5][6] was born in Berlin in 1991.[1][7][8] Her father is a German cabinet maker who immigrated to the United States in 1990 after the fall of the Berlin Wall,[9][10] and her mother is an African-American social worker from New York.[10][11] Her parents separated when she was very young.[7][10] Beetz was named after the title character in the Raymond Queneau novel Zazie in the Metro. The pronunciation, with [s], follows the German-dubbed version of the 1960 film adaptation of the novel.[12][13] She has a younger brother named Justin.[14]
Beetz attended pre-school in Berlin and kindergarten in New York City before moving with her family there more permanently at the age of eight, speaking both German and English with her family at home.[9][11] Her mixed-race identity was a source of discomfort for her during her youth.[10] Growing up in New York's Washington Heights neighborhood,[11] she became interested in acting while attending Muscota New School and performed in community theaters and on local stages.[9] She graduated from the LaGuardia Arts High School in 2009, and attended Skidmore College, graduating in 2013 with a bachelor's degree in French.[15] She spent a year living in Paris.[9]
After Beetz graduated from college, she spent a year "broke and waiting tables" before she was cast in Atlanta.[10]
Beetz is engaged to David Rysdahl, an actor and writer. They met during an acting workshop and have been together since 2014.[10]
Beetz received a 2018 Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Comedy Series, for FX's Atlanta.[16]
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Denotes films that have not yet been released |
Year | Title | Role | Director | Notes |
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2013 | The Crocotta | The Crocotta | Eric Stumpf | Short film |
2014 | Beasts | Ally | Axel Öhman | Short film |
2015 | James White | Girl #1 | Josh Mond | |
Applesauce | Rain | Onur Tukel | ||
Double Bind | Baily | Ted Day | Short film | |
5th & Palisade | Detective McBride | Chad Scarborough | Short film | |
2016 | Wolves | Victoria | Bart Freundlich | |
MBFF: Man's Best Friend Forever | Ivana | Tony Ducret | Short film | |
2017 | Sollers Point | Courtney | Matthew Porterfield | |
Geostorm | Dana | Dean Devlin | ||
2018 | Dead Pigs | Angie | Cathy Yan | |
Deadpool 2 | Domino | David Leitch | ||
Slice | Astrid | Austin Vesely | ||
2019 | Wounds | Alicia | Babak Anvari | |
High Flying Bird | Sam | Steven Soderbergh | [17] | |
Seberg | Dorothy Jamal | Benedict Andrews | [18] | |
Joker | Sophie Dumond | Todd Phillips | [4] | |
Lucy in the Sky | Erin Eccles | Noah Hawley | [19] | |
2020 | Nine Days | Emma | Edson Oda | [20] |
Still Here | Keysha | Vlad Feier | [21] | |
2021 | Extinct | Dottie | David Silverman | Voice role |
The Harder They Fall | Stagecoach Mary | Jeymes Samuel | [22] | |
2022 | The Bad Guys | Diane Foxington | Pierre Perifel | Voice role |
Bullet Train | The Hornet | David Leitch | ||
TBA | Shelter ![]() |
Holly | Jennifer Gerber | Pre-Production |
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
2016 | Margot vs. Lily | Allie | Miniseries; 4 episodes |
2016–present | Atlanta | Vanessa "Van" Keefer | 20 episodes |
2016–2019 | Easy | Noelle | 4 episodes |
2019 | The Twilight Zone | Sophie Gelson | Episode: "Blurryman"[23] |
2020–2021 | Robot Chicken | (voice) | 2 episodes |
2020 | Home Movie: The Princess Bride | Princess Buttercup | 2 episodes[24] |
2020 | Acting for a Cause | Natalie Keener | Episode: "Up in the Air" |
2021 | Invincible | Amber Bennett (voice) | Voice role, 8 episodes |
2023 | Full Circle | TBA | HBO Max Miniseries; 6 episodes[25] |
2024 | Unnamed Pet Resort Project | Ten (voice) | Animated Television Series; Voice role, Co-Protagonist |
Meine Eltern haben sich getrennt, als ich noch ganz klein war. / My parents separated when I was very young.
My dad is German, he was born in East Germany, and then after the [Berlin] Wall was brought down he came to the States for the first time and met my mom. They got pregnant in Germany, got married, stayed and had me there and then when I was 8 years old we moved to the States more permanently. But I was back and forth growing up, I went to pre-school over there but did all my proper schooling in New York.
Her father is white and German, and her mother a black New Yorker, who wanted her daughter to grow up seeing other people who looked like her. Though the family lived in Washington Heights, Beetz spent a couple of months of every summer in Germany with her grandparents.
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