Ciera Payton

Ciera Payton (born January 26, 1986) is an American actress and writer, based in Los Angeles.[1] Since 2007, Payton has gained public recognition for her starring role in Flight of Fury, playing opposite Steven Seagal.[2]. 

Payton is also known for roles as Zia on the series The Walking Dead (2017), as Grace on ABC's General Hospital (2017), as Casandra on USA Network's Graceland (2014) and as Laurie Perkins on CBS's NCIS. She also had a supporting role as Sylvia in Tyler Perry's A Madea Family Funeral.

She received the 2016 Los Angeles Pioneer Woman Award for her work providing arts programs to at-risk youth.[3]

Early life

Ciera Payton was born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. Her father, Michael Diaz, was a chef and her mother, Deborah Payton, was a computer engineer. She grew up in New Orleans, Louisiana, where she attended the New Orleans Center for Creative Arts during high school. She was inspired to become an artist from the artistic influences that surrounded her in New Orleans. Payton attended and received her BFA in drama from the University of North Carolina School of the Arts[4]

Career

Payton got her start in the feature film Flight of Fury (2006), playing the female lead role of CIA agent Jessica opposite Steven Seagal. She was a junior in college while filming Flight of Fury. In 2009, she made her off-Broadway debut, starring as the lead role of Savannah in Savannah Black and Blue,[5] produced by the Negro Ensemble Company.

In 2010, Payton transitioned from New York to Los Angeles where she booked the role of Janet Tanner in the BBC American reboot of Torchwood. She later appeared on The Closer, playing opposite Keira Sedwick as Keisha Murphy.[2] After gaining a few roles on the small screen, Payton was granted the role of Capri in Spike Lee's film Oldboy, sharing the screen with Josh Brolin.[6]

In 2014, she appeared as the cheerleading coach who takes down a prominent campaign in The Runner starring Nicolas Cage.[7]

Payton also played a role in the 2019 film A Madea Family Funeral.[8]

Filmography

Film
Year Title Role Notes
2007 Flight of Fury Jessica Video
2008 Jump Out Boys Maria
2009 Madea Goes to Jail Undercover Detective
2009 The Way Home Tasha Short
2010 Moth to a Flame Kara Short
2012 A Woman's Worth Short Film Melissa Short
2013 Paradise Stripper #2
2013 Oldboy Capri
2015 American Bad Boy Raven
2015 The Runner Lucy Hall
2015 Guiltless Ciera Short
2016 Forward Short
2016 59 Seconds Foster Mom
2018 Dangerous Daze Benita Bangs Short
2019 A Madea Family Funeral Sylvia
2019 Afterthoughts Det. Paige Aldridge Short
2019 SKIP: The Rhythm of Hope Jane Short, post-production
20?? Xxv (25) Chris Short, completed
20?? Stain Bernice Completed
20?? Respect the Jux Karen Post-production

Television
Year Title Role Notes
2008 All My Children Reporter Episode: "1.9970"
2009 Midnight Bayou Effie TV film
2010 Fake It Til You Make It MILF Episodes: "Never Sleep with Fans", "Dine and Ditch"
2011 The Closer Keisha Murphy Episode: "Unknown Trouble"
2011 Torchwood Janet Episode: "Miracle Day: The Middle Men"
2012 Californication Hooker Episode: "The Ride-Along"
2012 Body of Proof Eve Johnson Episode: "Going Viral, Part 2"
2012 The Mentalist Angel Episode: "Something Rotten in Redmund"
2012 Days of Our Lives Martine Kent Guest role
2012 Common Law Kelly Episode: "Joint Custody"
2013 NCIS: Los Angeles Ellen Episode: "History"
2013 The Other Door Melissa TV film
2013–14 Graceland Cassandra Episodes: "Goodbye High", "King's Castle", "Connects"
2014 First Nikki Episode: "The First Awkward Moment"
2014 Wild Card Laila Episode: "The Pilot"
2014 Bad Teacher Meg Episodes: "Evaluation Day", "Found Money", "What's Old Is New"
2014 It Could be Worse Episode: "Too Much Candy"
2015 Reconcilable Differences Eve Episodes: "You Have to Train 'em", "The Setup"
2015 Real Husbands of Hollywood Tracy Episode: "Cabin Pressure"
2015 What's Bullying? Teacher TV film
2016 NCIS Laurie Perkins Episode: "Pay to Play"
2017 General Hospital Grace McMorris Episodes: "1.13746", "1.13820"
2017 Indoor Boys Alyssa Episode: "Mafia"
2017 Ballers Lydia Episode: "Alley-Oops"
2017 The Walking Dead Zia Episode: "The King, the Widow and the Ruck"
2019 Being Mary Jane Keia Episode: "Becoming Pauletta"
2019 She's Gotta Have It Jameelah Hawkins Guest role (season 2)
2019 Tyler Perry’s The Oval Lily Winthrop Main role

References
  1. MacCash, Doug (27 July 2013). "Actress Ciera Payton takes on new role as camp counselor in New Orleans". The Times-Picayune. Retrieved 2019-05-06.
  2. The Times, Picayune. "Catch NOCCA graduate Ciera Payton on the premiere of 'The Closer'". NOLA. The Times-Picayune.
  3. Apr 01, 2016. "Women's History Month 2016". Los Angeles City Council District 6. Retrieved 2019-05-04.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. "ABOUT – Ciera Payton". Retrieved 2019-05-04.
  5. Webster, Andy (2009-11-11). "At Shetler Studios, a Woman's Tough Climb to the Police Beat". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-12-22.
  6. "Credits – Ciera Payton". 2019-05-04. Archived from the original on 2019-05-04. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  7. "The Runner (2015) - Financial Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  8. "Credits – Ciera Payton". 2019-05-04. Archived from the original on 2019-05-04. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
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