Lela Rochon

Lela Rochon Staples (born April 17, 1964)[2][1][4], known professionally as Lela Rochon, is an American actress, best known for her starring role as Robin Stokes in the 1995 romantic drama film Waiting to Exhale.[5] She also had notable roles in films Harlem Nights (1989), Boomerang (1992), The Chamber (1996), Gang Related (1997), Knock Off (1998), Why Do Fools Fall in Love (1998), and Any Given Sunday (1999).

Lela Rochon
Rochon at the New York City Essence Awards, 1998.
Born	Lela Rochon Staples (1964-04-17) April 17, 1964[1][2] Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Education	Cerritos High School[3] California State University, Dominguez Hills
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1984–present
Home town	Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Spouse(s)	Adolfo Quiñones ​ ( m. 1982; div.  1987) Antoine Fuqua ( m. 1999)
Children	2

Early life

Rochon was born in Los Angeles,[4] the daughter of Zelma, a nurse practitioner, and Samuel Staples, a business owner and graphic artist.[6] She graduated from Cerritos High School in Cerritos, California in 1982.[3] After high school, Rochon attended California State University, Dominguez Hills where she earned a BA in Broadcast Journalism, with minors in Sociology and Theatre.[7] In 2016, Rochon returned to give the commencement speech at California State University, Dominguez Hills.[8]

Career

Early works

In 1984, Rochon appeared as an extra in the movie Breakin’, where she met the man who would later become her husband. From 1986 to 1988, while attending college, Rochon was one of the "Spudettes" featured in over 30 national spots for the Spuds MacKenzie Budweiser/Bud Light TV commercials. She also appeared in the 1985 made-for-television film A Bunny's Tale starring Kirstie Alley and Delta Burke, based on Gloria Steinem's experiences as a Playboy Bunny. She appeared as the love interest of Gerald Levert in the video for "My Forever Love" by Levert,[9] and in Luther Vandross' "It's Over Now" video. She also appeared in the music video for Lionel Richie's single "All Night Long (All Night)", in Al B. Sure's video for the song "Natalie",[10] and in Tupac Shakur's video "I Get Around" as one of the female dancers. She had many guest starring roles in a number of sitcoms, include The Cosby Show, Amen, 227, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, and Hangin' with Mr. Cooper. Rochon made her film debut in 1985, when she starred opposite Fred Williamson in Fox Trap. In 1987, she played the role of Debby in the film The Wild Pair, starring Beau Bridges and Bubba Smith. In 1989, Rochon acted opposite Eddie Murphy in 1989's Harlem Nights, as the memorable "Sunshine" character. She again worked with Murphy in the successful 1992 romantic comedy, Boomerang. In 1995, she was regular cast member during the first season of The WB sitcom, The Wayans Bros.[11]

Breakthrough

Rochon in 2010

In 1995, Rochon landed one of the lead roles opposite Whitney Houston, Angela Bassett and Loretta Devine in the adaptation of the Terry McMillan novel and highly successful drama film Waiting to Exhale. She played the character Robin Stokes, for which she was nominated for an MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance and NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture. In 1996, Rochon starred opposite Timothy Hutton in the Showtime cable network film Mr. and Mrs. Loving, receiving a Cable Ace Award nomination for Best Actress. Later that year, she played the female lead in the crime thriller film The Chamber. The following year, she starred alongside Jim Belushi and Tupac Shakur in the crime thriller Gang Related. In 1998, Rochon had the leading role alongside Halle Berry and Vivica A. Fox in the romantic drama Why Do Fools Fall in Love, and well starred in Knock Off with Jean-Claude Van Damme, and The Big Hit, as love interest to Mark Wahlberg's leading character. In 1999, she appeared in Any Given Sunday directed by Oliver Stone. In 2001, Rochon made her return to television with one of leading roles alongside Bonnie Bedelia, Nancy McKeon, Tracey Needham, and Lisa Vidal in the Lifetime crime drama series, The Division. She left the series after a single season.[12]

2000s-present

In 2004, Rochon co-starred opposite Katie Holmes in the romantic comedy film First Daughter.[12] In 2009, she had cameo in crime drama Brooklyn's Finest directed by her husband, Antoine Fuqua.[12] In 2013, she played one of leading roles in Regina King's directorial debut Let The Church Say Amen, the film adaptation of ReShonda Tate Billingsley's 2005 novel for BET.[13] She later had roles in films Supremacy (2014) with Danny Glover and Derek Luke, and Reversion (2015), playing Aja Naomi King's character's mother.[14][15][16] In 2017, she had a recurring role in the CBS crime drama series Training Day, and in 2019 on the Oprah Winfrey Network drama David Makes Man.[17]

Personal life

Rochon has been married twice and has two children. Her first marriage was to dancer and actor Adolfo Quiñones, better known as Shabba Doo from 1982 until divorcing in 1987. Rochon dated singer–songwriter Jackie Jackson from 1989 until 1991.[18] In 1999, she married film director Antoine Fuqua. Together, they have two children; Asia Rochon Fuqua (b. 2002)[19] and Brando. During her marriage to Fuqua, Rochon suffered a miscarriage in 2001.[19]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1984	Breakin'	Extra	Uncredited
1984	Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo	Dancer
1985	A Bunny's Tale	Charlotte	Television film
1986	Foxtrap	Lindy
1986	Stewardess School	School Instructor
1987	The Wild Pair	Debby
1987	Into the Homeland	Exquisite Woman
1989	Harlem Nights	Sunshine
1991	Extralarge: Black and White	Wendy
1992	Boomerang	Christie
1993	The Meteor Man	Vanessa
1995	Waiting to Exhale	Robin Stokes	Nominated — MTV Movie Award for Best Breakthrough Performance Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Motion Picture
1996	Mr. and Mrs. Loving	Mildred Loving	Television film Nominated — CableACE Award for Outstanding Actress in a Movie or Miniseries
1996	The Chamber	Nora Stark
1997	Gang Related	Cynthia Webb
1997	Legal Deceit	Sydney Banks
1998	Ruby Bridges	Lucielle 'Lucy' Bridges	Television film
1998	The Big Hit	Chantel
1998	Knock Off	Karen Lee
1998	Why Do Fools Fall in Love	Emira Eagle
1999	Any Given Sunday	Vanessa Struthers
1999	The Charlotte Austin Story	Charlotte Austin	Also executive producer
2000	Labor Pains	Lulu Brown
2004	First Daughter	Liz Pappas
2006	Running Out of Time in Hollywood
2009	Balancing the Books	Sharlene	Also executive producer
2009	Brooklyn's Finest	Investigator	Cameo
2010	Blood Done Sign My Name	Roseanna Allen
2013	Let the Church Say Amen	Loretta Jackson	Television film
2014	Supremacy	Odessa
2015	Reversion	Maya

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1987	The Facts of Life	Diana	Episode: "The Greek Connection"
1987	The Cosby Show	Veronica	Episode: "The Shower"
1988	Amen	Young Bride	Episode: "Wedding Bell Blues"
1990	21 Jump Street	Denise Price	Episode: "Change of Heart"
1990	227	Leslie	Episode: "Gone Fishing"
1990	1st & Ten	Joy Brock	Episode: "Don't Powerburst My Bubble"
1991	Generations	Brandy Alexander	Recurring role
1991	The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air	Cindy	Episode: "Will Gets a Job"
1992	Homefront	Mary Louise	Episode: "At Your Age"
1992	Roc	Carol	Episode: "Roc Throws Joey Out"
1992	Tales from the Crypt	Mercedes	Episode: "Werewolf Concerto"
1993	Out All Night	Victoria	Episode: "Mall in the Family"
1993	The Sinbad Show	Denise	Episode: "Pilot"
1994	Hangin' with Mr. Cooper	Denise	Episode: "The Courtship of Mark Cooper"
1995	The Wayans Bros.	Lisa	Series regular, 13 episodes
1997	The Outer Limits	Beth Carter	Episode: "The Awakening"
2001	The Division	Inspector Angela Reide	Series regular, 22 episodes
2011	Reed Between the Lines	Sherri	Episode: "Let's Talk About Affairs"
2017	Training Day	Mrs. Craig	Recurring role, 3 episodes
2018	Alone Together	Rose	Episode: "Dinner Party"
2019	David Makes Man	Alma	Recurring role

References

1. Contemporary Black Biography: Profiles from the International Black Community, Volume 16
2. Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television By Bob McCann (Lela Rochon; 1964-)
3. 1982 Cerritos High School Yearbook (Cerritos, California)
4. "The Birth of Lela Staples". California Birth Index. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
5. "Angela Bassett Reaches a Stellar Groove at Last". The Los Angeles Times. 1996-03-30. Retrieved 2010-12-22.
6. Lela Rochon Biography (1964?-). Filmreference.com. Retrieved on 2012-06-12.
7. Jet. Johnson Publishing Company. 1998. ISSN 0021-5996.
8. "2016 Graduates Relish in the 'Words' and Draw from the 'Wisdom' Shared by Keynote Speakers During 5 Commencement Ceremonies" (Press release). California State University, Dominguez Hills. May 25, 2016. Retrieved March 20, 2019.
9. Levert. "My Forever Love". music video. mtv.com. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
10. Sure!, Al B. "Natalie". music video. mtv.com. Retrieved 2012-06-28.
11. Tony Scott. "The Wayans Bros". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
12. "Lela Rochon". Hollywood.com. Retrieved January 6, 2016.
13. Tambay A. Obenson (14 September 2012). "Steve Harris, Naturi Naughton, Lela Rochon Headline Regin - Shadow and Act". Shadow and Act. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
14. Tambay A. Obenson (26 June 2014). "Deon Taylor's Racially-Charged Thriller 'Supremacy' Picke - Shadow and Act". Shadow and Act. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
15. Dave McNary. "Danny Glover Supremacy U.S. Distribution - Variety". Variety. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
16. Tambay A. Obenson (18 September 2015). "EXCLUSIVE Trailer & Poster: Aja Naomi King Headlines Sci- - Shadow and Act". Shadow and Act. Archived from the original on 26 October 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
17. Petski, Denise; Petski, Denise (25 October 2018). "OWN's 'David Makes Man' Adds Ten To Cast". Retrieved 20 March 2019.
18. JET Magazine (LELA ROCHON: 'Sunshine' Role In 'Harlem Nights' Open Doors To Film Career) (April 9, 1990)
19. JET Magazine (Actress Lela Rochon-Fuqua & Director Antoine Fuqua: Talk About Marriage, Parenthood And Their Busy Careers) (March 17, 2003)

External links

• Lela Rochon on IMDb