Actress Anna Diop moved swiftly from bit parts and recurring roles on episodic television before joining the cast of such high-profile projects as Oprah Winfrey's "Greenleaf" (OWN, 2016- ) and "24: Legacy" (Fox, 2017- ). Born in Senegal, Diop moved with her family to the United States at the age of six. In her teens, she decided to pursue a career in acting and relocated to New York. There, she met a talent agent who encouraged her to go to Los Angeles. Diop made her television debut in 2006 with a recurring role on the sitcom "Everybody Hates Chris" (UPN/The CW, 2005-09).
She worked steadily in guest appearances on series like "Whitney" (NBC, 2011-13) and "Southland" (NBC/TNT, 2009-2013) before making her feature film debut in the independent thriller "The Moment" (2013) opposite Jennifer Jason Leigh. Diop moved up to series regular with the ambitious fantasy-thriller series "The Messengers" (The CW, 2014-15), playing a murderous nurse who returned from a coma to assume the role of Death in the Four Horsemen. The series lasted a single season, and Diop moved on to a recurring role on the Oprah Winfrey-produced "Greenleaf" before joining the cast of the highly anticipated "24: Legacy," a spin-off of the Kiefer Sutherland series, with Corey Hawkins as a former Army Ranger targeted by terrorists. Diop was cast as Hawkins' spouse, who was previously engaged to his brother, played by Ashley Thomas.