Noma Dumezweni

As well known for her roles on stage as for her roles on screen, actor Noma Dumezweni first fell in love with acting while attending classes at Wolsey Youth Theatre in Ipswich. Born in Swaziland in 1969, Dumezweni lived in a number of African countries with her mother and sister before the family settled in England when she was seven.

Though Dumezweni would opt not to pursue any formal training in acting, she dedicated herself to learning her craft in the real world, and her last name-which, in Xhosa, means "famous in the world"-seemed to foretell of her future success. Dumezweni would begin working with the Royal Shakespeare Company, which led to her television debut in a 2001 RSC adaptation of "Macbeth" (BBC, 2001) that aired on the BBC.

The following year found her playing the role of Celia in the independent feature "Dirty Pretty Things" (2002). Dumezweni would continue to nurture a vibrant career in theater as well, even winning an Olivier Award for her performance in a production of Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun" at the Young Vic in 2005. The Royal Shakespeare Company would also continue to be one of Dumezweni's main outlets, as she starred in the troupe's Roundhouse Season in plays like "Romeo and Juliet," "The Winter's Tale," and "Julius Caesar."

She would earn scores of positive reviews for her starring run in the play "Linda" at the Royal Court Theatre in 2015, and that same year would find her name popping up in headlines again when she was cast as Hermione in the hotly anticipated play "Harry Potter and the Cursed Child."