Lena Waithe

Biography

Lena Waithe is an American actress, producer, and screenwriter who was born in Chicago and grew up on the city's South Side before moving to Evanston. She created the Showtime drama The Chi and the BET comedies Boomerang and Twenties, and she wrote and produced Queen & Slim (2019), a crime film. She earned recognition for playing Denise in the Netflix comedy-drama Master of None, and in 2017 she won the Emmy for Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series, becoming the first African-American woman to do so. Her other work includes executive producing the horror anthology series Them, appearing in Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One (2018), and voicing the cyclops police officer Specter in Pixar's Onward (2020). In 2023 she received a Tony Award nomination for Best Play for her production work on Ain't No Mo'.

42years old

Turns 43 on May 17in 216 days

Born May 17, 1984Chicago
Star sign: TaurusThe sign runs April 20 to May 20
Also credited as Lena D. Waithe

Movie Career

Films: 4
Career span: 2 years2018 to 2020

Every film, newest first

2020Bad HairIMDb rating 5.6
2020Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 2020IMDb rating 7.4
2020OnwardIMDb rating 7.3
2018Ready Player OneIMDb rating 7.4

Genres

Did you know?!

First role
Once in Los Angeles, Waithe found work assisting the executive producer of Girlfriends, a sitcom that ran for years. She soon landed a minor part in Lisa Kudrow's The Comeback.

Lena Waithe movies on Netflix

Bad Hair2020IMDb rating 5.6as Brook-Lynne
Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 20202020IMDb rating 7.4as Himself
Onward2020IMDb rating 7.3as Officer Spector (voice)
Ready Player One2018IMDb rating 7.4as Aech / Helen

Worked with

Lena Waithe made one film with each of them. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.

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Grey Griffin

Octavia Spencer

Kevin Hart

Simon Pegg

John Ratzenberger

Ben Mendelsohn

Steven SpielbergDirector, 1 film Dan ScanlonDirector, 1 film Justin SimienDirector, 1 film

Films together

Grey Griffin1 film together, 2020
Grey Griffin's page
- Onward2020IMDb rating 7.3Waithe as Officer SpectorvoiceGriffin as Dewdropvoice
Octavia Spencer1 film together, 2020
Octavia Spencer's page
- Onward2020IMDb rating 7.3Waithe as Officer SpectorvoiceSpencer as The Manticorevoice
Kevin Hart1 film together, 2020
Kevin Hart's page
- Graduate Together: America Honors the High School Class of 20202020IMDb rating 7.4Waithe as HimselfHart as Himself
Simon Pegg1 film together, 2018
Simon Pegg's page
- Ready Player One2018IMDb rating 7.4Waithe as Aech / HelenPegg as Curator / Ogden Morrow
John Ratzenberger1 film together, 2020
John Ratzenberger's page
- Onward2020IMDb rating 7.3Waithe as Officer SpectorvoiceRatzenberger as Construction Worker Fenwickvoice
Ben Mendelsohn1 film together, 2018
Ben Mendelsohn's page
- Ready Player One2018IMDb rating 7.4Waithe as Aech / HelenMendelsohn as Sorrento
Steven SpielbergDirector, 1 film, 2018
All films by Steven Spielberg
- Ready Player One2018IMDb rating 7.4Waithe as Aech / Helen
Dan ScanlonDirector, 1 film, 2020
All films by Dan Scanlon
- Onward2020IMDb rating 7.3Waithe as Officer Spectorvoice
Justin SimienDirector, 1 film, 2020
All films by Justin Simien
- Bad Hair2020IMDb rating 5.6Waithe as Brook-Lynne

Awards

Two awards and honors from 2017 to 2018, one of them major.

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Lena Waithe's awards and nominations, grouped by award
Year	Award	Film	Result
Emmy Awards
2017	Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series	Master of None	Won
Other honors
2018	Time 100		Honored

Online

Official profiles and reference pages.

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