Cynthia Addai-Robinson (born January 12, 1985) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Naevia in the Starz television series Spartacus and DC Comics character Amanda Waller in The CW TV series Arrow. Since November 2016, she plays the role of Nadine Memphis on the USA Network series Shooter.

Early life

Addai-Robinson was born on January 12, 1985, in London; her mother is from Ghana and her father was an American citizen. She moved to the U.S. when she was 4 and was raised by her mother in a suburb of Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD and Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. In addition, she trained at Lee Strasberg Theater Institute and in dance forms ballet, jazz and tap. She received Special Forces training by Navy Seal and New Zealand Special Air Service personnel during the filming of Spartacus: War of the Damned.

Career

After participating in several various Off-Broadway plays, she got her first role on television in 2002 in an episode of The Education of Max Bickford. In following years, she made small appearances on television shows like Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Miami, Numb3rs and Justice. In 2006, she was originally cast to play Melanie Barnett in the American sitcom The Game, but was replaced by Tia Mowry for unspecified reasons prior to the show's production. In 2009, she got her first recurring role on the ABC drama, FlashForward playing the character Debbie, a nurse. The same year she appeared in Tina Mabry's independent film Mississippi Damned as Milena.

In late 2011 she made her big screen debut playing Zoe Saldana's (on screen with Amandla Stenberg) mother Alicia Restrepo in Colombiana.

Her biggest role came in April 2011 when she was cast as Naevia in Spartacus: Vengeance. She replaced actress Lesley-Ann Brandt, who originally played the role in the first season and prequel, but decided to leave the show.

In early 2013 she played Aja, a powerful witch who came to help Bonnie on The Vampire Diaries for two episodes. She made a brief appearance as an on looker in the crowd in the film Star Trek Into Darkness. In September 2013, she was cast as the recurring character Amanda Waller in the hit The CW show, Arrow.

In March 2014, she was cast as Emily D. West in the History Channel 2015 miniseries Texas Rising. Her performance was nominated for a Women's Image Network Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series.

In January 2015, she was cast in Gavin O'Connor's The Accountant, alongside Ben Affleck and J. K. Simmons. Robinson played a U.S. Treasury Department analyst. The film was released in October 2016.

In March 2016, it was announced that she would be taking over Emily Rios' role from the Shooter pilot as the female lead.

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