Grace Byers (née Gealey) is a Caymanian-American actress. She starred as Anika Calhoun in the Fox music-industry drama series, Empire from 2015 to 2018. In 2021, she began starring as Quinn Joseph in the Amazon Prime Video comedy series, Harlem. In 2022, Byers played a leading role in the comedy horror film, The Blackening.
Byers then moved to New York City, where she performed Off-Broadway, including in Venus Flytrap: A Femme Noir Mystery, and Rent.[4][5] In 2013, she performed in the Chicago productions of The Misanthrope and Tartuffe.[6][7] In 2014, Gealey was cast as Anika Calhoun in the Fox musical prime time drama, Empire opposite Terrence Howard and Taraji P. Henson.[8][9] The series debuted on January 7, 2015.[10] She left the series after four seasons in 2018.
In 2017, Byers was cast as Kate, a jazz singer and lounge owner, in the indie thriller Bent, making her big screen debut.[11] In 2018, Byers published a children's book titled I Am Enough, based on her experiences being bullied as a child for having deaf parents. She wrote it to empower children to love and accept themselves.[12]
From 2018 to 2019, Byers starred as Reeva Payge in the Fox superhero series The Gifted. In 2021, she began starring as Quinn Joseph in the Amazon comedy series, Harlem.[13] The following year, she starred in the comedy horror film, The Blackening.[14]
^ abcMoise, Herlande (November 11, 2014). "Let's Talk About Beauty: Chatting up with Empire's Grace Gealey". LumiereMagazine.com. Archived from the original on April 3, 2015. Retrieved May 10, 2015. I was born in Butler, PA to an American father and Afro-Caribbean mother. Our family moved to the Cayman Islands (my mother's native home) when I was about 2 years old.
