Teyonah Parris (born September 22, 1987) is an American actress. She began her career playing a recurring role as Dawn Chambers in the AMC drama series, Mad Men, before landing her breakthrough role in the 2014 independent film Dear White People. In 2015, Parris starred in the satirical drama film Chi-Raq directed by Spike Lee.Parris gained further recognition for her role as Monica Rambeau / Photon in WandaVision (2021) and The Marvels (2023). Other notable film credits include If Beale Street Could Talk (2018), Candyman (2021) and They Cloned Tyrone (2023).