Joy Bryant

Bryant was born in the Bronx, New York. She was raised by her grandmother; she explained: "I grew up not really having a connection to my father." She started dancing at age three. While living in the Bronx, she graduated from CJHS 145x and was a member of the Fieldston Enrichment Program, an elite high school preparatory program. Bryant is a graduate of Westminster School, a boarding school in Connecticut. She attended Yale University.

Early on, Bryant played a small role in Ill Al Skratch's video "I'll Take Her". Bryant had contracts with several brands, including Ralph Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger and RocaWear. She has also appeared in advertising for Gap and Victoria's Secret also starring in a Carlos Santana and Musiq Soulschild music video for the song Nothing at All" opposite Connecticut born actor Andre Warmsley in 2004.

Her acting debut came in 2001 in Robert Townsend's Carmen: A Hip Hopera. After a small role in the action comedy Showtime, she made her big breakthrough in Denzel Washington's directorial debut, Antwone Fisher. In 2003, she co-starred in the biography Baadasssss!, and in 2005, she appeared in several high-profile films, The Skeleton Key, London and Get Rich or Die Tryin'. She also played the role of Tunde Adebimpe's love interest in "Will Do" a 2011 TV on the Radio music video. From 2009-15, Bryant starred as Jasmine Trussell in Parenthood. BuddyTV ranked her #19 on its TV's 100 Sexiest Women of 2011 list.

In October 2007 OK! reported that Bryant was engaged to stuntman Dave Pope, who she met on the set of Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins. They married in June 2008. She owns a ranch house in Glendale, California. She is an ambassador of Oxfam's Sisters on the Planet, an organization that helps women fight hunger, poverty and climate change.