Kasi Lemmons

American filmmaker Kasi Lemmons, born Karen Lemmons on February 24, 1961, is renowned as a film director, screenwriter, and actress. She made her directorial debut with Eve's Bayou (1997), after which she directed acclaimed films such as Talk to Me (2007), Black Nativity (2013), Harriet (2019), and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022). Continuing her directorial venture on television, she directed the Netflix limited series Self Made (2020), and an episode of ABC's Women of the Movement (2022). In the acting realm, she started her career in commercials with prestigious brands like McDonald's and Levi's. She first appeared in the film School Daze (1988) by Spike Lee, which led to roles in Vampire's Kiss (1989), The Silence of the Lambs (1991), and Candyman (1992). Film scholar Wheeler Winston Dixon described Lemmons as an ongoing testament to the creative possibilities of film.\n\nBorn in St. Louis, Missouri, Lemmons was educated in Massachusetts, New York University's School of Drama, and other prestigious institutions, demonstrating a strong interest in forms of acting and filmmaking throughout. After her acting debut in the TV movie 11th Victim (1979), she continued her career with various shows and films. Lemmons has also contributed immensely as a filmmaker, mentor, and educator, being a speaker, moderator, advisor, and lecturer at multiple universities and colleges. Lemmons adapted the novel Fire Shut Up in My Bones for the opera, which premiered at the Opera Theatre of Saint Louis in 2019, and opened the 2021–2022 Metropolitan Opera season. Beyond the realms of acting and directing, Lemmons defines herself primarily as an artist.