Tessa Lynn Thompson, born October 3, 1983, is an American actress. Her breakout film role came in Tina Mabry’s 2009 indie film Mississippi Damned. Her other roles include Nyla Adrose in the drama movie For Colored Girls, civil rights activist Diane Nash in the historical drama Selma, Bianca in the sports drama Creed, and as Valkyrie in the superhero movie Thor: Ragnarok. Take a look below for 24 more interesting and awesome facts about Tessa Lynn Thompson.

1. On television, Thompson starred as Jackie Cook in the mystery drama Veronica Mars, Sara Freeman in the period crime drama Copper, and Charlotte Hale in the HBO science-fiction thriller series Westworld.

2. Thompson was born in Los Angeles, California. She was raised between Lost Angeles and Brooklyn, New York.

3. Her father, singer and songwriter Marc Anthony Thompson of the musical collective Chocolate Genius, Inc., is a Panamanian, while her mother is of Mexican and European descent.

4. She attended Santa Monica High School and then Santa Monica College, where she studied anthropology.

5. In 2002, Thompson made her professional stage debut in Los Angeles Women’s Shakespeare Company’s production of The Tempest.

6. In 2003, Thompson appeared as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet: Antebellum New Orleans, which earned her an NAACP Theater Award nomination.

7. In 2016, she appeared in the off-Broadway run of the Lydia R. Diamond play Smart People at Second Stage Theater, alongside Mahershala Ali, Joshua Jackson and Anne Son.

8. She was “discovered” as a child walking down Hollywood Blvd. with her father.

9. She is the granddaughter of actor and musician Bobby Ramos, who is one of the first Mexican-Americans to have his own television show.

10. Tessa’s maternal grandfather’s ancestry is Mexican, and Tessa’s maternal grandmother, whose parents were from Indiana, is of English, German, Irish and Scottish descent.

11. She is part of the Los Angeles band Caught A Ghost with Jesse Nolan. The band has released their debut album Human Nature.

12. Thompson made her first television appearance in a 2005 episode of the CBS series Cold Case in the role of a bootlegging lesbian from the 1930s.

13. In 2005, she rose to fame as she landed the role of Jackie Cook on the UPN/CW neo-noir drama series Veronica Mars, starring as a series regular for the show’s second season.

14. In 2006, Thompson appeared on the ABC medical drama Grey’s Anatomy.

15. In 2007, she was part of the cast on CW’s short lived drama Hidden Palms, portraying Nikki Barnes.

16. Thompson worked on guest star roles on Life and Private Practice, and appeared in the fourth season of Heroes.

17. In 2010, she had a guest role as the wife of a detective on Detroit 187.

18. In 2012, she had a guest role as Gavin Doran’s daughter, Sasha, on 666 Park Avenue.

19. In 2013, Thompson starred in BBC America’s first original series Copper.

20. Thompson’s first feature movie appearance was in the 2006 remake of the horror movie When a Stranger Calls, playing the role of Scarlet.

21. In 2008, she acted opposite Mary Elizabeth Winstead in the dancing movie Make It Happen.

22. In 2010, Thompson appeared in Tyler Perry’s stage play adaption For Colored Girls after she directly approached Perry to be cast in the movie.

23. In 2014, she starred in Justin Simien’s Sundance winner Dear White People.

24. In 2014, Thompson played civil rights activist Diane Nash in Ava DuVernay’s Martin Luther King Jr. biopic Selma.