Anita Katharine Cassius (born April 08, 1991) is an American actress. Cassius is best known for for her role as Diggy in the award-winning film Dope, along with appearances on Broadway as The Witch in Big Fish and the Leading Player in Pippin. She will appear as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl in the upcoming DC/CW series Legends of Tomorrow.
Early Life
Cassius was born in South Holland, Illinois on April 08, 1991 and is the oldest of three. She is of African-American and Irish descent. Her parents, Ahmad and Gina Cassius, met after both were arrested at political protest in Chicago. Her father works as a general contractor and her mother is a registered nurse. In 1995, the family relocated to Oakland, California where Anita quickly became involved in local drama productions and dance classes.
She attended and graduated from Oakland School for the Arts, in addition furthering her craft at workshops for the California Shakespeare Theater and the American Conservatory Theater. In 2009, she was accepted to UCLA Berkeley, but the acceptance was later rescinded due to her continued deferrals for work.Career
♡ television
Her first professional role came in the form of a recurring guest spot on the Chris Rock produced show Everybody Hates Chris as the titular character's girlfriend in 2006. She reprised the role off and on until the show's end until 2009.
In 2013, she was cast in a small recurring role on hit series Glee, as the new cheerleading captain. She appeared in four episodes. She also played a gag role as an anger translator for Malia Obama on an episode of Comedy Central series Key & Peele. The next year she played Coral in four episodes of Showtime series Masters of Sex.
It was announced in March of 2015 that Cassius would be playing a leading role as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl in The CW's spin-off series DC's Legends of Tomorrow, an expansion of the network's existing universe of DC Comics adaptations. She made a cameo appearance as the character in the end of The Flash's first season finale, with an announcement shortly following that she would appear again in the second season premiere.
♡ film
Her film debut was a minor role as Don Cheadle's daughter in 2007's Reign Over Me, followed by another supporting appearance in 2009's Shrink. In 2010 she played Evie in indie teen comedy Beware the Gonzo. 2011 found her cast in leading roles in two independent dramas: Yelling to the Sky and Trouble in the Heights.
She did her first work as a voice actress in 2012's Ice Age: Continental Drift and its accompanying video game Arctic Games as character Peaches. In 2013 she appeared as the older sister of a missing girl in the well-received Prisoners. She had a small role in Chris Rock's comedy Top Five (2014) and another lead that same year as Mia in Looking for Lions.
Cassius played Diggy in the critically acclaimed comedy Dope in 2015 and would appear later on in that same year as Ice Cube's future wife, Kim, in the highly anticipated biopic Straight Outta Compton.
She will reprise her voice role in the next Ice Age sequel, Collison Course, slated for release in 2015.Personal Life
While attending OSA, she had light training in ballet and modern dance.
She attended and graduated from Oakland School for the Arts, in addition furthering her craft at workshops for the California Shakespeare Theater and the American Conservatory Theater. In 2009, she was accepted to UCLA Berkeley, but the acceptance was later rescinded due to her continued deferrals for work.
Her first professional role came in the form of a recurring guest spot on the Chris Rock produced show Everybody Hates Chris as the titular character's girlfriend in 2006. She reprised the role off and on until the show's end until 2009.
In 2013, she was cast in a small recurring role on hit series Glee, as the new cheerleading captain. She appeared in four episodes. She also played a gag role as an anger translator for Malia Obama on an episode of Comedy Central series Key & Peele. The next year she played Coral in four episodes of Showtime series Masters of Sex.
It was announced in March of 2015 that Cassius would be playing a leading role as Kendra Saunders / Hawkgirl in The CW's spin-off series DC's Legends of Tomorrow, an expansion of the network's existing universe of DC Comics adaptations. She made a cameo appearance as the character in the end of The Flash's first season finale, with an announcement shortly following that she would appear again in the second season premiere.
♡ film
Her film debut was a minor role as Don Cheadle's daughter in 2007's Reign Over Me, followed by another supporting appearance in 2009's Shrink. In 2010 she played Evie in indie teen comedy Beware the Gonzo. 2011 found her cast in leading roles in two independent dramas: Yelling to the Sky and Trouble in the Heights.
She did her first work as a voice actress in 2012's Ice Age: Continental Drift and its accompanying video game Arctic Games as character Peaches. In 2013 she appeared as the older sister of a missing girl in the well-received Prisoners. She had a small role in Chris Rock's comedy Top Five (2014) and another lead that same year as Mia in Looking for Lions.
Cassius played Diggy in the critically acclaimed comedy Dope in 2015 and would appear later on in that same year as Ice Cube's future wife, Kim, in the highly anticipated biopic Straight Outta Compton.
She will reprise her voice role in the next Ice Age sequel, Collison Course, slated for release in 2015.
