Bianca Lawson
Bianca Lawson (born March 20, 1979) is an American actress. Lawson is known for her regular roles in the television series Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Goode Behavior, Pretty Little Liars, and Rogue. She has also had recurring roles in the series Sister, Sister, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Steve Harvey Show, Dawson's Creek, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, and Witches of East End.
Also recorded as Bianca Jasmine Lawson
Bianca Lawson
- Born
- Bianca Lawson was born on 20 March 1979. · Los Angeles.
- Nationality
- United States.
- Occupation
- actress.
- Education
- University of Southern California, Stella Adler Studio of Acting and Marymount High School.
- Languages
- English.
VALÉORINE Encyclopedia
VALÉORINE documentary reading
Documentary summary
Bianca Lawson (born March 20, 1979) is an American actress. Lawson is known for her regular roles in the television series Saved by the Bell: The New Class, Goode Behavior, Pretty Little Liars, and Rogue. She has also had recurring roles in the series Sister, Sister, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Steve Harvey Show, Dawson's Creek, The Secret Life of the American Teenager, The Vampire Diaries, Teen Wolf, and Witches of East End.
Admitted source layer · organised and presented by VALÉORINE
Note VALÉORINE
No house-authored Note is published until its assertions and sources pass the VALÉORINE evidence contract. The documentary article remains available in full while that enrichment is being consolidated.
Documentary enrichment in progress · no unsupported statement published
Reference Check
Propose documentary evidence for Bianca Lawson. A contribution is never written directly as fact: identity, source, rights and evidence gates still decide.
Sign in to contribute
World of VALÉORINE
Documentary connections
Only confirmed graph relationships appear here. Images are shown only when their identity and reuse rights both pass the documentary gate.
Documentary evidence
Evidence Panel
not yet certified
- Identity
- resolved
- Independent source families
- 0
- Admitted assertions
- 0
- Open conflicts
- 0
Authority files
wikidata · Q239331 · wikipedia · Bianca Lawson
In this article
Early life
Early life
In 2016, Lawson began starring in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series Queen Sugar.
Lawson was born on March 20, 1979 in Los Angeles. She is the daughter of Denise (née Gordy) and actor Richard Lawson, making her the stepdaughter to Lawson's second ex-wife Tina Knowles, and former step-sister to singers Beyoncé and Solange Knowles. Lawson is also a great-niece of Motown founder Berry Gordy. She attended the Stella Adler Studio of Acting and graduated from Marymount High School, a Catholic school in Los Angeles. She then went on to study film and psychology at University of Southern California. Lawson's parents are both African-American, and she also has Italian, Native American, Portuguese, and Creole ancestry.
Career
Career
Lawson began acting at the age of nine, having appeared in commercials for Barbie and Revlon. In 1993, she was cast in the television series Saved by the Bell: The New Class as series regular Megan Jones. She appeared in multiple episodes of The WB sitcoms Sister, Sister as Rhonda Coley and The Steve Harvey Show as Rosalind. In 1996, she co-starred in the UPN sitcom Goode Behavior—which lasted for just one season—as Bianca Goode, the teenage daughter of the titular family. In 1997, she appeared in Buffy the Vampire Slayer as vampire slayer Kendra Young. In 1999, she appeared in The WB's Dawson's Creek as rival character Nikki Green. In 2009, Lawson was cast as Shawna in The Secret Life of the American Teenager. That same year, she was cast in the CW television series The Vampire Diaries, as witch Emily Bennett. In December 2009, she was cast as Maya St. Germain in the ABC Family series Pretty Little Liars, based on the book series by Sara Shepard. She appeared in that show from June 2010 through August 2012. Since 2012, she has had a recurring role as Ms. Morell in the MTV television series Teen Wolf, based on the original film from 1985. In 2014, Lawson had a recurring role as Eva in Witches of East End. In 2015, she was cast as series regular Talia Freeman in season three of Rogue. Lawson has made appearances in two different television miniseries. In 1998, she appeared in The Temptations as Diana Ross (whom Lawson is related to through Ross's daughter Rhonda Ross Kendrick); and in 2001, she was cast as Anna Bella Monroe in Anne Rice's The Feast of All Saints. Some of Lawson's film credits to date include Primary Colors (1998), Save the Last Dance (2001), Bones (2001) and Breakin' All the Rules (2004). Aside from film and television, Lawson provided her voice to the 2011 video game Star Wars: The Old Republic. In 2016, Lawson was cast in the Oprah Winfrey Network drama series Queen Sugar, created by Ava DuVernay.
Primary material
Documents and archives
institutional register
- VIAF cluster 9529271 for Bianca Lawson, aggregating national library name authorities.
Unverified · VIAF
- Wikidata, structured authority record Q239331: Bianca Lawson
Unverified · Wikimedia Foundation
scholarly index
- OpenAlex author record A5086967193 for Bianca Lawson.
Unverified · OpenAlex
reference work
- “Bianca Lawson”, English Wikipedia, consulted as further reading
Reputable secondary · Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
Cited by Wikipedia
Notes from the source article
These works are cited by the source article, in its own numbering. They are recorded as its citations, not as sources VALÉORINE has verified.
- 1.McCann, Bob. Encyclopedia of African American Actresses in Film and Television. McFarland. 199. 2012. 9781476691404.
- 2.Webber, Stephanie. Beyonce's New Stepsister Bianca Lawson Is Famous, Too: Details! - Us Weekly. Usmagazine.com. April 14, 2015.
- 3.Lovece, Frank. Beyoncé's mom splitting from husband. Newsday. A17. 2023-07-28.
- 4.Bianca Lawson's bio at ABC Family.com
- 5.Exclusive Bianca Lawson Interview at Facebook
- 6.ABC Family Announces Additional Casting for its Upcoming Pilots "Melissa & Joey," "Untitled Michael Jacobs Project" and "Pretty Little Liars.". ABC Family Press Release. December 7, 2009.
- 7.Denise Petski. 'Queen Sugar' Adds Bianca Lawson, Greg Vaughan & Henry G. Sanders - Deadline. Deadline. February 23, 2016.
- 8.Spivey, Kemberlie. 2022 NAACP Image Awards Nominations: The Full List. Forbes. 2022-01-19.
References
Citations
References
Each reference names the institution holding it, so a reader may go to the document itself.
scholarly index
Partially resolvedreference work
Partially resolvedinstitutional register
Unverifiedinstitutional register
Wikidata, structured authority record Q239331: Bianca LawsonWikimedia Foundation
Unverified
The Encyclopedia exists whether or not anything is for sale. Corrections are recorded rather than overwritten, and every version of this record is kept. Published 14 August 2026.
Elsewhere in Film memorabilia
37,298 published records in this field, each with its sources named.
- Bianca CastanhoPerson
- Bianca DoriaPerson
- Bianca GuacceroPerson
- Bianca KrijgsmanPerson
- Bianca RinaldiPerson
- Bianca RyanPerson
- BiankaPerson
- Bibi BeschPerson
Best supported in this field
For owners
Own a work by Bianca Lawson?
A specialist will read what you send and tell you what the house can establish, what it cannot, and whether the object is suited to sale. There is no charge and no obligation. The object stays with you throughout; nothing is shipped to us unless it is arranged in writing beforehand.