Aisha Hinds

An actress as notable for her signature shaven head as she is for her considerable acting ability, Aisha Hinds made a staple of tough characters who sit close to the line between either side of the law. Born in Brooklyn, Hinds was inspired to become an actress by a combination of Ben Kingsley's performance in "Gandhi" (1982), which her father took the family to when she was young; witnessing actors of her own age and background performing in "Serafina!" on Broadway; and youthful tap dancing lessons in junior high school. As a struggling young actress, Hinds caught her big break when the casting director of "The Shield" (FX Network, 2002-08) attended a birthday party at the hotel where Hinds worked and invited her to audition for the recurring role of street-smart Detective Annie Price. While a certain amount of typecasting played a part in Hinds' roles, her signature combination of femininity, strength and maturity in her acting helped her defy stereotypes. Although she played tough in her co-starring role on police procedural "Detroit 1-8-7" (ABC 2010-11), other parts in which she made an impression included a Nigerian nun on "Lost" (ABC 2004-10), a transgender teacher on "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (NBC 1999- ) and homeless woman Isabel Walsh on "Hawthorne" (TNT 2009-11). Hinds made her film debut in a supporting role in the 2005 action remake "Assault on Precinct 13 " and returned to her familiar turf as a police detective in Paul Haggis' thriller "The Next Three Days" (2010). In 2013, she returned to series television in a supporting role on the mind-bending mystery "Cult" (CW, 2013) as well as the series "Under the Dome" (CBS, 2013-15), based on the novel by Stephen King.