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Shareeka Epps
A young actress with a seemingly old soul, Shareeka Epps stunned audiences with her honest and intelligent performance as Brooklyn teenager Drey in the gritty independent film, "Half Nelson" (2006). Though the film marked Epps' feature film debut, she exhibited a raw talent for acting that positioned her as one of Hollywood's young talents worth keeping an eye on. Praised by numerous film critics, Epps won the Gotham Award for Breakthrough Performance and was named Best Supporting Actress by the Boston Society of Film Critics for her gritty role in the cautionary film, which co-starred an equally well received Ryan Gosling.