Why Kayla Watts From Jurassic World: Dominion Looks So Familiar
Hold on to your hats, "Jurassic Park" fans; another installment to the long-running blockbuster franchise is headed your way on June 10, 2022. "Jurassic World: Dominion" has been long aborning, and it's going to be a titanic clash for the ages. "Dominion" will bring together the franchise's newer stars — "Jurassic World"'s Claire Dearing (Bryce Dallas Howard) and Owen Grady (Chris Pratt) — with the famous trio of Ian Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), Ellie Sattler (Laura Dern) and Alan Grant (Sam Neill). They're all coping with a world in which dinosaurs and humans have to coexist, which means things are pretty darn dicey for all five of them — and naturally, the film's new faces. This mega-crossover requires some new blood to keep the party hopping (and, to be honest, the dinosaurs' bellies full). One of those new — though hopefully not chomped upon — faces will belong to Kayla Watts.
Per Empire Magazine, Kayla is a pilot. "She's fresh out of the Air Force and her main thing is flying cargo: mostly dinosaur stuff, but it could be anything," her actress explained to the publication. But what do you know about the actress who plays Kayla? She's appeared in multiple hot hits and small screen projects. We'll help you figure out why she looks so familiar.
DeWanda Wise went from soap operas to Law & Order
DeWanda Wise is a screenwriter, actress, and executive producer who may be new to the highest echelon of Hollywood, but she's been around since 2006. Per her IMDb, after appearing in a number of short films, her first role was in the "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" episode "World's Fair," which is part of the program's 6th season. Wise portrays Angela in the episode. Angela is friends with Meena Hasni (Mahira Kakkar), a Pakistani-American college student who has died in a suspected honor killing after rejecting an arranged marriage and falling in love with Rudy Ventano (Jason Cerbone), an Italian-American neighbor.
Wise had a minor part in the Sarah Jessica Parker drama "Spinning into Butter." Her next notable role was in the HBO period crime drama "Boardwalk Empire," in which she appeared as Henny Walker in the episode "What do Bees Do?" She also appeared in "The Good Wife" and in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" as Lakeisha Watkins in Episode 14 of Season 12, "Dirty." Her major breakthrough was in the Hallmark Channel film "Firelight," about a group of juvenile delinquents who train to become firefighters.
She broke through with Underground, then showed up in Shots Fired
Next, DeWanda Wise appeared in "How To Tell You're a Douchebag," an independent film that played at the Sundance Festival in 2015. Wise portrayed Rochelle Marseilles, who finds herself dating a blogger who dines out on controversy named Ray Livingston (Charles Brice).
Her next major role was in UPN's "Underground," in which she played Clara for five episodes. She was subsequently a regular on the 10-episode Fox event series (per Deadline), "Shots Fired," where she portrayed Shameeka Campbell. Shameeka is the mother of Shawn (Kylen Davis) and Joey (Kelvin Harrison Jr.). Joey's death remains unsolved, and the death of Joey's university classmate Jesse Carr (Jacob Leinbach) in a police-involved shooting at a traffic stop finally begins to intertwine with — and help solve — Joey's case. Shameeka is still struggling with Joey's death and is still traumatized by his passing and the way the police treated the incident.
She compelled in She's Gotta Have It
That's DeWanda Wise as Nola Darling, the heart and soul of Netflix's series version of Spike Lee's 1986 film, "She's Gotta Have It." Nola is an artist who has three different lovers — Mars (Anthony Ramos), Jamie (Lyriq Bent), and Greer (Cleo Anthony). All three men want Nola to commit to them. All Nola wants is her freedom. She tries a committed relationship with Opal Gilstrap (Ilfenesh Hadera) during the 2nd season, but everything ends in a complicated mess during the Season 2 finale. The show was canceled in 2019, and while Lee told Variety he had plans to shop the show around, he was not apparently successful in his mission.
Wise then appeared as Erin in the Netflix comedic film "Someone Great" alongside Gina Rodriguez and Brittany Snow. The film focuses on three women having one last night on the town together in New York City after Jenny (Rodriguez) announces she's moving to California.
She went to space for The Twilight Zone, then helped Kevin Hart with Fatherhood
DeWanda Wise's career got a major boost from "She's Gotta Have It," and the actress started snagging role after role. She portrayed astronaut Alexa Brandt in Paramount+'s "The Twilight Zone." Set to become the very first space traveler to make Martian contact, Alexa is faced with a moral quandary. Then she played Swan, who finds herself falling in love with single father Matt Logelin (Kevin Hart), who was widowed days after the birth of his daughter Maddy (Melody Hurd) in the Netflix tearjerker "Fatherhood."
Wise's most recent role was in the Netflix western "The Harder They Fall," in which she played Eleanor Love, mother of Nat (Jonathan Majors), who is gunned down in front of her son's horrified eyes. Years after being assaulted and watching his parents' murder, Nat reconvenes his old gang in the hope of claiming revenge on his lifelong enemy, Rufus Buck (Idris Elba). The two teams meet and clash in a titanic contest for the ages, and who knows which person will be left standing in the end?
Judging from the recent flurry of parts she's won, DeWanda Wise's career will definitely be left standing.