Sonja Sohn

Sonja Denise Plack (Template:Nee Williams), known professionally as Sonja Sohn, (born May 9, 1964) is an American actress, filmmaker, and activist, best known for portraying Baltimore detective Kima Greggs in the HBO drama The Wire (2002–2008). She is also known for having starred in the 1998 independent film Slam, which she co-wrote, and appearing as Samantha Baker in the ABC series Body of Proof. She is also the founder and CEO of the Baltimore-based outreach program, reWIRED for Change, which focuses on the rehabilitation of at-risk youth who have engaged in criminal behavior.

Early life and education

Sohn was born Sonja Denise Williams in Fort Benning, Georgia. Her mother was Korean and her father was Black. Her parents met when her father was stationed in South Korea after the Korean War.<ref name=gross>Template:Cite news</ref>

She attended and graduated from Warwick High School in Newport News, Virginia.<ref>Life Servers Sohn Well; Actress Graduated from Newport News School, Richmond Times-Dispatch, November 7, 1998, B4, by Mike Holtzclaw</ref>

Career

File:Cast of the Wire - Sohn Hector Williams.jpg

Sohn (left) with The Wire co-stars, Jamie Hector (middle) and Michael K. Williams

Williams became professionally known as Sonja Sohn. Before she was an actress, Sohn was a slam poet.<ref name=":0">Template:Cite news</ref> While performing her work on stage, she was spotted by Marc Levin who offered her a role in his film Slam. She also wrote lyrics and co-wrote the script for the film. It went on to win the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Film at the Sundance Film Festival. After debuting in Slam, Sohn appeared in minor roles in films such as Shaft and Bringing Out the Dead. She also starred in independent films Perfume, G and The Killing Zone.Template:Citation needed

Through the five seasons of the HBO series The Wire, she held a starring role as Detective Kima Greggs.<ref name="KG">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She also guest-starred on many episodes of Cold Case as "Toni Halstead". She won the supporting television actress award at the 2008 Asian Excellence Awards for her character on The Wire.Template:Citation needed

She had a supporting role in the Hollywood film Step Up 2: The Streets. In 2008-09, she was a guest star in the ABC series Brothers & Sisters, and in 2010 she appeared in an episode of CBS series The Good Wife. In 2011, she was a guest star on the show Bar Karma.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> She played Detective Samantha Baker in the first two seasons of the medical drama television series Body of Proof with Dana Delany and Jeri Ryan, which premiered on ABC on March 29, 2011.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Sohn joined season 2 of The Originals in a recurring role as the witch Lenore a.k.a. Esther Mikaelson.<ref name="SonjaOrig">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Sohn made her directorial debut with the 2017 HBO documentary Baltimore Rising about the 2015 Baltimore protests and community organizing that arose in response to police violence.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2021, Sohn directed The Slow Hustle, a documentary about the death of Baltimore Homicide Detective Sean Suiter, which was fictionally portrayed in the HBO miniseries We Own This City.

Sohn was cast as a series regular in ABC's police drama Will Trent. Sohn plays Amanda, the head of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation and Trent's (Ramón Rodríguez) boss. The pilot episode aired January 3, 2023.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Activism

Previously involved in political activism (she campaigned in North Carolina in support of Barack Obama's 2008 presidential bid), Sohn took a break from acting in 2009 to concentrate on social issues. She is the founder and CEO of the Baltimore-based reWIRED for Change, an outreach program intended to communicate with (and ultimately rehabilitate) at-risk youth involved in criminal activity.<ref>Phil Zabriskie, "After 'The Wire' ended, actress Sonja Sohn couldn't leave Baltimore's troubled streets behind", Washington Post, January 27, 2012.</ref><ref>"After 'The Wire', Sonja Sohn couldn’t leave Baltimore’s troubled streets behind" Template:Webarchive Article, ReWired for Change web site</ref>

The program is run out of the University of Maryland School of Social Work and uses episodes of The Wire as a teaching tool, encouraging the participants to examine and query their lives and past actions.<ref>Sonja Sohn's Road to Redemption Template:Webarchive - story on Sohn's community activism with reWIRED for Change in B (Baltimore online newspaper), accessed January 1, 2010</ref> Other actors and writers involved with The Wire serve as board members.<ref>Members page reWIRED for Change, accessed January 1, 2010</ref>

In 2011, she was presented with the Woman of the Year award from the Harvard Black Men's Forum.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Personal life

Sohn has two daughters with her first husband, photographer Harvey Wang.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2003, Sohn married didgeridoo player Adam Plack, but the couple divorced in 2011.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }} (subscription required)</ref>

On July 21, 2019, Sohn was arrested in North Carolina and charged with felony possession of cocaine.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1996	Work	June
1998	Slam	Lauren Bell
1999	Getting to Know You	Lynn
	Bringing Out the Dead	Kanita
2000	Shaft	Alice
2001	Perfume	Dandy
2002	G	Shelly
2003	The Killing Zone	Jennifer
2004	The Industry	Narrator (voice)	Video
2008	Step Up 2: The Streets	Sarah
2012	The Wire: The Musical	Shakima 'Kima' Greggs	Short
2015	The Missing Girl	Franny
2016	Domain	Atlanta
2019	High Flying Bird	Myra
2023	Big George Foreman	Nancy Foreman
	Breakwater	Bonnie	citation	CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2002–08	The Wire	Shakima 'Kima' Greggs	Main Cast
2006–07	Cold Case	Toni Halstead	Recurring Cast: Season 4, Guest: Season 5
2008–09	Brothers & Sisters	Trish Evans	Recurring Cast: Season 3
2010–13	The Good Wife	Sonya Rucker	Guest Cast: Season 1 & 5
2011	Bar Karma	Lucy Borden	Episode: "An Open Mind"
2011–12	Body of Proof	Samantha Baker	Main Cast: Season 1-2
2012	Drop Dead Diva	Judge Vivian Holston	Episode: "Jane's Getting Married"
	Burn Notice	Agent Olivia Riley	Recurring Cast: Season 6
2013	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Lisa Carter	Episode: "American Tragedy"
2014–15	The Originals	Lenore Shaw	Recurring Cast: Season 2
2015	Last Week Tonight with John Oliver	Police Officer	Episode: "Public Defenders"
2016	Luke Cage	Captain Betty Audrey	Recurring Cast: Season 1
	Shut Eye	Detective Gabriella	Recurring Cast: Season 1
2017	Incorporated	Chairman Fisher	Recurring Cast
2018–21	The Chi	Laverne Johnson	Recurring Cast: Season 1, Guest: Season 3-4
2019	Godfather of Harlem	Nell	Episode: "Rent Strike Blues"
2019–21	Star Trek: Discovery	Dr. Gabrielle Burnham	Recurring Cast: Season 2, Guest: Season 3-4
2020	Interrogation	Marjorie Thompson	Episode: "L.A. County Psychologist Marjorie Thompson vs. Eric Fisher 1984"
	Utopia	Agent Katherine Milner	Recurring Cast
2023	See It Loud: The History of Black Television	Herself	Recurring Guest
2023–	Will Trent	Amanda Wagner	Main Cast

Director

Year	Title
2017	Baltimore Rising
2021	The Slow Hustle

Awards and nominations

Year	Award	Category	Film or series	Result
1998	Gotham Awards	Breakthrough Actor	Slam	Template:Won
1998	Sundance Film Festival	Grand Jury Prize	Slam	Template:Won
1998	Independent Spirit Awards	Best Debut Performance	Slam	Template:Nom
2005	Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The Wire	Template:Nom
2008	Asian Excellence Awards	Outstanding Television Actress	The Wire	Template:Won
2009	Image Awards	Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series	The Wire	Template:Nom

External links

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• reWIRED for Change homepage, rewiredforchange.org; accessed December 8, 2014.
• ReWired and Reading Liverpool Philharmonic, liverpoolphil.com; accessed December 8, 2014.
• ReWired and Reading The Reader Organisation, thereaderonline.co.uk; accessed December 8, 2014.
• Template:C-SPAN
  • C-SPAN Q&A interview with Sohn, c-span.org; accessed December 8, 2014.