Anika Noni Rose

Anika Noni Rose (born September 6, 1972) is an American actress. She is best known for voicing Tiana in The Princess and the Frog (2009). She was named a Disney Legend in 2011.

Rose starred as Lorrell Robinson in the Academy Award-winning film Dreamgirls (2006). Her contribution to the film's soundtrack earned her a nomination for a Grammy Award. She is also known for her performances in theatre, particularly for starring as Emmie Thibodeaux in the Broadway production of Caroline, or Change (2004), for which she won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical, and Beneatha Younger in the Broadway revival of A Raisin in the Sun (2014), for which she was nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play.

Rose was born in Bloomfield, Connecticut, to Claudia and John Rose, a corporate counsel. She attended Bloomfield High School, appearing in a school production during her freshman year. She earned a bachelor's degree in theatre from Florida A&M University, then studied drama at the American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, California.

Rose moved to New York without a job. After three months, she played the role of Rusty in Broadway's Footloose. She followed Footloose with numerous workshops and two musicals using pre-existing song catalogs, Eli's Comin' Off-Broadway and Me and Mrs. Jones with Lou Rawls in Philadelphia. Both of the full-scale tuners were rumored for transfers, but neither made it anywhere after their limited engagements ended. Rose's big Broadway break was getting cast as Emmie Thibodeaux in Caroline, or Change. In 2004, she was awarded the Theatre World Award, the Lucille Lortel Award for Outstanding Featured Actress, and the Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Caroline, or Change.

After her film debut, King of the Bingo Game, she played the role of Kaya in From Justin to Kelly in 2003 and performed in Temptation in 2004, followed by Surviving Christmas as a singer in the choir. In 2006, Rose starred in Dreamgirls as Lorrell Robinson with Beyoncé Knowles, Jennifer Hudson, Jamie Foxx, and Eddie Murphy. Rose appeared in the films Just Add Water and Razor.

Rose also starred alongside Jill Scott in The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency directed by Anthony Minghella.

Rose is best known for her role in Disney's 2009 animated feature The Princess and the Frog as the voice of the lead character Tiana. Rose was named a Disney Legend on August 19, 2011. Rose said, "I always dreamed of being a voice in a Disney movie, but even in those dreams, I never once dreamed of being a princess... I feel like what an honor that this is and how the dream comes true, bigger and stronger than I had even imagined it."

In 2010, Rose played the role of Yasmine in the film For Colored Girls directed by Tyler Perry and co-starring Phylicia Rashad and Janet Jackson. One critic described Rose's performance as "especially fierce". From 2010 to 2013, Rose had a guest-starring role in the legal TV drama The Good Wife. She played the role of Sara Tidwell in the A&E miniseries Bag of Bones in 2011, based on the Stephen King novel of the same name.