Woman Crush Wednesday: Get To Know Teyonah Parris Of Spike Lee’s ‘Chi-Raq’

It’s Wednesday. Which means it’s totally cool to very publicly crush on your favorite lady. Here at Decider, we like to make a weekly point of bowing down to a kick-ass member of the female race and today, we’re head over heels for Teyonah Parris, star of Spike Lee‘s latest social satire, Chi-Raq.

Chi-Raq, an Amazon Studios production, is a modern retelling of the ancient Greek comedy, Lysistrata by Aristophanes. But instead of taking us back to the Peloponnesian War, Spike Lee sets his adaptation in Chicago’s crime-ridden South Side (“Chi-raq” being a portmanteau of Chicago and Iraq to emphasize the area’s abysmal crime rates). With Nick Cannon (yes, that Nick Cannon) playing the titular Chi-Raq, Parris stars as Lysistrata, a South Side heroine who rounds up the women of the city’s gang-dominated projects to take an oath of chastity: not out of prudish traditionalism, but to put an end to neighborhood wars. If men aren’t getting any, according to Lystistrata, they will surely give up and welcome world peace, right? Wrong. And so ensues a bitter battle of the sexes.

Already welcoming its share of controversy Lee’s star-studded Chi-Raq will debut in theaters and on Prime Video December 4 as Amazon Studio’s very first original film. But before you watch, get to know Parris’ previous film and TV work.

WHO’S THAT LADY?: Teyonah Parris

WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: Um, hello. Have you seen the trailer? Parris is the epitome of badassery. You heard it here first: “I will deny all rights of access or entrance” is the movie quote of the year.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGTuuj-aTJs]

WHERE YOU KNOW HER FROM: Mad Men fans will definitely recognize Parris as Dawn Chambers, Don Draper’s dutiful secretary; whose presence in an all-white office shook up diversity at Sterling Cooper Draper Price indefinitely. You may also remember her from Starz series, Survivor’s Remorse, and as Coco from Dear White People; Jusitn Simien’s sharp collegial critique of diversity told through the eyes of four black, Ivy League students. The actress has also garnered bit parts in comedies They Came Together and How Do You Know.

WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER NEXT: Look out for Parris alongside David Oyelowo (Selma) in Five Nights in Maine; an intense family drama about a widower who travels to rural Maine seeking closure from his cancer-stricken mother-in-law. The film debuted at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival to positive reviews.

[Stream Chi-Raq December 4 on Prime Video]

Photos: Everett Collection