Shareeka Epps

Shareeka Epps (born July 11, 1989) is an American actress. She gained recognition for her role as 'Drey' in the 2006 film Half Nelson, alongside Ryan Gosling, for which she won the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead. Epps began her acting career after being discovered in junior high school and starred in the short film Gowanus, Brooklyn, which won the Short Filmmaking Award at the Sundance Film Festival in 2004. This success led to her role in Half Nelson, a critically acclaimed film about a teacher-student friendship in an inner-city school. Epps has also received the Gotham Independent Film Award for Breakthrough Actor.