Kiersey Nicole Clemons (born December 17, 1993 in Pensacola, Florida) is an American actress and singer of African-American and Caucasian ancestry.
She made her acting breakthrough as Diggy Andrews in the 2015 comedy-drama Dope, directed by Rick Famuyiwa. Clemons identifies as queer, going by alternately she/her and they/them pronouns. They have bipolar disorder. Clemons has spoken up about having experienced racism in Hollywood and struggling due to her mental illness especially before they'd been diagnosed.
She is in a relationship with Ebony De La Haye, an Australian stunt double. The couple met during filming of Sweetheart, where De La Haye doubled Clemons during action sequences underwater.
Selected Filmography:
- Austin & Ally (2013) as Kira Starr
- Dope (2015) as Cassandra "Diggy" Andrews
- Eye Candy (2015) as Sophia
- Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising (2016) as Beth
- Easy (2016-2019) as Chase
- Flatliners remake (2017) as Sophia
- An L.A. Minute (2018) as Velocity
- Hearts Beat Loud (2018) as Samantha Lee "Sam" Fisher
- Little Bitches (2018) as Marisa
- Lady and the Tramp (2019) as Darling
- RENT Live (2019) as Joanne Jefferson
- Sweetheart (2019) as Jenn
- SCOOB! (2020) as Dee Dee Skyes
- Antebellum (2020) as Julia
- DC Extended Universe as Iris West
- Zack Snyder's Justice League (2021)
- The Flash (2023)
- Asking For It (2021) as Joey
- Am I OK? (2022) as Brittany
- Somebody I Used to Know (2023) as Cassidy
- Swarm (2023) as Rashida
- Praise Petey (2023) as Eliza
- Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (2023) as May
- Susie Searches (2023) as Susie
- The Young Wife (2023) as Celestina
Tropes & Trivia in her works:
- Actor-Shared Background: She's played multiple characters who are, like her, biracial with black and white parents, e.g. Sam in Hearts Beat Loud, Cassidy from Somebody I Used to Know.
- Deleted Role: Rick Famuyiwa (who previously directed her in Dope) chose Kiersey to portray Iris West in his planned film adaptation of The Flash in the DC Extended Universe starring Ezra Miller as Barry Allen, but then he left the project out of Creative Differences with DC Films in 2016. Kiersey was still set to appear in 2017's Justice League, but their scenes were ultimately scrapped by Joss Whedon after Zack Snyder left the post-production. The role was eventually restored in the director's cut, Zack Snyder's Justice League. One week before the latter film's release in March 2021, Clemons was announced to reprise the role of Iris in The Flash, which was eventually directed by Andrés Muschietti.
- Queer Character, Queer Actor: Clemons, who's queer, has played lesbian characters Diggy (Dope), Chase (Easy), Sam (Hearts Beat Loud), Joanne (RENT Live), bisexual Cassidy (Somebody I Used to Know) and queer Rashida (Swarm) so far.
