Actress
New York
Delissa Reynolds is a New York based actress, producer and cultural creator. She made TV debut guest starring on the last Law & Order/Homicide crossover episode (1999). Soon after the 9/11, Delissa took a hiatus from acting to open Bar Sepia (2004-2018), a renowned Prospect Heights, Brooklyn bar, restaurant, event space and neighborhood staple. She returned to her creative life in 2017 to work with director Estelle Parsons as an actor and co-producer on the Last Days of Judas Iscariot both at The Actors Studio and La Mama in New York City.
Her film credits include supporting roles in A Thousand And One, (A.V. Rockwell, Dir.), MUZZLE (John Stalberg, Jr. Dir.), Two Lives in Pittsburgh, (Brian Silverman, Dir.), The Day The Ponies Come Back (Jerry Schatzberg, Dir), Magic Hour (Jacqueline Christy, Dir.) and the award-winning shorts Wonder, (HBO, Javier Molina, Dir.) and The Case (Patrick House, Dir.). On TV, Delissa has appeared on ELSBETH, The Chair Company, Diarra from Detroit, WU TANG: An American Saga, Manifest, Law & Order, L&O SVU, The Good Fight, FBI:Most Wanted, Divorce, Orange is the New Black, Luke Cage, Madam Secretary, The Beat, and Deadline.
Delissa’s theatre work includes WIPEOUT (Studio Theatre, DC), New Age (Milwaukee Rep), To Kill A Mockingbird (Penobscot Theatre), A Lesson Before Dying (Studio Arena & Geva Theatre), Raft of the Medusa (10th Annual Planet Connections Theatre Festivity, NYC. Best Actress in a Featured Role), Our Lady of 121st Street (The Actor’s Studio, NYC), CandidateX/COMPASS (Robert Wilson’s Watermill Residency Co-Collaboration with Octopus Theatricals & Ripetime, NYC) Take My Hand and Wave Goodbye (New Dramatists Jerry A. Tishman Playwrights Creativity Fund Workshop, NYC), Thirdwing's The Female Genius, The LAByrinth Theatre's Summer Intensive ('24, '25' & '26) and Barn Series reading of Tantalus by Justin Reinsilber.
Delissa studied acting with Susan Batson, Tim Phillips and Bobby Moresco. She is the recipient of the American Theatre Hall of Fame "Emerging Theatre Artist" Fellowship (2022), is a lifetime member and board member of The Actors Studio and a member of LAByrinth Theatre Company.
As a producer Delissa spearheaded the On The Fly ten minute play festival for Writers and Directors of Color at the Actors Studio (2020, 2023, 2026), Livin' In The Gap at the Public Theatre (co-produced with S. Epatha Merkerson) and OyamO’s I Am A Man at CSC Theatre.
Her activism and advocacy work includes benefits for the American Cancer Society, Justice Works Community prison advocacy for women, relief initiatives for New Orleans, Haiti and Puerto Rico.
Delissa is a self-taught chef and developed her Zoom interactive cooking show Born N' Braised and Born N' Bread for the Actors Studio (2020).