Arielle Prepetit

Arielle Prepetit is an American actress, dancer and singer. She was born and raised in Orlando, Florida and began training in dance at the age of five before beginning acting training when she was 17. She has performed in shows at Walt Disney World and in productions such as adaptations of Flashdance The Musical and Legally Blonde: The Musical. She has also acted in various films and short films, such as The System and About My Father (2023), and made guest appearances in television series such as BMF and Found. Since February 2025, she has been starring in the new CBS soap opera Beyond the Gates as Naomi Hamilton Hawthorne, for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination in 2026.

Life and career Prepetit is an actor, dancer and singer. She was born and raised in Orlando, Florida. She wanted to be a dancer and trained for it during her adolescence, having discovered her joy for it when she was five years old. When she was 17, she decided that she wanted to be on broadways and with the guidance of her teacher, she signed up for acting classes using the money she had made from babysitting. She then decided to pursue an onscreen acting career but continued to perform and dance. Prepetit worked at Universal Studios and Walt Disney World, where she performed in parades and shows such as Main Street Trolley Show and Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire. She also performed in Grinchmas Who-liday Spectacular at Universal Orlando. Matthew J. Palm from the Orlando Sentinel wrote that Prepetit and the other dancers created "lovely harmonies". That same month, she moved to Atlanta, which she considered the "best decision" she made for her career, and she made most of her living by acting work in films, television and commercials.

Prepetit also played Michelle in the 2023 comedy film About My Father. Prepetit also played Kendra Reed in the 2024 movie Bull Street, and also played Candace in the short film The Last Black Dinosaur (2024). The actress has also been in various commercials, including advertisements for Home Depot, Camping World, Terra Chips and others.

In October 2024, it was announced that Prepetit had joined the ensemble cast of the then-upcoming CBS soap opera Beyond the Gates as civil attorney Naomi Hamilton Hawthorne. It was the first African-American daytime soap opera in 34 years and debuted on February 24, 2025. Prepetit received overwhelming positive support from viewers who were happy to be able to start watching a soap opera from the beginning and she enjoyed working with Karla Mosley, who portrays Naomi's mother Dani Dupree. Prepetit had grown up watching soap operas with her grandmother and thus knew Mosley from other soaps. Prepetit revealed in an interview that her family watch the soap and that her mother was proud of her for playing an attorney. Discussing Beyond the Gates, Michael Fairman opined that Prepetit "has a strength to her performances which are refreshing to watch". CBS News said that Prepetit was having her "breakout moment" on the soap.

Personal life Prepetit is from Orlando, Florida. Prepetit's household used to primarily watch soap operas General Hospital and The Bold and the Beautiful, including her grandmother, who could not speak English. Prepetit can speak Haitian Creole.