Diarra Kilpatrick

Diarra Kilpatrick (born August 28, 1983) is an American actress, writer, and producer, who has received recognition and awards for work in theatre, TV, and film. She produced, wrote, and starred in two series including American Koko on ABC, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and the mystery comedy-drama series, Diarra from Detroit which has also received award nominations.

Early life and education Kilpatrick was born in 1983,

As a child she performed in productions at Meadow Brook Theater and at school. When she reached age eligibility at age 12, she joined the Mosaic Youth Theatre of Detroit after having been rejected as too young at age 10, and performed in The Piano Lesson Kilpatrick attended Bates Academy for the gifted and talented, and later graduated from the Detroit Country Day School, where she had also acted. Her play credits during this time include Three Sisters After Chekhov, Gary Lennon's The Interlopers , The Royale , Closely Related Keys , and Tarell Alvin McCraney's In the Red and Brown Water for which she won an LA Weekly Theatre Award and an NAACP Theatre Award. The Hollywood Reporter called her performance luminous. Tony Frankel at Stage and Cinema wrote, "it is Diarra Kilpatrick who will have you breathless as she vacillates from wide-eyed innocence to tragic self-realization. [...] Ms. Kilpatrick calls forth incorruptibility with such effortless grace that when rage suddenly emits from the [...] actress, it startles like a crime against nature."

Film

Kilpatrick's first film appearance was in the 2006 romantic drama Forbidden Fruits. She co-starred as a transgender woman in Jason Bushman's queer comedy-drama film Hollywood, je t'aime (2009) . The Hollywood Reporter review by Stephen Farber called her performance adept. In 2015 she had a supporting role in the Viola Davis and Jennifer Lopez crime drama film Lila & Eve. In 2016, she starred as a nameless hitchhiker in the drama film The Salton Sea by Veena Sud, for which she received the Nordic International Film Festival award for best actress. She later starred in the television film revival of Nash Bridges (2021), a police procedural.

TV Acting, Writing, and Producing Kilpatrick's first TV appearance was in an episode of House in 2008. She also guest-starred in The Game, Hart of Dixie, Mike & Molly, Southland, Major Crimes, and five appearances on Private Practice. She wrote and served as story editor for episodes of the comedy-drama I'm Dying Up Here The reception of Kilpatrick's web series American Koko (see below) helped her become a staff writer for the NBC police-procedural The Mysteries of Laura In 2020 she was cast as Clara Drake in the HBO period drama series, Perry Mason.

Kilpatrick has created, written, produced, and starred in several projects for TV. In interview, she has explained the impulses behind her projects:

"In television or film, I was going out [i.e. auditioning] a lot for nurses, prostitutes and sassy friends. Every Black actress, and really every actor of color, has that story. I was just interested in doing something that saw a Black woman at the center that went on a journey with her." She created, produced and starred in Diarra from Detroit, a mystery comedy-drama series set in Detroit. The series received positive reviews from critics. The show, Kilpatrick's performance, the writing, and the director, earned various award nominations (see Awards below). NPR journalist Tonya Mosley, who is from Detroit, said about the show:

American Koko (2015 and 2017) In 2015, she wrote, produced, and starred in a satirical web series, American Koko, on YouTube, and later produced a new version of the show for ABC's digital service ABCd in 2017. The original web series won the American Black Film Festival’s Best Web Series Award in 2015. Kilpatrick has said that the budget was $3,000, which was her tax return check. The web series was noticed by producer/actor Julius Tennon and his wife Viola Davis who picked it up for development at their production company, JuVee Productions. The new series was purchased by ABC. Both seasons premiered online on ABC Digital on June 19, 2017.

The show follows Koko (played by Kilpatrick), who "is a Los Angeles race detective at the Everyone’s a Little Racist Agency (E.A.R), which has the daunting mandate of ending racism in America." The role earned her a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series. It is a "Detroit-set comedy about an assistant who ditches her job to find internet fame" and is about the American Dream in a rapidly changing Detroit. The series was not picked up by Amazon.

Several reviewers praised Kilpatrick's work in the pilot when it was publicly aired on Amazon Prime. The Guardian s Stuart Heritage compared the pilot to Haters Back Off and also said, "The show is gorgeous to look at, bordering on high fashion at times, and it would undoubtedly land upon a better sense of itself if given a series. However, judging by the pilot alone, it has much less going for it than its competitors." Daniel Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter compared it to SMILF and downplayed comparisons to Insecure while saying, "I don’t think The Climb is a great pilot, but I think star and creator Diarra Kilpatrick has a voice and a mindset that are worth supporting. [This pilot is like a] 27-minute short-film showcase reel that would, in a perfect world, be steered by a strong and nurturing network development team." Decider s Brett White compared it to Broad City and said, "Kilpatrick sells every aspect of this character, bringing a rich humanity to social media queens that are often dismissed as vapid."

Personal life Kilpatrick is married. 2012 - Nominated, NAACP Theatre Awards, Best Female Lead - Local (for The Interlopers) 2013 - Winner, LA Weekly Theatre Award, Leading Female Performance (for In the Red and Brown Water) 2013 - Winner, NAACP Theatre Award, Best Leading Actress in a Drama (for In the Red and Brown Water) 2013 – Nominated, Ovation Awards, Lead Actress in a Play (for In the Red and Brown Water) 2015 - Winner, American Black Film Festival, Best Web Original (for American Koko web series) 2018 – Nominated, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Actress in a Short Form Comedy or Drama Series (for American Koko) 2025 - Nominated, Independent Spirit Awards, Best Breakthrough Performance in a New Scripted Series (for Diarra from Detroit) 2025 - Nominated, Black Reel Awards, Outstanding Lead Performance in a Comedy Series (for Diarra from Detroit) 2025 - Nominated, NAACP Image Awards, Outstanding Writing in a Comedy Series and Outstanding Breakthrough Creative (Television) (for Diarra from Detroit)

Filmography As Actor Film Year Title Role Notes 2006 Forbidden Fruits Lisa 2007 Unfinished Waitress Short 2008 Keepin' the Faith: Higher Ground Asia 2009 All Americana Steph Short Gang Girl Bess Roundtree Hollywood, je t'aime Kaleesha Surrender Bess Roundtree Short 2011 Under-Tow Shar Short Talking with the Taxman About Poetry Afton 2012 H4 Clarice 2014 Stand Down Soldier Billi Four Women Sarah Short 2015 Lila & Eve Maya The Brink Jane Short 2016 The Salton Sea The HitchhikerNordic International Film Festival Award for Best Actress 2020 Baldwin Beauty - Short 2021 The Goldfish Maya Short 14 Days Faitma Short

Television Year Title Role Notes 2008 House Sally Episode: "The Itch" 2008–2012 Private Practice Nurse Danielle 5 episodes 2009 The Game Groupie Episode: "Take a Bow" The Young and the Restless Young Maid Episode: "Episode #1.9195" 2010–2011 Disaster Date Herself Recurring role (season 3); main role (season 4) 2011 Hart of Dixie Mother Episode: "Gumbo & Glory" 2012 Mike & Molly Amira Episode: "Surprise" 2013 Southland Yvette Episode: "Babel"2014American KokoAkosua MillerYoutube series, later re-produced with ABC in 2017 2015 Major Crimes Peaches Williams Episode: "The Jumping Off Point" 2017 The Climb Nia TV pilot 2019 The Twilight Zone Didi Scott Episode: "The Comedian" The Last O.G. Lisa Recurring role 2020–2023 Perry Mason Clara Drake Recurring role (season 1); main role (season 2) 2021 Nash Bridges Lena Harris Television film 2024–present Diarra from Detroit Diarra Brickland Lead role, also creator and producerNominated — Black Reel Award for Outstanding Lead Performance, Comedy Series (2024)Nominated — Black Reel Award for Outstanding Comedy Series (2024)

As Writer and Producer