Cynthia Addai-Robinson is an English-born actress. She was born in London; her mother is from Ghana and her father is a United States citizen. She moved to US when she was four, and was raised by her mother in a suburb of Washington, DC. She is a graduate of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, MD, and studied at the Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. In addition, she trained at Lee Strasberg Theater Institute and in dance forms ballet, jazz, tap. She received Navy Seal and New Zealand Special Forces training during the filming of Spartacus: War of the Damned. - IMDb mini biography by: scaryofmonsters and P4poetic Cynthia Addai-Robinson (born January 12, 1985) is an American actress. She is known for her roles as Naevia in the Starz television series Spartacus and DC Comics character Amanda Waller in The CW TV series Arrow. Since November 2016, she plays the role of Nadine Memphis on the USA Network series Shooter. Addai-Robinson was born on January 12, 1985, in London; her mother is from Ghana and her father was a U.S. citizen. She moved to the U.S. when she was 4 and was raised by her mother in a suburb of Washington, D.C. She is a graduate of Montgomery Blair High School in Silver Spring, Maryland and Tisch School of the Arts with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theater. In addition, she trained at Lee Strasberg Theater Institute and in dance forms ballet, jazz and tap. She received some special forces-style training by Navy SEALs and New Zealand Special Air Service personnel during the filming of Spartacus: War of the Damned. After participating in several various Off-Broadway plays, she got her first role on television in 2002 in an episode of The Education of Max Bickford. In following years, she made small appearances on television shows like Law & Order: Trial by Jury, Law & Order: Criminal Intent, CSI: Miami, Numb3rs and Justice. In 2006, she was originally cast to play Melanie Barnett in the American sitcom The Game, but was replaced by Tia Mowry for unspecified reasons prior to the show's production. In 2009, she got her first recurring role on the ABC drama, FlashForward playing the character Debbie, a nurse. The same year she appeared in Tina Mabry's independent film Mississippi Damned as Milena. In 2011, she made her big screen debut as the mother of Zoe Saldana's character (played by Amandla Stenberg) in Colombiana. Her biggest role came from 2012 to 2013 when she was cast as Naevia in the second season Spartacus: Vengeance and the third season Spartacus: War of the Damned after Lesley-Ann Brandt decided to leave the series. In early 2013, she played Aja, a powerful witch who came to help Bonnie on The Vampire Diaries for two episodes. She made a brief appearance as an onlooker in the crowd in the film Star Trek Into Darkness. In September 2013, she was cast as the recurring character Amanda Waller in the hit The CW show Arrow. In March 2014, she was cast as Emily D. West in the History Channel 2015 miniseries Texas Rising. Her performance was nominated for a Women's Image Network Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series. In January 2015, she was cast in Gavin O'Connor's The Accountant, alongside Ben Affleck and J. K. Simmons, playing a U.S. Treasury Department analyst. The film was released in October 2016. In March 2016, it was announced that she would be taking over Emily Rios' role from the television series Shooter as the female lead.