Rutina Wesley portrays Nova Bordelon, a journalist, activist and herbal healer who, along with her two estranged siblings, has inherited the family’s failing sugarcane farm, in OWN’s new drama series “Queen Sugar.” Wesley is well known to television audiences for her starring role as Tara Thornton in the long-running hit series “True Blood.” Born in Las Vegas to Ivery Wheeler and Cassandra Wesley, both performers, Wesley earned a BFA in Theatre Performance from the University of Evansville (Indiana), and then went on to complete the four-year actor training program at The Juilliard School Drama Division in New York.Her first big break came when she was cast opposite Bill Nighy in the Broadway production of the David Hare play “The Vertical Hour,” which was followed by her appearance in the Public Theater production of “In Darfur.” Her first big screen appearance came next, in director Ian Rahid’s dance melodrama “How She Move.” Other feature film performances include The Weinstein Company’s “13 Sins” and Screen Gems’ “The Perfect Guy.”In addition to starring in all 80 episodes of the breakout hit “True Blood,” Wesley has enjoyed recurring roles on the animated series “The Cleveland Show” and the drama “Hannibal.” In addition, she has guest-starred in episodes of “Numb3rs” and “Arrow.”