Emyri Crutchfield

E'myri Lee Crutchfield is a young actress from New Orleans, Louisiana. Her mother enrolled her in acting classes at age eight after noticing her talent for impersonating people she met at the mall. In addition to acting, she pursued gymnastics from ages eight to twelve. She was homeschooled for four years, allowing her parents to accompany her between Los Angeles, California, and her hometown for auditions and to support her acting career. In 2014, E'myri was selected from thousands of applicants to attend the Nickelodeon Groundling Sketch Comedy training in Los Angeles. She began her acting career in local New Orleans theater productions and small independent films such as *Paper Cranes*, *Pendulum*, and *We Three Kings*. Her first speaking role came in the 2015 film *Vacation*. In 2016, she made her prime-time television debut as teenage Kizzy in the remake of *Roots*, which aired simultaneously on Lifetime, A&E, and the History Channel. That same year, she played Zoey in Amazon Prime's *The Kicks*, a series about a middle school girls' soccer team. A junior at Ursuline Academy in New Orleans, E'myri is a proud member of the school's cheerleading squad, the Merry Macs. She enjoys shopping for makeup and hair products, watching tutorials online, reading, and listening to hip hop music. E'myri was inducted as an honorary member of the Mystic Krewe of Femme Fatale and served as Grand Marshall for their 2017 Mardi Gras Parade under the theme "MKFF Hosts Game Day." For her performance in *Roots*, she was nominated for a 2017 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Performance by a Youth in a Series, Special, Television Movie, or Limited Series. She was recognized by the Louisiana State Senate, the Office of the Mayor of New Orleans, Mitchell J. Landrieu, and the New Orleans City Council at the request of Councilmember LaToya Cantrell.