Breakout star KiKi Layne made her debut on the big screen as the female lead in Barry Jenkins’ film If Beale Street Could Talk for Annapurna and Plan B Entertainment. The film premiered to rave reviews at both the Toronto International Film Festival and the New York Film Festival and went on to win Best Feature at the Independent Spirit Awards in 2019. The film was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture, and a Critics’ Choice Award for Best Picture.

Layne was seen in HBO’s Native Son, starring opposite Ashton Sanders, Margaret Qualley, and Nick Robinson. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival 2019 as the Opening Night Feature. Layne and Sanders co-starred again in 2019 for Rupert Wyatt’s Captive State. 

Layne can also be seen starring opposite Julianne Moore in Luca Guadagnino’s short film The Staggering Girl that premiered in Cannes in May 2019. Following completion of her work on The Old Guard Layne went straight on to shoot Coming to America 2 beside Eddie Murphy and James Earl Jones. The film is slated for a 2020 release.

Layne’s stage credits include the US premiere of Octagon (2016) at the Jackalope Theatre in Chicago which garnered her a Black Theater Alliance Award (BTAA) nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play. Other stage credits include Genesis (2014), Good People (2015), and Definition Theatre and The New Colony’s co-production of Byhalia, Mississippi (2016) which earned her another BTAA nomination for Best Featured Actress in a Play and Most Promising Actress. She graduated with a BFA in acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University in 2014.