Tamarra Graham

Tamarra Graham is a LAMDA-trained American character actor. As a military veteran and licensed psychologist, she crafts multidimensional characters that exude both strength and vulnerability.


Television credits include Criminal Minds (CBS), 9-1-1 (Fox), Kidding (Showtime), and Adam Ruins Everything (truTV). Other screen credits include the feature films Ktown Cowboys and Sins of Call Girl as well as short films A Knock at the Door and The Sacred Squid, which is currently in production. She has just finished filming First Shift: Redemption, currently in post-production, the third installment of a Paramount+ crime drama directed by Uwe Boll.


Tamarra is a StageScene LA Scenie Award winner for Breakout Actress of the Year in Bee-luther-hatchee (Sierra Madre Playhouse) and Pure Confidence (Lower Depth Theatre). Other stage credits includeThe Gift, Sweat, Julius Caesar, The Seagull, and Hamlet (LAMDA), Handjob (Echo Theatre Company), Nickel and Dimed (Greenhouse Theater Center), and Sarafina! (Edinburgh Fringe Festival). Tamarra has also performed sketch comedy at the Second City, Upright Citizens Brigade, iO Theater, The Pack Theater, and Comedy Central Stage. Most recent credits include Fences at the Laguna Playhouse, Hamlet and A Midsummer Night’s Dream for the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company, and Eureka Day for the Dezart Theatre in Palm Springs.


Recently branching into voiceover, Tamarra recorded the audio dramas End of the Line (Antaeus Theatre Company) and The Boll Weevil and Chester Higgensworth (Lower Depth Theatre). She is also preparing to record her first audiobook, a collection of short stories based on the lives of American military families during Vietnam.


Tamarra is based in London and Los Angeles.

 

Eureka Day

Eureka Day at the Dezart Playhouse, Palm Springs, CA:

Coachella Valley Independent: Tamarra Graham gives an excellent performance as Carina, the only African American in the group. Being new to the school board, she’s occasionally tentative, yet she really
wants to have her voice heard. One of the signs of a really good actor is staying engaged onstage by listening and reacting when another character is speaking. Graham’s facial reactions throughout the show are priceless.

Stage and Cinema: Tamarra Graham (Carina) brings grounded intelligence to the group, cutting through the noise like the person you want sitting next to you at any real-life town hall; it’s a sharp, smart performance.

Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night’s Dream by the Kingsmen Shakespeare Company

 

Holmes and Watson

Reviews for Holmes and Watson at International City Theatre, Long Beach, CA

Long Beach Post: ‘Graham is fantastic in all her roles, from Mrs. Hudson to the wife of a murdered man to the mysterious and sensual Irene Adler – a suitable match and rival for Holmes, just as in the books. Graham throws herself fearlessly into each role (one can see how she’s a Navy veteran with British drama training), playing each of her characters with a slightly different English accent and demeanor.’

Stage Riot: ‘Graham and Brian Stanton, who each play multiple characters, give standout performances in all of their roles… Graham is a riot as Mrs. Drebber, sensual and powerful as Irene, and equally as bumbling as Lestrade as Mrs. Hudson. Both display admirable vocal and physical versatility, and uplift Hamill’s writing through their sheer comedic power.’

First Shift

First Shift: Redemption, currently in post-production, is the third installment of a Paramount+ crime drama directed by Uwe Boll. Tamarra’s character, Traver, is a police Sergeant on the Crisis Intervention Team called in to de-escalate a mental health emergency involving a distressed man atop the edge of a New York City high-rise building.  The original 2024 film, First Shift, was popular with fans, leading to two sequels and audience interest in a possible series. Link to a Variety article with more info.

Fences

She recently led in Fences at the Laguna Playhouse and picked up some great notices:
“Tamarra Graham gives an impeccable performance as Troy’s wife and the family’s strong-willed matriarch. With every passing scene, Graham shows a gradual but profound development within her character.” – Orange Curtain Review
“Graham is the emotional anchor of the piece. Her performance is layered, raw, and deeply moving” Fanboy Nation

“Tamarra Graham shows us that plainspoken introspection and a knowing consciousness about the perimeters of an unsteady marriage can be more significant than bravado. The role has a smaller, but deeper range. Graham’s early on resigned, rolled-eye reactions to her husband are on point as is angriness and steel as dark events transpire.”