Rutina Wesley is currently reprising her recurring role as “Maria” on the HBO hit series THE LAST OF US. Most recently, she played the lead role of “Nova” in Ava DuVernay’s critically acclaimed series QUEEN SUGAR. Prior to that, Rutina starred in Bryan Fuller’s critically-acclaimed series HANNIBAL and Alan Ball's HBO series TRUE BLOOD. Rutina earned her BFA in Theater Performance from the University of Evansville. Shortly after, she enrolled in Juilliard School and graduated in May 2005. Her theatre credits include “Viola” in Shakespeare’s TWELFTH NIGHT at The Old Globe, Walter Bobbie’s off-Broadway production of THE SUBMISSION and David Hare’s Broadway production of THE VERTICAL HOUR opposite Julianne Moore and directed by Sam Mendes. She has starred across all genres in the feature world with such films as: 13 SINS from Radius/TWC, THE PERFECT GUY from Screen Gems, LAST WEEKEND from Sundance Selects and the lead role in the Sundance Film Festival favorite, HOW SHE MOVE, which was bought and distributed by MTV Films.