Trinidad-Born Hollywood Actress Returns After ‘Orange Is The New Black’

Lorraine Toussaint, r, will play the mother of Morris Chestnut, l, on Fox’s Rosewood.

News Americas, LOS ANGELES, CA, Mon. Aug. 10, 2015: Trinidad-born actress Lorraine Toussaint will be returning to TV after shaking things up on Orange Is The New Black.

Toussaint, 55, is coming to  Fox’s Rosewood. She will play the mother of Morris Chestnut who stars as Miami’s top pathologist Dr. Beaumont Rosewood Jr.

Toussaint will be the force that always stands over Dr. Beaumont as Donna.

Chestnut admitted that scenes with Toussaint are so intense, that he goes back to his trailer and realizes: “I gotta up my game!”

Rosewood premieres Wednesday, September 23rd. It is about a private pathologist  who works in Miami, Florida, where he is highly in demand with law enforcement.

Toussaint was born in Trinidad. Her mother was a teacher and she came to the United States in the 1960s. After moving to United States she lived in Brooklyn.

Toussaint graduated from Manhattan’s High School of Performing Arts in 1978. She then attended the Juilliard School’s drama division as a member of Group 11 (1978–1982), where her classmates in 1982 included Megan Gallagher, Penny Johnson Jerald, Jack Kenny, and Jack Stehlin.

Toussaint graduated from Juilliard with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, and later began her career as Shakespearean actress before she tackled screen acting of television and film.