Carla Renata

Carla Renata, also credited as Carla Renata Williams, is an American actress, singer, and film critic born in Cherry Point, North Carolina who was raised in St. Louis, Missouri. A graduate of Howard University with a Bachelor of Arts in Broadcast Production, Renata built a career spanning Broadway, national tours, regional theatre, television, film, and voice work.

Renata's Broadway career ran from 1993 to 2007 and included productions of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, The Life, Smokey Joe's Café, Avenue Q, and The Lion King. Her casting in the Matthew Broderick Broadway revival of How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying followed her graduation from Howard University. In Avenue Q, she originated the role of Gary Coleman, a credit she also carried on the national tour of the production. Her work in the Los Angeles production of The Lion King, where she played Shenzi, earned her an NAACP Theatre Award nomination for outstanding performance. Beyond Broadway, Renata performed in Las Vegas as Killer Queen in the rock musical We Will Rock You for the group Queen, and appeared as a soloist in the Off-Broadway production Back to Bacharach and David.

Renata's television work spans a wide range of roles across network and cable programming. She made history as the first African American actress to secure recurring roles on four television shows twice, with credits including Shake It Up, Hart of Dixie, How to Live With Your Parents, Mr. Box Office, and Superstore. On Superstore, she appeared in 28 episodes as Janet, her most extensive television role. Additional credits include Hart of Dixie in 19 episodes, Living Biblically in 6 episodes, Shake It Up in 6 episodes, and single or limited appearances on Bones, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Frasier, Modern Family, New Girl, Reba, and It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, among others.

Her voice work includes roles in the animated series Invincible Fight Girl, Lastman, and Wabbit, as well as video game credits in Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto V, Kinect Disneyland Adventures, and Maneater. In film, she provided the voice of Boar's Mother in Latte and the Magic Waterstone.

Renata is also the creator and host of The Curvy Critic with Carla Renata, a film criticism platform that streams on YouTube and Facebook Live.