Susan Heyward

Susan Heyward is an American actress born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, who earned a BFA from Carnegie Mellon University. Her career spans stage, television, and film, with Broadway credits ranging from 2013 to 2018.

Heyward began her professional career in off-Broadway productions and television guest roles, appearing on series including Law & Order and 30 Rock. In 2009, she was a regular cast member on the short-lived Comedy Central series Michael & Michael Have Issues. Her off-Broadway stage work includes the title role in Sabrina Fair and a role in The Purple Lights of Joppa Illinois. She made her Broadway debut in 2013 in The Trip to Bountiful, performing opposite Cicely Tyson. In 2014, she took on a recurring role in the Fox thriller series The Following.

Her film work includes Mother of George (2013), which starred Danai Gurira, Poltergeist (2015), The Incredible Jessica James (2017), and The Light of the Moon (2017). In 2015, Heyward was cast in a leading role in Powers, the PlayStation Network's first scripted original series, alongside Sharlto Copley and Eddie Izzard. The show ran for two seasons before its cancellation. Also in 2016, she appeared in the HBO period drama Vinyl, playing the personal secretary to Bobby Cannavale's lead character.

Heyward returned to Broadway in 2018 to play Rose Granger-Weasley in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, a role she held through 2019. That same period saw her take on the recurring role of Tamika Ward, the new warden at Litchfield prison, in the Netflix comedy-drama Orange Is the New Black. In 2024, she appeared as Sister Sage in the fourth season of the Amazon series The Boys.