Chicago native Sufe Bradshaw, born into a family of nine siblings, learned early on the value of hard work and dedication from her Sicilian dad and her mother of Ghanaian roots. She began her acting odyssey at the Los Angeles City Theatre Academy, where she earned a degree in Theatre. Soon after her intensive study at The Academy, she went on to train with Ben Guillory at The Robey Theatre, as well as Lee Strasberg’s prestigious Actor’s Studio, moderated by Martin Landau. Bradshaw continued to refine her craft with The Meisner Technique, along with intensive sessions in cold reading with Jimmy DiStefano, Allan Miller’s Rehearsal Workshop, and Wallace Audition Techniques.
Bradshaw has been featured in stage productions around Los Angeles including The Nat Turner Rebellion, A Raisin in the Sun, Danny and the Deep Blue Sea, The Glass Menagerie, Hamlet, Summer and Smoke, and Burn This. Bradshaw’s first network television appearance was on the CBS drama Cold Case, followed by appearances on Carlos Mencia’s Comedy Central sketch-comedy series Mind of Mencia and MTV’s The Hard Times of RJ Berger.
Soon after, she booked her first feature film in the 2006 independent drama “Speechless,” followed by the 2007 television movie “Mr. Jackson’s Neighborhood.” She also appeared in Paramount Pictures J.J. Abram’s blockbuster “Star Trek,” as well as the Wayans Brothers “Dance Flick.”
Those exciting roles led to a string of projects, including a role in the Hallmark movie “Fixing Pete.” The spirited actress’s career soon turned the corner and she began booking roles on a variety of popular television shows, including: ER (NBC), Bones (FOX), Prison Break, FlashForward (ABC), and Trust Me (TNT).
Now Bradshaw stars alongside Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Anna Chlumsky, and Tony Hale in the upcoming comedy Veep on HBO, playing the no-nonsense character Sue.
In addition to VEEP, Bradshaw is in development on a documentary titled “New Leaves” about troubled youth and the choices they make to either do the right thing or not. Coming from a large family herself, Bradshaw has taken a personal interest in the subject matter.
In her spare time, Bradshaw is a community activist. She has volunteered for Humanity for the Homeless and participated in the Humanitarian Day event in Downtown Los Angeles where people gather clothes and food for the homeless and volunteer at local soup kitchens. She has also mentored teens for and acting and dance program called Voices Unheard at Fairfax High School, and she is a founding member of The Actor’s Lounge, an open-mic project for recently-located actors who need somewhere to perform.
She has also found creative fulfillment practicing the art of spoken word for the last 10 years, reading alongside some of America’s premiere poets, including many from Russell Simon’s “Def Poetry Jam.” Additionally she does spoken-word performances at the Greenway Court Theatre, which is part of the Greenway Art Alliance, a non-profit organization that offers visual- and performing-arts education to public-high-school students in Los Angeles.
Sufe currently resides in Los Angeles, where one of her favorite hobbies is yoga, which she practices under teacher Brent Laffoon. She says that it has changed her life and she loves the idea that “it is not about what you are doing, but who you are being.”
