Actor / Director Profile

It was inevitable that Nona Gaye would become a singer - she is the granddaughter of Cuban jazz great Slim Gaillard, the niece of R&B singer/songwriter Frankie Gaye and the daughter of soul legend Marvin Gaye. Signed to Third/Stone Atlantic at 14, Nona released "Love for the Future" in 1992, which included the top 20 hit "I'm Overjoyed". But it was acting that give Nona a name of her own. With no acting experience and her agents warning her not to get her hopes up, she won the role of Khalilah 'Belinda' Ali in Ali (2001)opposite Academy Award-nominee Will Smith. Nona went on to play Zee in the "Matrix" sequels, replacing singer Aaliyah after her sudden death in a plane crash. In 2004, Nona provided the voice for Hero Girl in The Polar Express (2004), which also starred Tom Hanks. Nona has plans to return to the music studio as well as the silver screen. "My music will always reflect upon my family's legacy or people's expectations," Nona told Interview Magazine in 2001. "But acting's all mine."