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MARIANNE JEAN-BAPTISTE

As Vivian Johnson on the CBS drama Without a Trace, Marianne Jean-Baptiste plays a no-nonsense FBI investigator solving missing-person cases. Born in London to West Indian parents, she has worked nonstop since receiving an Oscar nomination for her supporting role in the 1996 British drama Secrets & Lies. "In the States it's much easier to get work once you have an Oscar nomination," says Jean-Baptiste, who trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London. "In the UK, I was still being asked to meet for initial discussions about roles." She has appeared in several TV and feature films, including The Wedding with Halle Berry and Lynn Whitfield, and Spy Games with Robert Redford and Brad Pitt.

It's important to her that there's a Black British voice in the acting world. "There's no concept of what a Black British person is," says the wife and mother of two girls, ages 5 and 2. "Our voices need to be heard on a worldwide platform."

ADRIAN LESTER

Adrian Lester, who played Ellis on UPN's Girlfriends, says, "L.A. is an industry town. Every stranger is a potential contact. So you can't walk away, or you walk away from potential work." Still, he manages to get away. He shuttles between Los Angeles and London, where he lives with his wife, actress Lolita Chakrabarti, and baby daughter, Lila. "I'm always really glad to come to L.A. The people are wonderful," Lester says. "But it is important to say that I live in the UK."

Born and raised in Birmingham, England, to Jamaican parents, Lester started his career at age 9 singing in a choir. He played in several productions for London's National Theatre and in 1998, got his big break in the U.S. in the film Primary Colors. Last summer Lester returned to the British stage as the lead in the National Theatre's production of Henry V.

Up next for Lester is the film The Day After Tomorrow and the British TV series Hustle. But we always loved to see his boyish smile on Girlfriends.

IDRIS ELBA

Life in the Big Apple has been kind to Idris Elba, who plays the cool and complicated drug lord Russell "Stringer" Bell on the HBO series The Wire. Part of a small pack of struggling Black male actors in London, he fled to the United States in 1999. "England is home, and I love it," says Elba, 31. "But England couldn't house my ambition." Since he's been in the States, Elba has also appeared in music videos and in the TV series Soul Food. But it's his work on The Wire that's a dream come true. "I always wanted to play the lead in a TV show," he says. "But back in London, I was always just going to be the best friend, or the crook or the detective on the side."

MARSHA THOMASON

"I miss London life, the South Bank in the summer and pub lunches," says Marsha Thomason, the 26-year-old actress who stars as Nessa Holt in the new NBC drama Las Vegas. "But home for me is wherever I feel comfortable." Right now, that place is Los Angeles.

Since arriving in Hollywood in 2001 after roles in British television dramas like Playing the Field and Prime Suspects, the Manchester native has made a habit of working with some of the funniest brothers in the business. She made her U.S. debut in Black Knight with Martin Lawrence, recently teamed up with Eddie Murphy in The Haunted Mansion, and will soon be seen with Eddie Griffin in My Baby's Mama.

ESTHER ARMAH reveals how this new wave of thespians have garnered fame and fortune on American shores. "It's symptomatic of the wealth of opportunity that exists in the United States," Armah says. "More sadly, it reflects how narrow the opportunities are here in England." Armah's first piece for ESSENCE was "Why Isn't He White?" (March 2003).

Despite being HIV-positive, Magic Johnson lives a full life, and Cookie Johnson, his wife of 12 years, still lovingly supports him. "Magic is an inspiration to all of us, and Cookie is a role model for forgiving and understanding," says Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter

COPYRIGHT 2003 Essence Communications, Inc.
COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group

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