Sonja Sohn

Sonja Sohn
Sohn at Harvard Law School in April 2011.
Born	Sonja Williams (1964-05-09) May 9, 1964 (age 52) Newport News, Virginia, U.S.
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1996–present
Children	2
Website	www.sonjasohn.net

Sonja Sohn (born Sonja Williams; May 9, 1964) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles as Detective Kima Greggs on the HBO drama The Wire and Detective Samantha Baker on the ABC series Body of Proof. She is also known for having starred in the independent film Slam, which she co-wrote. Her role on The Wire led to her current work as the leader of a Baltimore community initiative called ReWired for Change.

Sohn was born in Newport News, Virginia. Her father, an African-American soldier in the United States Army, met her Korean mother when he was stationed in South Korea after the Korean War. After Sohn's older brother was born, her mother decided to move to the United States as she felt that a child of Korean and African-American parentage would be discriminated against in Korea. Sohn had a difficult childhood; she was often teased for her mixed heritage, her schizophrenic father physically abused her mother, and her older brother was killed when he was a teenager. She attended and graduated from Warwick High School in Newport News.

Before she was an actress, Sohn was a slam poet. While performing her work on stage, she was spotted by Marc Levin who offered her a role in his film Slam. She also wrote lyrics and co-wrote the script for the film. It went on to win the Grand Jury Prize for Dramatic Film at the Sundance Film Festival. After debuting in Slam, Sohn appeared in minor roles in films such as Shaft and Bringing Out the Dead. She also starred in independent films Perfume, G and The Killing Zone. Through the five seasons of the HBO series The Wire, she held a starring role as Detective Kima Greggs. She struggled during the first season of The Wire and considered quitting as she had trouble recalling her lines. She has also guest starred on many episodes of Cold Case as "Toni Halstead". She won the supporting television actress award at the 2008 Asian Excellence Awards for her character on The Wire.