About Nia Thompson
It is the kind of a story Walt Disney himself would write. On September 8, 2019, to celebrate her eighth birthday, Nia Thompson set foot in the Minskoff Theater for the first time, to see THE LION KING with her two besties. As a special treat, her parents arranged a backstage tour led by seven-year ensemble member the late Sharron Lynn Williams. As the tour ended, Nia stood on stage and shared her dreams of one day being in THE LION KING, to which Sharron responded by turning her around to face the empty theater and saying, “See yourself here one day.” Four years later, the day before her twelfth birthday, Nia was cast to make her Broadway debut starring in the world’s #1 musical as “Young Nala.”
This was the fairytale manifestation of a story that started as the declaration of a toddler. As a young three-year-old on November 19, 2014, Nia watched KeKe Palmer in her historic performance as the first Black Disney princess on Broadway in CINDERELLA. As the curtains closed she turned to her mother and said “I’m supposed to be on the stage.” She would repeat this same sentiment when starting pre-K at Buckley Country Day school. It was the stage in the school’s auditorium that caught her eye and caused her to remind her mother of her dream repeating those same words “I’m supposed to be on the stage.”
On December 5, 2023, reality caught up with her dreams, when she made her Broadway debut in THE LION KING — the world’s number one musical.
Nia is no stranger to taking center stage and making headlines. The rainbow child of her father, Marc Thompson Jr. and mother Coach Gessie Thompson, Nia is the manifestation of a 10-year battle with infertility caused by uterine fibroids. The miraculous story of Nia’s birth inspired millions after it went viral in ESSENCE, and launched her mother into a new career from talent manager and fibroids survivor to founder of holistic health education and supplements provider TheDeToxNow.com.
Focused on her purpose, at six years old Nia told her mother that she was supposed to be in her first project by the time she was seven or eight years old. With the support of Francine Holt, the mother of actor Alexis Holt, Gessie began working to build Nia’s team — starting with an agent. She shares “I’m eternally grateful for Francine’s generous spirit in mentoring me in the process of helping Nia live her dreams. I love the abundance mentality with which she guided me in helping me find the right agency home for Nia.” Referred by Alexis, Nia quickly secured a face-to-face meeting with Youth Department head Bonnie Schumofsky Bloom and was signed to the agency within 15 minutes! Together with the right voice coach Stephy Bloom of Stephy Bloom Music Studios, acting coach Sharra Dade of I Coach Stars and dancing coach Brian Hawthorne, Nia was supported by the best in the business.
Her first project was a small feature in the annual Because of Them We Can® video celebrating Black History Month, which inspired her to start her own YouTube show celebrating “everything black!” Always an advocate for herself, Nia wasn’t willing to wait for fame to find her and had to convince her protective father who was adamant about keeping her off social media to allow her to start her own YouTube show. She finally wore him down when she challenged him with the words “Daddy, you’re stopping me from being great!” Unwilling to stand in the way of his daughter’s greatness, her dad relented and “Nia’s Black Girl Magic” was born.
She soon caught the eye of Toddlewood®, creator Tricia Messeroux and was cast to portray Oscar-winning Black Panther set designer Hannah Beachler in the mini-remake of her red carpet look the night of her historic win. She was featured on Access Hollywood, Associated Press and other media outlets.
Nia’s first professional booking came one month after she celebrated her eighth birthday at THE LION KING with her besties, when she was tapped by Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o to star in a film project for her debut children’s book SULWE. This was a manifestation of Nia’s words to her mother—she filmed her first project at the age of eight!
Later Messeroux would tap Nia again but this time to honor and celebrate her shero Harriet Tubman in two special Toddlewood projects that landed Nia appearances on the “Tamron Hall Show,” “CBS Mornings,” “E! News,” “Steve on Watch,” and more. But it was her on Access Online, that Nia would boldly proclaim that when she grew up, she wanted to be an “actor, dancer, singer and civil rights activist!”
Living that dream, Nia is now the CEO of her own production company Authentic Nia Inc. She is best known for singing Disney’s viral hit “Super Bonnet” from GRAMMY winners Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson and Tariq “Black Thought” Trotter’s NAACP Image Nominated animated short series “Rise Up, Sing Out.” The infectious bop championed diversity and inclusivity by inspiring young girls around the world to embrace and celebrate their curly, textured hair.
She has also enjoyed recurring roles in the Obamas’ Netflix EMMY-winning animated series “Ada Twist Scientist” and Oscar winner Forest Whitaker’s “Godfather of Harlem” as well as an appearance alongside Queen Latifah in “The Equalizer.” She can be seen next in a Season 54 episode of “Sesame Street” and in the HULU mini series “Washington Black” and will be launching her own podcast “Authentic Voices” in early 2024. Focused on conversations that inspire authentic and courageous living, the podcast will be amplified by a partnership with The Conscious Kid — an Education, Research and Policy Organization that supports families and educators in taking action to disrupt racism, inequity and bias.
Subscribe to her podcast and follow her journey at AuthenticNia.com and @AuthenticNia!