Bio
Adina Porter is an American actress best known for her role as Lettie Mae Thornton, the mother of Tara (Rutina Wesley), in the HBO vampire series True Blood, from 2008-2014.
True Blood was her fourth venture with HBO, having already had performances in Mind of the Married Man, as well as the acclaimed HBO films Lackawanna Blues and Gia.
She also had a recurring role as Kendra in the HBO drama series The Newsroom.
Counting True Blood, Porter has recurred on some of television's hottest shows: Prison Break, Saving Grace, N.Y.P.D. Blue, and Law and Order. She also worked two full seasons on American Dreams.
Porter was cast as a series regular in the pilot Katrina and as a series regular in the pilot Second Opinion for CBS. In addition, Porter has worked as a guest star on over 20 television series including House, Without a Trace, The Shield, Law & Order: SVU, CSI: NY, and ER.
In the film world, Porter has been seen in Swoon, Trust, The Peacemaker, Body Shots, Pipe Dream and the Fluffer, to name a few.
In 2001, she starred on Broadway in The Women, directed by Scott Elliot. This was her second project with Elliot, having collaborated with him at the Williamstown theatre festival, in Ride Down Mt. Morgan.
In addition to Elliot, Porter has been fortunate to work with some of the best stage directors: George C. Wolfe, Lisa Peterson, Mark Wing-Davey, Richard Foreman, Michael Cristofer, Michael Grief, and Risa Bramon Garcia.
Other theatre credits include The Misanthrope, at classic stage company, numerous plays at the NY Shakespeare Festival, most notably her Obie-winning performance in Venus, written by Suzan-Lori Parks.
Porter was born and raised in New York City. She attended S.U.N.Y. Purchase, as well as the school for performing arts.
Along with her husband, Madison, Porter enjoys running after her young son. The family splits their time between Los Angeles and New York.