Teyana Taylor is one of those talents who has done it all, yet her star is somehow rising even higher.
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She’s an actress, singer, songwriter, rapper, dancer, model, music video director, sneaker designer, fitness guru, mother, and soon-to-be Saturday Night Live Host. Taylor makes her SNL debut as Host on January 24 with Musical Guest Geese, though she could easily pull double duty someday.
Taylor has earned her first Academy Award nomination after taking home the trophy for Supporting Actress at the 2026 Golden Globes, and her performance in the Paul Thomas Anderson movie One Battle After Another is earning Oscar buzz. And after coming out of musical retirement, Taylor’s fourth studio album, Escape Room, earned her her first Grammy nomination for Best R&B Album.
Taylor has been gathering fans for 20 years now, starting in the most unlikely of places: MTV’s My Super Sweet 16. Here’s how Taylor’s career has grown from there.
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Teyana Taylor choreographed Beyonce’s “Ring the Alarm” video at 15
Taylor was already well on her way to stardom when her episode of My Super Sweet 16 aired in February 2007. The Harlem, New York native had signed with Pharrell’s music label and got Beyonce’s attention for her viral Chicken Noodle Soup dance.
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“I went in there and I was ready,” she said on Fat Joe and Jadakiss’ Joe and Jada podcast in August 2025. “I was like, ‘Hey everybody, I’m ready to go, let’s work, boom boom boom,’ and [Beyonce] just started dying laughing. She was like, ‘Oh yeah, she’s a star.'”
Taylor threw in a few other moves and impressed Queen Bey so much that she asked the 15 year-old to choreograph her 2006 single “Ring the Alarm.”
She’s starred in music videos by Kanye West, Missy Elliott and more
Taylor’s first onscreen roles were primarily in music videos, as well as the 2010 dance feature Stomp the Yard 2. She’s not only starred in her own music videos; she’s elevated visuals for other major artists like Kanye West, Ne-Yo, Big Sean, and Missy Elliott.
While Taylor had already released her acclaimed debut album VII back in 2014, she gained major attention for starring in West’s 2016 “Fade” video. Her Flashdance-inspired dancing through a gym is simply mesmerizing, and she shows off an impressive physique that becomes even more so when you learn she gave birth to her first child just months earlier. Her newborn daughter, Junie Shumpert, and then-husband Iman Shumpert appear at the end of the video.
Taylor has also directed videos for stars like Monica and Macy Gray, as well as herself. Her Grammy-nominated Escape Room comes five years after her third studio full-length, 2020’s The Album.
You can watch her recent Tonight Show performance of “Hard Part” above.
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She won a Golden Globe for her One Battle After Another role
After the success of “Fade,” Taylor lit up the screen even more often. She starred in the fourth season of VH1’s Hit the Floor in 2018 and appeared in the 2017 Empire spinoff Star. She showed up in 2021’s Coming 2 America and worked with Tyler Perry on 2025’s Straw.
In Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another Taylor plays Perfidia Beverly Hills, the leader of a revolutionary group who falls in love with a munitions expert played by Leonardo DiCaprio. While she isn’t even in the majority of the movie, her presence is so powerful that she’s already won the Golden Globe for her performance.
Taylor can also be seen in Ryan Murphy’s lawyer drama All’s Fair and stars alongside Ben Affleck and Matt Damon in the action movie The Rip. Later in 2026, she’s in the movie 72 Hours, as part of a roster that includes three Season 51 SNL cast members: Marcello Hernández, Kam Patterson, and Ben Marshall.
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Watch Teyana Taylor host Saturday Night Live on January 24
Watch Saturday, January 24 at 11:30 ET/10:30 C/8:30 PT on NBC and Peacock to watch Teyana Taylor host SNL with Musical Guest Geese.
