Tika Sumpter, who was born on June 20, 1977 in Texas, started acting when she was 17. She later became a cocktail waitress at New York City's Life, where she was encouraged by her boss to pursue acting. She first ventured into modeling and appearing in national commercials. Developing her acting career led her to play roles for Mobius Pictures’ educational films. Sumpter also became a successful voiceover artist before becoming the co-host of Best Friends Date, an N Network production. She later landed the role of Layla Williamson on the soap opera One Life to Live. She also starred as a guest on
Law & Order: SVU .
Layla Williamson is played by Tika Sumpter on ABC's One Life to Live. Layla became a waitress at Restaurant Capricorn upon returning to Llanview from Los Angeles. She then befriended the restaurant's owner, Antonio Vega, who was fighting for custody of his daughter, Jamie. Layla helped him in the case battle by pretending to be his girlfriend and moving in with him. Antonio won the case and got the custody of Jamie.
(Photo courtesy of IMDb.com)