Ayana Workman

Ayana Workman's first gig was an impromptu performance with tap genius Savion Glover. She was three years old.

Savion asked the audience if anyone wanted to come up on stage and dance with him. Ayana's hand shot straight up like a rocket. Always prepared, she had her tap shoes with her.

Of course, it didn't hurt that her parents were legendary jazz bassist Reggie Workman -- a veteran of the John Coltrane Quartet -- and Maya Milenovic Workman, an internationally renowned dancer and choreographer. Unlike her classmates, Ayana's daycare was in dance studios and recording studios, where she grew her chops as a dancer and musician, learning how to play the guitar, the piano and the African djembe drum.

But at age 9, she pivoted again, and decided she was going to be an actor.

A New York City native, it was only logical that her first professional gig in her early 20s was playing Juliet in the Public Theatre Mobile Unit's production of Romeo and Juliet, traveling around to prisons, homeless shelters, and community centers throughout New York's boroughs. She buttressed her stage resume with roles in plays like Hamlet, Macbeth, The Winter's Tale, and Julius Caesar. On top of that, she's performed on international stages including the National Theatre in Slovenia and London's legendary Globe Theatre.