Biography
Cynthia Kaye McWilliams was born in Berlin, Germany, raised mainly in Kansas City, Kansas, and graduated from DePaul University's renowned Theater School in Chicago, Illinois. Shortly after college, she secured a supporting role in Warner Brothers' The Lake House, followed by a recurring role on FOX's Prison Break. She then starred in the pilot Family Practice and later appeared in the FOX series Chicago Code.
Relocating from Chicago to Los Angeles, Cynthia pursued a dream role as a sitcom wife to Damon Wayans in a CBS pilot. Although the pilot was not picked up, she soon became a series regular on the NAACP award-winning comedy The Real Husbands of Hollywood alongside Kevin Hart. Cynthia appeared in five seasons of RHOH, with recurring roles on Starz’s Survivors Remorse, ABC’s Nashville, Amazon’s Bosch, and starred in the NBC drama pilot Love is a Four Letter Word.
Shifting direction, Cynthia played the sitcom mom Regina in Netflix’s Prince of Peoria, filmed before a live studio audience at Sunset/Gower studios. She associate produced and starred in the holiday comedy Twas the Chaos before Christmas, returned to theater in Inda Craig Galvan's Black Super Hero Magic Mama at the Geffen Playhouse, and joined the cast of the Disney Channel original Upside Down Magic, streaming on Disney+.
Cynthia starred in the gritty drama series Coyote with Michael Chiklis, which aired on CBS All Access (later Paramount+). After the pandemic shortened this series, she appeared opposite Samuel L. Jackson in The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey for AppleTV+. She then reprised her role as Trina Shaw for the sixth season of RHOH on BET+. Continuing with BET+, Cynthia stars as Cathy Montgomery on Average Joe alongside Deon Cole and Malcolm Barrett, in collaboration with Daelight Media and McG’s Wonderland.
In addition to acting, Cynthia enjoys a thriving voiceover career, having voiced Gamora in What If on Disney+, multiple characters on Cartoon Network, the animated film Bilal, and various video games including narrating Valorant, playing Hadrian in Starfield, Senna in League of Legends, T-Bug in Cyberpunk 2077, Spartan Tanaka in Halo 5, and roles in Disintegration, Far Cry 5 & 6, State of Decay 2, Tell Me Why, and more.
Cynthia is a passionate advocate for women and minorities creating original content, supports arts education, and has a love for food, wine, and travel.
