Cleopatra Coleman (born 29 October 1987) is an Australian actress. She is known for playing Erica on the American comedy series The Last Man on Earth and Rya in the Netflix original sci-fi thriller In the Shadow of the Moon.
Coleman grew up in Byron Bay, Australia, the daughter of a Scottish father and a Jamaican mother. After high school, she visited Los Angeles and then moved there a few years later.[1]
Coleman started her professional film and television career in her home country of Australia at age 15. In 2005, Coleman was cast as a lead in the sci-fi teenage drama Silversun for ABC and Seven Network.
In 2006, Coleman was cast as Glenn Forrest in the long running Australian soap opera Neighbours.[2] Coleman went on to appear in other Australian television programs, including Blue Heelers, Holly's Heroes, Wicked Science, City Homicide and Rush.
In 2008, Coleman appeared in a stage production of Simon Stephens' Motortown with Melbourne's Red Stitch Actors Theatre, receiving positive reviews.
In 2011, Coleman co-wrote, executive-produced, and starred in the short film Trains, the first project for Coleman/Coleman productions, created by Cleopatra and her father, Mick Coleman.
In the same year, she was cast in her breakout motion picture role as DJ Penelope in Step Up Revolution, a film released on 27 July 2012. She also featured in multiple music videos by Nervo ("You're Gonna Love Again"), Far East Movement ("Change Your Life") and Galantis ("Runaway (U & I)") in 2014.
In 2014, Coleman was cast as a series regular in the Fox ensemble comedy series The Last Man on Earth. She played the role of Erica Dundee for four seasons.[3]
In 2016, Coleman guest-starred in the series Better Things. A year later, she wrote, produced, and starred in the environmental sci-fi thriller Hover for Syfy Films. The same year, she starred as Sadie Lewis in the Showtime comedy White Famous which ran for one season.
In 2019, Coleman guest-starred in Gregg Araki's Now Apocalypse and critically acclaimed series Sorry for Your Loss. The same year, she also appeared as Rya in In the Shadow of the Moon for Netflix, directed by Jim Mickle. In 2020, Coleman played Trina in the quirky independent comedy The Argument, directed by Robert Schwartzman.
In 2021, Coleman played Sarah, the female lead of The Right One, a romantic comedy released through Lionsgate, and starred in the music video for "Ceremony" by Deftones, directed by Leigh Whannel. Also in 2021, she played Grace Pell in the critically acclaimed miniseries drama Dopesick alongside Michael Keaton and Kaitlyn Dever.
In 2023, Coleman played Miss Devine in Cobweb, a film directed by Samuel Bodin and co-starring Lizzy Caplan and Antony Starr, and Em Foster in Brandon Cronenberg's film Infinity Pool, alongside Alexander Skarsgard and Mia Goth.
She also starred as Devra Bloodaxe in Zack Snyder's Netflix original sci-fi fantasy epic Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire released in 2023, and Rebel Moon – Part Two: The Scargiver released in 2024.
From 2017 to 2021, Coleman dated Canadian actor Avan Jogia. Fans of the duo started to speculate whether or not they broke up by 2021 upon noticing that they unfollowed each other on social media that year.[4]