Tazel holds a B.A. from
Spelman College and an M.F.A. from
New York University's Graduate Acting Program. She made her professional acting debut at the New York Shakespeare Festival’s
The Winter’s Tale (2000); further roles include at the
Royal Shakespeare Company's
Cymbeline, and an off-Broadway appearance in Playwrights Horizons'
Juvenilia. Tazel was nominated for the L.A. Drama Critics Circle award for Lead Performance, for her work in
I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given To Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda (role of Juliette, 2007) at The Colony Theatre in Burbank, CA, and received the NAACP Theatre Award for Best Lead Female (2007) for that same role. On screen, Tazel has made limited appearances, including a minor role in the
David Duchovny drama
House of D (2004, table below), starring
Anton Yelchin,
Robin Williams,
Téa Leoni, and
Erykah Badu. Tazel's television debut was as a dance teacher in an episode of
Sex and the City (2001); prior to her supporting role in
Justified she was a guest lead on
Without A Trace, had recurring roles on
Jericho and
Third Watch, and guest roles on programs including
The Office,
ER,
Law & Order and
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,
Life,
Heartland,
Bones, and
Firefly. ==Filmography==