| Nichole Sakura | |
| Alma Mater: | University of Southern California (BFA) |
| Occupation: | Actress |
| Years Active: | 2010–present |
Nichole Sakura (formerly credited as Nichole Bloom) is a Japanese-American actress best known for her role as Cheyenne Thompson in the NBC sitcom Superstore (2015–2021).
Sakura was born to a Japanese mother and an American father. She has Irish ancestry from the paternal side of her family.[1] She was raised in San Francisco and usually spent her summers as a child visiting relatives in Japan.[2] She went to Santa Susana High School in Simi Valley and later attended the University of Southern California, from which she graduated after three years as a Theater major.[3] After college Sakura briefly attended classes at The Groundlings Theatre but was cut from the program, which she considers to have been "devastating."[4]
She had the recurring role of Amanda on Shameless from 2014 to 2016.
In 2015, Sakura starred in the music video for one of Phantoms’ two singles, “Broken Halo,” from their EP of the same name.[5] Later that year, she was added to the main cast of the NBC sitcom Superstore as Cheyenne, a 17-year-old store employee who is pregnant at the start of the series.[6] The series followed a group of employees working at Cloud 9, a fictional big-box chain store in St. Louis, Missouri.[7]
She had voice roles in numerous animated film and television series, including Suzume, OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes, Kiff, and Central Park.[8] [9] In 2023, she had a recurring role as a ghost named Jessica on CBS' sitcom Ghosts.[10] In November that year, Sakura starred alongside troupe Please Don’t Destroy in the comedy film , directed by Paul Briganti and written by the former.[11]
Her stage name was originally Nichole Bloom (the last name derived from her Japanese name Sakura, for cherry blossom); she changed it to Nichole Sakura in August 2020,[12] announcing through Instagram that she had changed her name for her acting credits to honor her mother and her Japanese heritage. She stated that she had taken her original stage name out of fear in being typecast into stereotypical Asian roles.
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | Everyday | Nichole O'Connor | Short film |
| 2011 | Carpool | Rachel | Short film |
| 2012 | Project X | JB's Girlfriend | |
| Model Minority | Kayla Tanaka | ||
| 2013 | Full Circle by Justin Chon | Nichole | Short film |
| 2015 | Man Up | Kayla | |
| 2016 | Teenage Cocktail | Annie Fenton | Main role |
| 2017 | Lazer Team 2 | Maggie Wittington | |
| 2023 | Suzume | Suzume Iwato | Voice; Main role, English dub[13] |
| Amy |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Teen Wolf | Rinko | 2 episodes | |
| Grey's Anatomy | Leanne | 1 episode | ||
| 2014–2016 | Shameless | Amanda | Recurring role; 17 episodes | |
| 2015–2021 | Superstore | Cheyenne Thompson | Main cast; 106 episodes | |
| 2017–2019 | OK K.O.! Let's Be Heroes | Carla, Pepelina, Nanini, Gecky, Bobo | Voice; 6 episodes | |
| 2018–2020 | Robot Chicken | Various Characters | Voice; 2 episodes | |
| 2020 | Olivia Mole | Voice; 1 episode | ||
| 2021–2022 | Maggie | Louise | Main cast; 13 episodes[14] | |
| 2021 | Haru | Voice; Short film: The Village Bride: English language dub[15] | ||
| 2022 | Beavis and Butt-Head | Girl | Voice; 1 episode | |
| 2023 | Central Park | (voice) | 2 episodes | |
| Ghosts | Jessica | 3 episodes | ||
| 2023-present | Kiff | Terri Buns and Various roles | Voice; 25 episodes |