Curvy, confident Wilson began appearing on stage in her hometown of Houston when she was just 5 years old. After studying acting at New York University, she landed bits on both the big and small screens and made the most of her limited camera time (she was particularly memorable as an aimless Army recruit in the 1996 feature Lone Star). But theater offered her the meatiest roles and she consistently earned accolades for her work in both musicals and dramas. In 2005, after spending three decades in the ranks of working no-name actors, Wilson snagged the career-making part of stern senior resident Miranda Bailey (nicknamed "the Nazi") on the medical dramedy Grey's Anatomy, earning an Emmy nod and a 2007 SAG Award for her stellar work.