Get to know Chanté Adams, the fresh-faced star of 'A League of Their Own'

Bat-swinging its way into our baseball-loving hearts this summer was the A League of Their Own reboot—Prime Video's TV adaptation of the 1992 movie of the same name—which dropped on the streamer on Friday, August 12. 

The cast of A League of Their Own is populated with familiar faces like Broad City's Abbi Jacobson, Parks & Recreation's Nick Offerman and even Rosie O'Donnell, but one newcomer is stepping right up to the pitcher's mound and stealing the floodlight: Chanté Adams.

Adams has been in films before but this is her first television role and it's a big one—along with Jacobson, she's one of the main characters of the series, which means we'll definitely be seeing more of her should A League of Their Own season 2 get picked up by the streamer. 

In the meantime, let's get to know the rising star of the Prime Video hit. 

Who is Chanté Adams, 'A League of Their Own' star?

Chanté Adams is a 27-year-old actress from Detroit, Michigan. After attending Carnegie Melon's School of Drama, she moved to New York and was quickly cast in 2017's Roxanne Roxanne, a biopic about Queens rapper Roxanne Shanté, for which Adams received the Special Jury Prize for Breakthrough Performance at the Sundance Film Festival.

Adams' other movie titles include Monsters and Men, Bad Hair, The Photograph, and the Denzel Washington-directed A Journal for Jordan. 

Who does Chanté Adams play in 'A League of Their Own'?

Adams plays Maxine "Max" Chapman, an aspiring pitcher from Rockford, Illinois, who gets turned down by the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League because she's Black. (And yes, if you're wondering, the AAGPBL was real and A League of Their Own is based on a true story—Adams character was reportedly based on three real-life women, Negro League players Toni Stone, Mamie Johnson, and Connie Morgan.

That doesn't stop her baseball ambitions though—by the end of season one (spoiler alert!), Max has been hired to pitch professionally with an all-male team and leaves Rockford to go on tour with them for the next few months. 

"She’s fighting a war on three different fronts. She’s Black, she’s queer, and she’s a woman. And she’s trying to play baseball...It’s like all of society, the societal norms, are against her. And she has to fight," Adams said in an interview with the Detroit Free Press. "She has to be a warrior and fight very hard. She wants to be able to live the life that she thinks that she should.”

Is Chanté Adams dating anyone?

During the filming of 2021's A Journal for Jordan, there were romance rumors surrounding Adams and her costar, Michael B. Jordan, but it seems the chemistry between them was purely professional. Elsewhere, the 27-year-old keeps her relationships pretty private, and her Instagram posts are clear of any potential suitors. 

Is Chanté Adams related to Nia Long?

Despite both being very beautiful and talented actresses—who admittedly do share a resemblance—Chanté Adams and Nia Long are not related. They did, however, play daughter and mother in Roxanne Roxanne, though Adams says their bond was more sisterly during filming. 

"We were developing a friendship offscreen that felt more like she was my big sister. I mean, you know, she’s not old enough to be my mom! She doesn’t age. She became such a mentor to me. It was my first film. I didn’t know anything about shooting a movie. I went to theater school. I came on set knowing two things: how to act and how to learn. She would stay behind and come to set on days she wasn’t called just to help give me a little bit of extra direction," Adams told Vulture. 

"I just remember looking at her and thinking that she was so pretty. She was literally one of my idols growing up, especially once I got into acting. The longevity that she has sustained in her career is definitely something I aspire to."

Looks like Adams is already on her way!