Meet Tessa Thompson's Rumored Boyfriend, Dev Hynes
More on the award-winning actress's rumored new boyfriend Devonté "Dev" Hynes of Blood Orange.
Tessa Thompson is a Los Angeles native who started acting in the early 2000s. The daughter of musician Marc Anthony Thompson — known as the frontman of the Chocolate Genius collective — Thompson made her professional stage debut in a Los Angeles Women's Shakespeare Company production of The Tempest.
Thompson's film career kicked off with 2006's remake of When A Stranger Calls. Her next movie role would be in 2008's Make It Happen, although she appeared in episodes of Hidden Palms and Veronica Mars between film releases.
Over the past 11 years, Thompson has not only landed a lot of big roles, but she's also been nominated for multiple roles. Among the honors she has been awarded with are "Best Actor" for Mississippi Damned from the American Black Film Festival, "Best Supporting Actress" from the Black Reel Awards for Creed, "Breakthrough Performer" for Selma from the Hamptons Inernational Film Festival, and "Breakthrough Actor" for her work on Dear White People at the Gotham Awards.
Thompson was recently linked to Devonté "Dev" Hynes, a native of London, England, prompting people to ask: Who is Dev Hynes? What you should know about Thompson's new rumored boyfriend.
1. Who is Dev Hynes? Both he and Thompson are musicians.
Thompson is a singer-songwriter, as is her half-sister Zsela. She's also been a member of the band Caught A Ghost and has been heard on the soundtracks of both Creed and Creed II.
Hynes, born David Joseph Michael Hynes, has been known by the moniker Blood Orange. Prior to that, he performed as Lightspeed Champion.
The first official recording by Hynes, as Lightspeed Champion, was 2007's Falling Off The Lavender Bridge. Lightspeed Champion went on hiatus following the release of 2010's Life Is Sweet! Nice To Meet You.
2. Hynes has major credits as a songwriter and producer.
Hynes has extensive credits as a songwriter and producer for other artists. His first major international collaboration outside Lightspeed Champion was with The Chemical Brothers; the song "All Rights Reversed" was on the Grammy-winning 2007 album We Are The Night.
Other credits for Hynes include Basement Jaxx, Diana Vickers, Theophilus London, Solange Knowles, Britney Spears, Sky Ferreira, Kylie Minogue, Carly Rae Jepsen, A$AP Rocky, Mac Miller and Blondie. His 2019 studio credits include Danny Brown and BEA1991.
Hynes has also found success with scoring films and creating music of the classical sort. He helmed the score to Queen & Slim beyond collaborating several times with famed composer Philip Glass.
3. Thompson and Hynes have worked together before.
In late 2019, Beck released a new critically-acclaimed album via Capitol Records titled Hyperspace. The full-length album included collaborations with Coldplay's Chris Martin, Pharrell and the aforementioned Ferreira.
The music video for the single "Uneventful Days" was directed by Hynes, who was chosen by Beck himself. Thompson appears in the video as do actresses Evan Rachel Wood and Alia Shawkat.
4. Rumors of Thompson and Hynes' relationship started last summer.
This week, Thompson and Hynes were spotted together at the Sundance Film Festival. The two attended the afterparty for the film Sylvie's Love and were spotted "cozying up to each other" as they were "holding hands" and later "left together."
Back in September 2019, the two were seen "walking around town" in New York City. An "embrace" was observed by a witness to such.
Another September 2019 sighting of the two found them "taking a casual stroll through Soho." Just a few months prior in June 2019, the two were seen walking around Paris together.
5. They have yet to comment about each other publicly.
While Thompson and Hynes were photographed together willingly at Sundance, none of Thompson's recent interviews appear to included comments about Hynes. Hynes does not often address his personal life in interviews, but in a July 2016 interview, he referred to his sexuality as being "fluid."
Thompson's Instagram account, which currently has around 2.8 million followers, does not include any visible references to Hynes. The same can be said for Hynes' social media accounts with regard to Thompson.
6. While private about their love lives, both Thompson and Hynes are active on social media.
Beyond her aforementioned Instagram account, Thompson regularly posts to Twitter. Her Instagram and Twitter accounts each carry unique posts, as opposed to the same content going up simultaneously on both accounts. The Instagram account is more focused on fashionable snaps, while Twitter finds her discussing her projects more frequently.
Instagram aside, Hynes is active on Facebook as Blood Orange. He had quit social media in 2015, only to return in 2018. However, his then-newly-created Twitter handle of @AngelBoyDev is no longer active.
As both Thompson and Hynes have used social media to promote projects, and the two worked together on Beck's "Uneventful Days" video, it is likely that an eventual confirmation of their relationship would come via a social media posting.
Darren Paltrowitz is a New York-based writer, editor and author. He is also the host of the Paltrocast With Darren Paltrowitz podcast, as co-produced with PureGrainAudio.com.