in 1988. Ross attended The Dalton School in Manhattan, Riverdale Country School in the Bronx and the Institut Le Rosey in Switzerland. She was a model in her teens. She attended Brown University, where she appeared in plays, and graduated in 1994 with a theatre degree. She later worked in the fashion industry as a model and contributing fashion editor to Mirabella and New York magazines. Ross has ptosis, slightly affecting her left eye-lid. Following a speech at the American Music Awards, Internet trolls commented on her condition, leading her to post an Instagram video saying, "I know y'all make fun of my eyes, you know what I mean? Well, f**ck off, 'cause it's not my fault, alright? My body does what it does, I don't know why. But sometimes when I'm tired, this one just gives up, and it's like, 'Goodnight!'..."Go ahead, make fun of my eyes, OK? But I think they're nice, I think they're so nice, I do." Career Early works Ross made her big-screen debut in 1996, playing a Jewish/African-American woman in the independent feature film Far Harbor. The following year, she debuted as host of The Dish, a Lifetime TV magazine series keeping tabs on popular culture. In 1998, she starred as a former high school track star who remained silent about having been abused at the hands of a coach, in the NBC made-for-TV movie Race Against Fear: A Moment of Truth. Her next role was an independent feature film titled Sue. In 2000, she landed her first major studio role in Diane Keaton's Hanging Up. That same year, she broke into comedy as a regular performer in the MTV series The Lyricist Lounge Show, a hip-hop variety series mixing music, dramatic sketches, and comedic skits. In February 2006 she starred in Kanye West’s "Touch The Sky" MTV music video, playing the role of the best friend of Kanye's ex. 2000–2013: Breakthrough with Girlfriends Ross's biggest career achievement came when she landed the lead role in the hit UPN/The CW series Girlfriends, starring as the show's protagonist Joan Carol Clayton — a successful (and often neurotic) lawyer looking for love, challenges, and adventure. The series centered on four (later three) young African-American women, and their male best friend. In 2007, Ross won an NAACP Image Award in the category, Outstanding Actress in a Comedy Series for her role on the series. She won a