FEATURE 10 +1 Hollywood
FEATURE 10 +1 Hollywood Stars You Didn’t Know Had Nollywood Heritage By Praise David America’s entertainment industry, Hollywood, has many black celebrities of African descent, specifically Nigerians. Here is a list of Nigerians who were either born in Nigeria and grew up overseas, or were born and raised outside the country, or they have one or both parents as Nigerians. Cynthia Erivo A British-Nigerian actress, singer and song writer, who played the lead role in the biopic Harriet and was nominated for several awards. Her full name is : Cynthia Onyedinmanasu Chinasaokwu Erivo. She was born in Stockwell England on 8 January, 1987. She attended La Retraite Roman Catholic Girls’ School. Erivo began a music psychology degree at the University of East London; however, a year into her degree, she was admitted into the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, where her multitalents blossomed. She is known for her performance as Celie in the Broadway revival of The Color Purple, for which she won the 2016 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical, the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Actress in a Musical, the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album, and the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Musical Performance in a Daytime Program, the latter two she shared with the rest of the cast. Erivo ventured into films in 2018, with roles in the heist film Widows and the thriller Bad Times at the El Royale. In 2019, she portrayed abolitionist Harriet Tubman in the biopic Harriet, for which she earned nominations for an Academy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. 36 www.glamsquadmagazine.com
FEATURE Gbenga Akinnagbe Akinnage was born in Washington, D.C.to Yoruba parents in 1978. He attended Colonel Zadok A. Magruder High School in Rockville, Maryland. He attended Bucknell University on a wrestling scholarship, and graduated in 2000 with a degree in Political Science and English. As an American actor and writer, he best known for his roles as Chris Partlow on the HBO series The Wire and as Larry Brown on the HBO series The Deuce. Adetomiwa Edun Babatunde Adetomiwa Stafford “Tomiwa” Edun, is a Nigerian-born British actor. He is best known for his roles as Sir Elyan in the television show Merlin, Marcus Young in Bates Motel and Alex Hunter in the football video games FIFA 17, FIFA 18 and FIFA 19. Carmen Ejogo Carmen Elizabeth Ejogo is a British television and film actress and singer. She was born on October 22, 1973, to a Scottish mother, Elizabeth (née Douglas), and a Nigerian father, Charles Ejogo. She began her career as a teenager hosting the Saturday Disney morning show from 1993 to 1995. Her film credits include Love’s Labour’s Lost (2000), What’s the Worst That Could Happen? (2001), Away We Go (2009). Yvonne Orji Yvonne Orji is a Nigerian American actress. She is known for her role in the HBO series Insecure. She was born to her Nigerian parents in Port Harcourt, Nigeria but was raised in Maryland, USA. Yvonne has starred in several films like Insecure, Jane The Virgin, Flip the script, etc. www.glamsquadmagazine.com 37
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