Yvonne Orji
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Orji in 2017
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| Born | Yvonne Anuli Orji (1983-12-02) 2 December 1983 (age 40) |
| Education | George Washington University (BA, MPH) |
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| Years active | 2011–present |
Yvonne Anuli Orji // ⓘ [1] (born 2 December 1983) is a Nigerian-American actress and comedian. She is best known for her role in the television series Insecure (2016–2021), for which she was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award and three NAACP Image Awards.
Orji was born on 2 December 1983, in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria to Igbo parents, and she grew up in Laurel, Maryland, in the United States.[2][3] She spent her high school years in the small town of Lititz, Pennsylvania, where she attended Linden Hall, the oldest all-girls boarding school in the country. Raised Catholic, Orji is now a devout Protestant and has stated that she will remain a virgin until marriage.[4]
She earned both a bachelor's degree in liberal arts and a master's degree in public health from George Washington University. Orji's parents expected her to become a doctor, lawyer, pharmacist, or engineer. However, she was inspired to do comedy as a graduate student when she performed stand-up in the talent portion of a beauty pageant.
After graduate school, in 2009, Orji moved to New York City to pursue a career in comedy.[4] In 2015, she landed the role of Molly on Insecure without an agent or any real acting experience.[5] In 2021, she began development on a series for Disney+ titled First Gen. The series is based on her personal life and is produced by Oprah Winfrey and David Oyelowo.[6] Orji is the author of the book Bamboozled by Jesus.[7]
She gave a speech at TEDxWilmingtonSalon in 2017 titled, "The wait is sexy". In the talk, she explains her reasons for abstaining from sex before marriage.[8]
She cohosted the 2021 International Emmy Awards.[9] She also hosted the romantic comedy reality dating series My Mom, Your Dad, which premiered on HBO Max in 2022, which ran for a single season.[10]
In 2023, Orji voiced Tess, the estranged wife of secret bounty hunter Terry, a recurring character in My Dad the Bounty Hunter.[11] Also in 2023, Orji had signed a two-year first-look deal with Sony Pictures Television.[12]
Outside of her creative work, she is dedicated to philanthropy. In 2008 and 2009 she spent six months working in post-conflict Liberia, with Population Services International (PSI), an NGO that utilizes social marketing in the adoption of healthy behaviors. While in Liberia, she worked with a group of talented youth to help build a mentoring program as well as a weekly talk show that helped educate and prevent the spread of teen pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. She currently lends her time and voice as a (RED) Ambassador, a Literacy Champion for Jumpstart, and working with JetBlue for Good.[13]
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | Sex (Therapy) with the Jones | Moshinda | Short film |
| 2015 | Tempting Fate | Mama Ugo | |
| 2018 | Night School | Maya | |
| 2020 | Spontaneous | Agent Carla Rosetti | |
| 2021 | Vacation Friends | Emily Conway-Parker | |
| 2022 | The Blackening | Morgan | |
| 2023 | Vacation Friends 2 | Emily Conway-Parker |
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | Love That Girl! | Njideka | Episode: "Head Shrunk" |
| 2016–2021 | Insecure | Molly Carter | 42 episodes |
| 2017 | Jane the Virgin | Stacy | 2 episodes |
| Flip the Script | Ad Exec 1 | Episode: "Mad Woman" | |
| 2019 | A Black Lady Sketch Show | Flight attendant | Episode: "Why Are Her Pies Wet, Lord?" |
| 2020 | Momma, I Made It! | Herself | HBO comedy special |
| 2021 | Yearly Departed | Herself - Host | Amazon Prime Video comedy special |
| 2022 | The Wonder Years | Tammy | Episode: "Love & War" |
| A Whole Me | Herself | HBO comedy special | |
| 2023–2024 | Velma | Gigi, Sammy (voice) | 9 episodes |
| 2023 | My Dad the Bounty Hunter | Tess (voice) | 13 episodes |
| Year | Award | Category | Work | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Primetime Emmy Awards | Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series | Insecure | Nominated |
Wilson, H. W. (November 2018). "Yvonne Orji". Current Biography. 79 (11): 51–55. ISBN 9781682176412. OCLC 1005191045.
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