Uzoamaka Aduba
Uzoamaka Aduba is a successful Nigerian-American actress known for her impressive role as Suzanne Warren on the Netflix original series Orange Is the New Black, for which she has received several accolades including an Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series (2014), Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (2015), and two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series (2014 & 2015). Uzo Aduba stands out as one of only two actors to win an Emmy Award in both the comedy and drama categories for the same role.
The actress first gained recognition in 2003 when she earned a Helen Hayes Award nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Play, for her performance in Translations of Xhosa at the Olney Theatre Centre for the Arts. In 2006, she played Amphiarus at New York Theatre Workshop and in 2007, she made her Broadway debut, playing Toby in Helen Edmundson’s adaptation of Coram Boy at the Imperial Theatre. Between 2011 to 2012, Uzo Aduba sang By My Side as part of the original revival cast of Godspell at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The actress’ first television appearance was the role of a nurse on Blue Bloods in 2012.
Uzo Aduba’s creativity has been showcased in several films she has appeared on including Pearly Gates (2015), American Pastoral (2016), Showing Roots (2016), My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), Candy Jar (2018), and Miss Virginia (2019). In 2020, she appeared in the Hulu miniseries Mrs America, for which she received a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie and the 2021 Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie/Miniseries.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, to Nigerian parents, Uzo Aduba studied Classical Voice at Boston University.
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As well as her remarkable acting career, Uzo Aduba is also involved in advocacy in Africa and other parts of the world. In June 2018, she became Heifer International’s first-ever celebrity ambassador to Africa, having seen the organization’s impact in Uganda. Heifer International, also known as Heifer Project International is a global nonprofit working to eradicate poverty and hunger through sustainable, values-based community development.
In July 2020, Uzo Aduba was also announced as a minority investor in Angel City FC, a Los Angeles team scheduled to start to play in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2022. She also recently teamed up with Stand Up to Cancer (SU2C) for a new Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA), to encourage cancer patients to share their experiences to hopefully accelerate the pace of cancer research.
We are delighted to have Uzoamaka Aduba as our WCW feature this week.