MaameYaa Boafo

Last updated
MaameYaa Boafo
NationalityGhanaian
Alma mater Hood College
Rutgers University 2009 Marc Bloch University
Occupation(s)Actress, comedian
Years active2012–present

MaameYaa Boafo (pronounced "Mah-Mih-Yah Bwafoh") is a Pakistan-born Ghanaian actress and comedian.

Contents

Biography

Boafo was born in Pakistan. [1] She is of Ashanti (Ghanaian) ethnicity. [2] She was raised in Sudan, Ethiopia, Geneva and Kenya, but is a citizen of Ghana. [3] [1] In 2001, after graduating from high school, Boafo travelled to the United States to study French and communication. [1]

After graduating from Hood College in 2015, she received a scholarship to study acting at Rutgers University and earned her master's degree in 2019. [4] Boafo did a study abroad semester at Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, France. [1]

Boafo made her acting debut as Asa in the 2012 short film Asa, A Beautiful Girl. [5] In 2014, Boafo began portraying Nana Yaa in Nicole Amarteifio's web TV series An African City . Her character is a journalist who struggles to afford rent in Accra, analogous to Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City . Boafo noticed the role on a Facebook page, and because she was travelling she sent a videotaped audition to Amarteifio, who called a week later. [6]

In 2014, she starred in Bus Nut, an experimental short film in which she read the words from the trial of Rosa Parks. It premiered at the San Francisco Film Festival. [1]

In 2015, Boafo had a small role in The Family Fang . She appeared in the short films New York, I Love You and Olive in 2016. [7] From 2017 to 2018, she starred as Paulina in the play School Girls, which was inspired by Mean Girls . [8]

Boafo was nominated for the Lucille Lortell Award and the Los Angeles Drama Circle Award for best actor, and received the Drama Desk award for her performance. [9] She played HIV patient Abena Kwemo in a 2018 episode of Chicago Med . [10] In 2019, she played private investigator Briana Logan in the TV series Bluff City Law . [9] Boafo portrayed Zainab in the TV series Ramy in 2020. [11]

Boafo made a video in reaction to the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore titled "As Nina", as she reportedly bears a resemblance to the late singer Nina Simone. [1] In addition to English, she speaks Twi. [2]

Filmography

Film

YearTitleRoleNotes
2012Asa, A Beautiful GirlAsa KolawoleShort film
Tied & TrueRoda
Azure II
2014When It All Falls Down...Dominique
Bus Nut
2015 The Family Fang College student
2016New York, I Love YouVivianeShort film
OliveAva Nuyame
2017 Where Is Kyra? Casey
The Blue CarMotherShort film
IbrahimAminata

Television

YearTitleRoleNotes
2013–2018Thru 25Cassie10 episodes
2014 Madam Secretary KomoyoEpisode: "The Call"
An African City Nana YaaMain cast
2014–2015DeadstarCharice2 episodes
2015 American Odyssey Desk clerkEpisode: "Bug Out"
The Blacklist LucindaEpisode: "Marvin Gerard (No. 80)"
The Mysteries of Laura KimmieEpisode: "The Mystery of the Maternal Instinct"
2016Conversating While BlackReneeTV Pilot
Beyond ComplicatedCamillaEpisode: "As Told By Her 103"
2017 Iron Fist Female receptionistEpisode: "Snow Gives Way"
2018 Chicago Med Abena KwemoEpisode: "Mountains and Molehills"
2019Theater Close UpPaulinaEpisode: "School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play"
Bluff City Law Briana JohnsonMain cast
2020 Ramy ZainabRecurring (season 2)
2021–2022 The Mysterious Benedict Society Rhonda KazembeMain cast
2023 Extrapolations Lucy AdoboEpisode: "2070: Ecocide"

Related Research Articles

Suzzy Williams was a well-known Ghanaian television and film actor. She starred in films such as Bloody Mary, Calamity, The Comforter and Mother's Heart. Her career as an actor was launched through the African hit film Together Forever, with a screenplay by US-based Ghanaian producer and screenwriter Leila Djansi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nina Dobrev</span> Canadian actress (born 1989)

Nina Kamenova Dobreva, credited professionally as Nina Dobrev, is a Canadian actress. She is best known for portraying Elena Gilbert and Katherine Pierce on The CW's supernatural drama series The Vampire Diaries (2009–2015).

Nadia Buari is a Ghanaian actress. She received two nominations for Best Actress in a Leading Role at the Africa Movie Academy Awards in 2009.

The Mysterious Benedict Society is a quartet of children's books by Trenton Lee Stewart chronicling the adventures of four children, initially gathered together by the eccentric Mr. Benedict. The first children's novels written by Stewart, each of the first three books were published annually from 2007 to 2009, with the fourth installment following a decade later. A prequel novel detailing the backstory of Nicholas Benedict was released in 2012.

Robert Patrick Baffour,, was a Ghanaian engineer, politician and university administrator who served as the first Vice Chancellor of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He was also a pioneer in engineering education in Ghana.

An African City is a television and a web series, it is created as a Ghanaian equivalent of Sex and the City for YouTube. The first episode of the webseries debuted on March 2, 2014. The second season debuted on January 24, 2016. The series follows the lives of five single young women of African descent who have recently resettled in Accra, Ghana, after living abroad for most of their lives. The series also displays how each woman balance being a successful college-educated woman with their personal lives as well as their new life as "returnees" in Ghana. Each episode is told in first-person narrative through the main character NanaYaa and touches on a wide array of subjects from power outages or skin whitening to condom use, self-gratification and sexual abstinence before marriage.

<i>Kwaku Ananse</i> (film) 2013 Ghanaian film

Kwaku Ananse is a 2013 short film directed by Akosua Adoma Owusu. The short film combines semi-autobiographical elements with the tale of Kwaku Ananse, a trickster in West African and Caribbean stories who appears as both a spider and a man. The fable of Kwaku Ananse is combined with the story of a young outsider named Nyan Koronhwea, who attends her estranged father's funeral. At the funeral, she retreats to the woods in search of her father. The film starred legendary musician Koo Nimo and veteran actress Grace Omaboe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Juliet Asante</span> Ghanaian actress and film producer

Juliet Yaa Asantewa Asante is a Ghanaian film actress, producer and director, and philanthropist. Her latest film, Silver Rain, was nominated for "Best Film in West Africa" and "Best costume" for 2015 in the Africa Magic viewer's choice awards (AMVCA) and also 2015 "Best Overall Film In Africa". In 1999, Asante started the production house Eagle House Productions. That same year she also started "Save Our Women International", a non-profit entity focussing on female sexual education and launched an innovation that makes short movies for the mobile phone in Africa in 2014 called Mobile Flicks. She is also the Founder and executive director of Black Star International Film Festival. Eagle Productions has helped train some actors and actresses in Ghana through its training arm, the Eagle Drama Workshop.

Grace Omaboe, popularly known as Maame Dokono, is a Ghanaian actress, singer, television personality, author and a former politician. She run the former Peace and Love Orphanage which is now Graceful Grace school in Accra. She was honored by the organizers of 3Music Awards for her achievement in the entertainment industry in Ghana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cina Soul</span> Ghanaian musician

Christie Quincyna Quarcoopome also known in showbiz as Cina Soul is a Ghanaian singer-songwriter and recording artist. A finalist at the 2014 Vodafone Ghana Music Icons competition held in Accra, Ghana.

<i>Ramy</i> (TV series) American comedy-drama TV series

Ramy is an American comedy-drama streaming television series that premiered on April 19, 2019, on Hulu. In May 2019, Hulu renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on May 29, 2020. The series stars Ramy Youssef as the titular character. In July 2020, Hulu renewed the series for a third season, which premiered on September 30, 2022.

<i>Bluff City Law</i> 2019 American legal drama television series

Bluff City Law is an American legal drama television series created by Dean Georgaris and Michael Aguilar that aired on NBC from September 23 to November 25, 2019. In June 2020, the series was canceled after one season.

Belinda Naa Ode Oku is a Ghanaian actress popularly known in showbiz as "Adwoa Smart". She was born at Abossey Okai, a suburb of Accra in Ghana. Adwoa has acted in numerous movies and drama episodes over several decades. She was very popular and highly sought after during the heyday of Akan drama from 1980 to the year 2000 and beyond. She has also featured in several music videos. Adwoa came into prominence as a cast member of the long-running Akan drama series "Obra" (Life) which aired on GTV during the 80s and 90s.

Clara Amoateng Benson popularly known as Maame Serwaa is a young Ghanaian actress and brand ambassador. In April 2018, she was featured in BBC Africa’s documentary on the ThrivingGhanaian Movie Industry. She has also won several awards including Kumawood Best Actress of the Year 2015 and Ghana Tertiary Awards Best Actress of the Year 2018.

Dr. Evelyn Mansa Amarteifio (1916-1997) was a Ghanaian women's organiser. In 1953 she established the National Federation of Gold Coast Women (NFGCW).

Nicole Amarteifio is a Ghanaian film director, producer, and screenwriter.

Dedo Difie Agyarko-Kusi is a Ghanaian politician. She served as Ghana's Ambassador to South Korea. She is a member of the New Patriotic Party. She is the sister of the Emmanuel Kwabena Kyeremateng Agyarko and Boakye Agyarko. She once served as a translator of French and Spanish for UNESCO.

May El Calamawy is an Egyptian-Palestinian actress who has worked and resided in the United States since 2015. She is known for her roles in the American television series Ramy as Dena Hassan, and Moon Knight as Layla El-Faouly.

Nana Mensah is an American actress, writer, and director known for her roles in 13 Reasons Why, An African City, New Amsterdam, Bonding, and The Chair. Mensah's directorial debut, Queen of Glory, had its festival premiere in 2021, and was released in 2022.

India Ria Amarteifio is an English actress. She began her career as a child actress on the West End. In 2023, she portrayed the title role of a fictionalised Queen Charlotte in the period drama series Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Meyerfeld, Bruno (15 May 2015). "MaameYaa Boafo, la diva de la websérie " An African City "". Le Monde (in French). Archived from the original on 21 September 2018. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  2. Kodjo, Cyprien (13 October 2014). "An African "Sex and the City"". New York Amsterdam News. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  3. "MaameYaa Boafo Bio". Broadway World. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  4. "Briana Johnson". NBC . Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  5. Walker, Akilah (9 May 2014). "Interview: 'An African City' Star MaameYaa Boafo". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  6. Forson, Viviane (7 March 2016). "Diaspora - Télévision - MaameYaa Boafo : il faut s'affirmer tel que l'on est". Le Point (in French). Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  7. Green, Jesse (16 November 2017). "Review: 'School Girls' Is a Gleeful African Makeover of an American Genre". The New York Times . Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  8. 1 2 Isama, Antoinette (19 May 2019). "'An African City' and 'School Girls' Star MaameYaa Boafo Lands Role in New NBC Legal Drama". OkayAfrica. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  9. Coulston, John Connor (3 January 2018). "'Chicago Med' Takes on HIV in Latest Episode". Popculture.com. Retrieved 2 November 2020.
  10. Ali, Lorraine (17 June 2020). "Struggling Ramy character makes for smart humor amid questions of faith, commitment". Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2 November 2020.