Nigerians in Hollywood Part Two

Annie Ilonzeh

Best known for: General Hospital

Annette Ngozi "Annie" Ilonzeh was born in Texas, USA in 1983 to a Nigerian father and a Caucasian American mother.

Annie Ilonzeh.    Picture: www.imdb.com 

After graduating from the University of Texas at Arlington, Annie made her television debut in an episode of the series How I Met Your Mother.

Since then she has appeared in a string of hit TV series such as the Melrose Place, Entourage, and Graceland. She has had major roles in others like Drop Dead Diva, Switched at Birth, Person of Interest and superhero series Arrow. She also guest starred in the police drama series Beauty and the Beast as well as the hip-hop drama series Empire.

She is best known for her role as Maya Ward on the long-running soap opera General Hospital. She became the first black Charlie’s Angel when she played the part of Kate Prince in the short-lived reboot of the iconic all-girl detective crew.

Annie has also had roles in the movies He's Just Not That Into You, Miss March and Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief.

She also stars in the upcoming movie All Eyez On Me, which is about the late rapper Tupac Shakur. The film is due to be released in 2017.

Rick Famuyiwa

Best known for: Brown Sugar

Rick Famuyiwa.    Picture: www.deadlne.com

Rick Famuyiwa is a film director, producer, and screenwriter. The son of Nigerian immigrants, he was born in 1973 and grew up in the City of Inglewood, near Los Angeles, California.

He has a Bachelor of Arts degree in Film & Television Production and Critical Studies, from the University of Southern California (USC) College of Letters, Arts & Sciences and another BA degree from the School of Cinematic Arts.

The films he has directed include The Wood (1999), Brown Sugar (2002), Talk to Me (2007), Our Family Wedding (2010) and Dope (2015), which he wrote and directed.

The Wood, his first feature film, is a semi-autobiographical account of his upbringing in Inglewood. The film, which was produced by MTV Films, stars Omar Epps and Taye Diggs. It cost $6 million to produce and grossed over $25 million at the box office in the United States alone.

The Black Reel Awards nominated Famuyiwa for Best Director for his work on The Wood and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) nominated the film for Outstanding Motion Picture.

Brown Sugar, a beautiful film that stars Taye Diggs and Sanaa Lathan, is a story of friendship, love and hip-hop. It grossed about $28 million in the USA.  The NAACP Image Awards nominated the film for Outstanding Motion Picture.

The NAACP also nominated Talk To Me for Outstanding Motion Picture and Famuyiwa won for Outstanding Writing in a Motion Picture (Theatrical or Television).

In 2016 Famuyiwa directed Confirmation, a political thriller starring Kerry Washington, Wendell Pierce and Greg Kinnear. It is based on a true story about Anita Hill’s accusations of sexual harassment against Clarence Thomas during the latter’s Supreme Court nomination.

Confirmation, which received mostly positive reviews from critics, was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie.

Warner Bros has chosen Famuyiwa to direct the blockbuster superhero movie The Flash, due for release in March 2018. This shows that he has now joined the big league for real.

Famuyiwa, a member of the Director’s Guild of America, is married to Glenita Mosley whom he met at the USC.

Hope Olaide Wilson

Best known for: I Can Do Bad All By Myself

Hope Wilson   Picture: www.Hopewilson.com    

Hope Olaide Wilson was born in 1985 in the UK to Nigerian parents. Her full name is Hope Adjoko Olubunkonla Olaide Wilson. She grew up in London, UK and Lagos, Nigeria. She studied at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Hope, an actress and producer, moved to the United States in 1996. She has featured in Tyler Perry’s I Can Do Bad All By Myself, After the Dark, Dara Ju, Faith and Dreams, amongst others.

In I Can Do Bad All By Myself, the young but hugely talented Hope held her own against an all-star cast that included Taraji P. Henson, Gladys Knight, Marvin Winans, Mary J. Blige, and others.

She won the 2009 Diversity Awards Female Nova Award Recipient for promising talent. She is fluent in English, French and Yoruba.

Enuka Okuma

Best known for: Rookie Blue

Enuka Okuma     Picture: Rotten Tomatoes    

Enuka Okuma is an actress, writer and producer. She was born in 1976 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Nigerian parents.

Okuma started her acting career as a teenager in the 1990s on Canadian TV, appearing as a regular cast member in the soap opera, Hillside. She also played supporting roles in several made for TV films and made her feature film debut in Double Jeopardy.

Her post-teen years saw her appearing in several TV series such Madison, Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye, Da Vinci’s Inquest, House of the Dead, and Grey’s Anatomy. Others are 24, Slasher, Stolen, Motive, NCIS: Los Angeles, Las Vegas, and How to Get Away With Murder.

However, she made her name playing detective Traci Nash in the police drama series Rookie Blue. For this role Okuma was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Series at the 2011 Gemini awards and the Canadian Screen Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Featured Supporting Role in a Dramatic Program or Series in 2013.

She has appeared in over 26 films. These include, The Adversaries, Stolen, What Color Is Love?, House of the Dead, How to Kill Your Neighbour’s Dog, Suddenly Naked, Reindeer Games, The Hunted, and The Christmas List.

Okuma made her directorial debut with the short film, Cookie, which she also wrote and produced.

She married Joe Gasparik, a musician, on July 2, 2011.

To Be Continued