MaameYaa Boafo
{{Short description|Ghanaian-American actress}}
{{Infobox person
| name = MaameYaa Boafo
| image =
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| nationality = Ghanaian
| alma_mater = Hood College
Rutgers University 2009 Marc Bloch University
| known_for =
| years_active = 2012–present
| occupation = Actress, comedian
}}
MaameYaa Boafo ({{IPAc-en|'|m|ɑː|m|iː|j|ɑː|_|'|b|w|ɑː|f|oʊ}} {{respell|MAH-mee-yah BWAH-foh}}) is a Pakistan-born Ghanaian actress and comedian.
Biography
Boafo was born in Pakistan.{{cite news | language=fr | title=MaameYaa Boafo, la diva de la websérie " An African City " | first= Bruno |last=Meyerfeld | work=Le Monde | date=15 May 2015 | url =https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/05/15/maameyaa-boafo-la-diva-de-la-webserie-an-african-city_4634409_3212.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921114455/https://www.lemonde.fr/afrique/article/2015/05/15/maameyaa-boafo-la-diva-de-la-webserie-an-african-city_4634409_3212.html|archive-date=21 September 2018|accessdate=2 November 2020}} She is of Ashanti (Ghanaian) ethnicity.{{cite news | title=I am 100% african : Maame Yaa Boafo | work=Trends & Blends | date=14 August 2012 | url=http://trendsnblendsgh.com/i-am-100-african-maame-yaa-boafo-abiah/ |accessdate=2 November 2020}} She was raised in Sudan, Ethiopia, Geneva and Kenya, but is a citizen of Ghana.{{cite news |last1=Kodjo |first1=Cyprien |title=An African "Sex and the City" |url=http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2014/oct/13/african-sex-and-city/?harlem-focus |accessdate=2 November 2020 |work=New York Amsterdam News |date=13 October 2014}} In 2001, after graduating from high school, Boafo travelled to the United States to study French and communication.
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.{{cite web |title=MaameYaa Boafo Bio |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/people/MaameYaa-Boafo/ |website=Broadway World |accessdate=2 November 2020}} Boafo did a study abroad semester at Marc Bloch University in Strasbourg, France.
Boafo made her acting debut as Asa in the 2012 short film Asa, A Beautiful Girl.{{cite web |title=Briana Johnson |url=https://www.nbc.com/bluff-city-law/credits/character/briana-johnson |website=NBC |accessdate=2 November 2020}} 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.{{cite news |last1=Walker |first1=Akilah |title=Interview: 'An African City' Star MaameYaa Boafo |url=https://www.okayafrica.com/an-african-city-maameyaa-boafo-interview/ |accessdate=2 November 2020 |work=OkayAfrica |date=9 May 2014}}
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.
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.{{cite news | language=French | title=Diaspora - Télévision - MaameYaa Boafo : il faut s'affirmer tel que l'on est | work=Le Point | first=Viviane |last=Forson | date=7 March 2016 | url=http://afrique.lepoint.fr/culture/television-ghana-maameyaa-boafo-une-femme-aux-antipodes-07-03-2016-2023519_2256.php|accessdate=2 November 2020}} From 2017 to 2018, she starred as Paulina in the play School Girls, which was inspired by Mean Girls.{{cite news | title=Review: 'School Girls' Is a Gleeful African Makeover of an American Genre | date=16 November 2017 | work=The New York Times |first= Jesse |last=Green | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/16/theater/school-girls-or-the-african-mean-girls-play-review.html |accessdate=2 November 2020}}
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. She played HIV patient Abena Kwemo in a 2018 episode of Chicago Med.{{cite news |last1=Coulston |first1=John Connor |title='Chicago Med' Takes on HIV in Latest Episode |url=https://popculture.com/tv-shows/news/chicago-med-hiv-episode-mountains-and-molehills/ |accessdate=2 November 2020 |work=Popculture.com |date=3 January 2018}} In 2019, she played private investigator Briana Logan in the TV series Bluff City Law.{{cite news |last1=Isama |first1=Antoinette |title='An African City' and 'School Girls' Star MaameYaa Boafo Lands Role in New NBC Legal Drama |url=https://www.okayafrica.com/an-african-city-and-school-girls-star-maameyaa-boafo-lands-role-in-new-nbc-legal-drama/ |accessdate=2 November 2020 |work=OkayAfrica |date=19 May 2019}} Boafo portrayed Zainab in the TV series Ramy in 2020.{{cite news |last1=Ali |first1=Lorraine |title=Struggling Ramy character makes for smart humor amid questions of faith, commitment |url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/tv/story/2020-06-17/ramy-youssef-mahershala-ali-hulu |accessdate=2 November 2020 |work=Los Angeles Times |date=17 June 2020}}
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. In addition to English, she speaks Twi.
Filmography
=Film=
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan=3|2012 | Asa, A Beautiful Girl | Asa Kolawole | rowspan=5|Short film |
| Tied & True | Roda | ||
| Azure II | |||
| rowspan=2|2014 | When It All Falls Down... | Dominique | |
| Bus Nut | |||
| 2015 | The Family Fang | College student | |
| rowspan=2|2016 | New York, I Love You | Viviane | rowspan=2|Short film |
| Olive | Ava Nuyame | ||
| rowspan=3|2017 | Where Is Kyra? | Casey | |
| The Blue Car | Mother | rowspan=2|Short film | |
| Ibrahim | Aminata |
=Television=
| class="wikitable sortable"
|+ | |||
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013–2018 | Thru 25 | Cassie | 10 episodes |
| rowspan=2|2014 | Madam Secretary | Komoyo | Episode: "The Call" |
| An African City | Nana Yaa | Main cast | |
| 2014–2015 | Deadstar | Charice | 2 episodes |
| rowspan=3|2015 | American Odyssey | Desk clerk | Episode: "Bug Out" |
| The Blacklist | Lucinda | Episode: "Marvin Gerard (No. 80)" | |
| The Mysteries of Laura | Kimmie | Episode: "The Mystery of the Maternal Instinct" | |
| rowspan=2|2016 | Conversating While Black | Renee | TV Pilot |
| Beyond Complicated | Camilla | Episode: "As Told By Her 103" | |
| 2017 | Iron Fist | Female receptionist | Episode: "Snow Gives Way" |
| 2018 | Chicago Med | Abena Kwemo | Episode: "Mountains and Molehills" |
| rowspan=2|2019 | Theater Close Up | Paulina | Episode: "School Girls; or, The African Mean Girls Play" |
| Bluff City Law | Briana Johnson | Main cast | |
| 2020 | Ramy | Zainab | Recurring (season 2) |
| 2021–2022 | The Mysterious Benedict Society | Rhonda Kazembe | Main cast |
| 2023 | Extrapolations | Lucy Adobo | Episode: "2070: Ecocide" |
References
{{reflist|30em}}
External links
- [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm5545649/ MaameYaa Boafo] at the Internet Movie Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Boafo, MaameYaa}}
Category:Year of birth missing (living people)
Category:Ghanaian film actresses
Category:Ghanaian television actresses
Category:21st-century Ghanaian actresses