MaameYaa Boafo

MaameYaa Boafo Abiah (born 1980s) is a Pakistani-Ghanaian actress and comedian.

MaameYaa Boafo
NationalityPakistani-Ghanaian
Alma materHood College
Rutgers University
OccupationActress, comedian
Years active2012–present

Biography

Boafo was born in Pakistan. Her father worked for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[1] She is of Ashanti (Ghanian) 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 2005, 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] Boafo considers the show to be more political than Sex and the City. Also in 2014, Boafo 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]

She is a fan of soccer. Boafo made a video in reaction to the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore titled "As Nina", since she resembles Nina Simone.[1] In addition to English, she speaks Twi.[2]

Filmography

References
  1. 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. 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.
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