Uzo Aduba, who has won an Emmy, has been a spokesperson for Stand Up To Cancer since 2018.
She had seen enough of her aunts, cousins, and friends fighting the sickness to know she wanted to do everything she could to help discover a solution.
Things then took a “personal” turn for the celebrity. Nonyem, Aduba’s mother, died of pancreatic cancer in November of that year. The star’s importance to the mission increased dramatically.
My assigned seat has moved. She tells ESSENCE, “I was sitting in the back before, and now I have a front-row seat.” Before sharing a home with someone with cancer, I had no idea its true scope.
The actress is currently collaborating with Stand Up To Cancer and Count Me In to release a public service announcement with a meaningful message.
Who is Uzo Aduba?
Uzoamaka Nwanneka Aduba, an American actress, was born on February 10th, 1981. She received numerous honors for her breakthrough performance as Suzanne.
“Crazy Eyes” Warren on Orange Is the New Black (2013–2019), including two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Amazing Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Drama in 2014 and 2015.
She also won the Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Drama in 2014. And the Emmy for Fabulious Supporting Actress in a Drama Series in 2015.
She is one of just two actors to receive awards for the same Performance in both the comedy and drama categories of the Emmys.
Aduba received two awards for her portrayal of Shirley Chisholm in the 2020 Hulu miniseries Mrs. America: the Critics’ Choice Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Movie or Miniseries and the Emmy for Amazing Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie.
She has received recognition from the Television Critics Association for each of these. In addition to American Pastoral (2016), My Little Pony: The Movie (2017), Candy Jar (2018), Miss Virginia (2019), and Lightyear (2022).
Aduba has appeared in a wide range of movies. She was nominated for a 2021 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Play for her work as Clyde in Lynn Nottage’s play.
Uzo Aduba Early life
Uzo Aduba was raised in Medfield, Massachusetts, the son of Nigerian immigrants. She received her diploma from Medfield High School in 1999.
She went to Boston University, where she participated in both track and field and the classical voice program.
She has described her own family as a “sports family.”Obi, her younger brother, played hockey at UMass Amherst and professionally for six seasons.
Uzo Aduba Career
Aduba’s acting career began in 2003 when she was nominated for a Helen Hayes Award as Best Supporting Actress in a Play for her work in Translations of Xhosa at the Olney Theatre Center for the Arts.
She originated the role of Amphiarus in the 2006 and 2008 productions of The Seven at New York Theatre Workshop and La Jolla Playhouse, respectively.
On Broadway, she first appeared in 2007 at the Imperial Theatre in Helen Edmundson’s production of Coram Boy as Toby.
Aduba has played the role of Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren on Oranges Is the New Black since the show premiered in 2013. Aduba stated after getting cast:
Aduba has won two awards for her work in “Crazy Eyes”: Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Drama at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
At the fourth annual Critics’ Choice Television Awards, this guest performer won the award for Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series.
Pearly Gates, a musical comedy-drama released in 2015, marked Aduba’s first cinematic role.
Aduba received a Primetime Emmy Award after the miniseries’ April 15, 2020, premiere, which was hailed with widespread critical praise.
She was supposed to co-star with Lupita Nyong’o in the Danai Gurira–created miniseries Americanah for HBO Max, but the project was ultimately scrapped.
Aduba was scheduled to star in the upcoming fourth season of the FX series Fargo; however, she was forced to withdraw from the role owing to “some personal family issues.”
Aduba co-starred in the forthcoming 2020 romantic drama Love, playing a supporting role. Her role as Dr. Brooke Taylor in season four of HBO’s In Treatment will debut in October 2020.
Aduba was nominated for a Tony Award that year for her performance in a Broadway production of the Lynn Nottage play Clyde’s.
Aduba’s casting as the lead in Shonda Rhimes’ new White House-based murder mystery series The Residence was announced on February 1, 2023, by Netflix.
Uzo Aduba Parents
Uzo Aduba has mentioned her mother multiple times. She and her husband work hard so they can give their children “American experiences” and raise them as well-rounded individuals.
Aduba claims that her mother has gone to extraordinary lengths to back her kids and that even when the actress didn’t believe in herself, her mother did.
Aduba invited her mother, her biggest admirer, best adviser, and biggest supporter, to the Emmys when she was nominated for the first time. She claimed she could have wished no one else to share this momentous occasion with her.
Uzo Aduba is now juggling several projects. She is set to act in “Americanah” alongside Lupita Nyong’o and Tireni Oyenusi and in “Solos,” which also stars Morgan Freeman and Anne Hathaway.
