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Yetide Badaki
10.5.17YetideBadakiByLuigiNovi1.jpg
Badaki at the 2017 New York Comic Con
Born (1981-09-24) September 24, 1981 (age 43)
Ibadan, Nigeria
Education McGill University (BA)
Illinois State University (MFA)
Occupation Actress
Years active 2003–present

Yetide Badaki (born September 24, 1981) is a Nigerian-American actress. She is best known for playing Bilquis on the Starz series American Gods.

Early life

Badaki was born in Ibadan, Nigeria. Before moving to England, Badaki lived in Nigeria for three years. At the age of 6, she returned to Nigeria. Finally, she settled in America at age twelve. She is a graduate of McGill University with a major in English Literature (Theater) and a minor in Environmental Science. Badaki also has a Master of Fine Arts in Theatre from Illinois State University.

Career

Badaki received a 2006 Jeff Award nomination for Best Actress in a Principal Role (Play) for I Have Before Me a Remarkable Document Given to Me by a Young Lady from Rwanda. She has received positive reviews for her portrayal of Bilquis on American Gods. For the television series, the character of Bilquis was expanded from the novel. In 2018, Badaki played the recurring character Chi Chi on This Is Us.

Badaki has written a short film called In Hollywoodland, which she funded with IndieGoGo. Badaki and Karen David produced and starred in the short film while Jessica Sherif directed it. In Hollywoodland is a re-imagining of Alice in Wonderland set in present-day Los Angeles. In Hollywoodland premiered in August 2020 at the Bentonville Film Festival.

Badaki played the mother of Giannis Antetokounmpo in the 2022 biographical movie Rise for Disney Plus.

In 2023, Deadline announced that Badaki was developing a Nigerian vampire series titled Najia Vamp with Prentice Penny & Sebastian A. Jones. It will include a comic run and a TV series.

Personal life

She became a United States citizen in 2014. In 2021, Badaki revealed that she is bisexual.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
2003 Expiration Naomi
2018 Chasing the Rain The Woman
2018 The Long Shadow Sissy Leblanc
2019 The Buried Girl Alex
2019 Precipice Morena Short
2020 What We Found Alex
2022 Rise Veronica Antetokounmpo

Television

Year Title Role Notes
2008 Lost Narjiss Episode: "The Shape of Things to Come"
2013 Criminal Minds Maya Carcani Episode: "Final Shot"
2014 Sequestered Keira Recurring character
2015 NCIS: New Orleans Felicia Patrice Episode: "Le Carnaval de la Mort"
2015 Aquarius Rita Carter Episode: "Your Mother Should Know"
2016 K.C. Undercover Penelope Episode: "Coopers Reactivated!"
2017–2021 American Gods Bilquis Main cast
2018 This Is Us Chi Chi Recurring
2020 The Magicians Zoe Marcus Episode: "The Mountain of Ghosts"
2023 Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Neera Ketoul Episode: "Ad Astra Per Aspera"
TBA Army of the Dead: Lost Vegas Queen Meeru (voice)
TBA Queen Nzinga Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba Main cast
TBA Naija Vamp Bisi

Video games

Year Title Role Notes
2016 Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare Ebele Yetide

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Yetide Badaki para niños

  • List of Yoruba people
  • List of Nigerian actresses
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