Yaya DaCosta
Camara "Yaya" DaCosta Johnson (born November 15, 1982) is an American actress and model. She was the runner-up in Cycle 3 of America's Next Top Model. DaCosta eventually went to star in ABC's daytime drama series All My Children (2008), ABC's comedy-drama Ugly Betty (2009), and NBC's medical drama Chicago Med (2015–2022).
Yaya DaCosta
November 15, 1982
2004–present
1
5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)
Dark brown
Brown
In 2010, she starred in Lisa Cholodenko's film The Kids Are All Right, being nominated with the cast at the Critics' Choice Movie Award and at the Gotham Award. DaCosta starred in the Lifetime television film Whitney (2015) as singer Whitney Houston and received praise for her performance being nominated at the Black Reel Award for Outstanding Actress, TV Movie or Limited Series.[1]
Early life and education[edit]
DaCosta was born on November 15, 1982, in New York City and is American, although often misreported as having Nigerian heritage. DaCosta has denied this, but states it might be possible given the history of the United States.[2] She was raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City.[3][4] In addition to English, she speaks Portuguese, French, Spanish and conversational Japanese.[2] She attended the elite Northfield Mount Hermon School during high school before attending Brown University, where she majored in Africana studies and international relations. [5]
Personal life[edit]
DaCosta was in a relationship with independent film producer and director Joshua Bee Alafia from 2012 to 2015. In September 2013, she gave birth to their son, Sankara. In November 2015, it was reported that DaCosta and Alafia broke up. Contrary to popular reports, DaCosta and Alafia were never officially married.[23]