Ayo Edebiri ( ; born October 3, 1995) is an American comedian, writer, producer and actress. She appeared on

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy program ...

's ''Up Next'' and co-hosts the podcast ''Iconography'' with Olivia Craighead. Edebiri is best known as a voice actor on '' Big Mouth'' (2020–present) and a main cast member on '' The Bear'' (2022–present).

Early life and education

Edebiri was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...

and raised in a religious

Pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

household. Her mother emigrated from

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

and her father emigrated from

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of G ...

. She first became interested in comedy through eighth grade drama class, after which she joined the

improv Improv may refer to: *Improvisation, an act of spontaneous invention ** Improvisational theatre (includes improvisational comedy) **Musical improvisation Musical improvisation (also known as musical extemporization) is the creative activity of i ...

club at

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a public exam school in Boston, Massachusetts. It was established on April 23, 1635, making it both the oldest public school in the British America and the oldest existing school in the United States. Its curriculum f ...

. Edebiri attended

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

, where she received her bachelor's degree in teaching. As a junior in college, she began preparing to pursue a career in comedy and interned at

Upright Citizens Brigade The Upright Citizens Brigade is an improvisational and sketch comedy group that emerged from Chicago's ImprovOlympic in 1990. The original incarnation of the group consisted of Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts, Matt Walsh, Adam McKay, ...

Career

Film and television

Edebiri is a stand-up comedian, and performed a stand-up set on

's ''Up Next''. Her scripted digital series ''Ayo and Rachel Are Single'' began airing on the network in May 2020, which she co-wrote and costarred in with her friend and fellow comedienne

Rachel Sennott Rachel Anne Sennott (born September 19, 1995) is an American actress and comedian. She is best known for her online comedy television series ''Ayo and Rachel Are Single'' with Ayo Edebiri and for starring roles in the films ''Shiva Baby'' (2020) ...

. She is a television writer, and wrote for the sole seasons of ''

The Rundown with Robin Thede ''The Rundown with Robin Thede'' was an American late-night talk show and variety television program that premiered on October 12, 2017, on BET. The show was hosted by comedian and writer Robin Thede, the former head writer and correspondent on ...

'' and NBC's ''Sunnyside''. Edebiri joined the writing staff of '' Big Mouth'' for the show's fourth season. After

Jenny Slate Jenny Sarah Slate (born March 25, 1982) is an American actress, comedian, and author. Born and raised in Milton, Massachusetts, Slate was educated at Milton Academy and studied literature at Columbia University, where she became involved in the ...

stepped down from voicing the character Missy so the role could be played by a black actress, Edebiri auditioned and was selected as the replacement in August 2020. Her voice acting as the character began at the end of the show's fourth season. Edebiri was a writer and actress in '' Dickinson'''s second season on

Apple TV+ Apple TV+ is an American subscription streaming service owned and operated by Apple Inc. Launched on November 1, 2019, it offers a selection of original production film and television series called Apple Originals. The service was announced ...

. She acted in a supporting role in the upcoming film adaptation of the

Jennifer E. Smith Jennifer Elizabeth Smith (born 1980) is an American author of young adult novels, including bestsellers: ''The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight'', ''Windfall,'' and ''Field Notes on Love.'' Biography Smith was born in Lake Forest, ...

YA novel ''Hello, Goodbye and Everything in Between''. In 2022 Edebiri gained wider prominence as a main cast member on the FX on

Hulu Hulu () is an American subscription streaming service majority-owned by The Walt Disney Company, with Comcast's NBCUniversal holding a minority stake. It was launched on October 29, 2007 and it offers a library of films and television seri ...

comedy series '' The Bear''. She received an

Independent Spirit Award The Independent Spirit Awards (abbreviated Spirit Awards and originally known as the FINDIE or Friends of Independents Awards), founded in 1984, are awards dedicated to independent filmmakers. Winners were typically presented with acrylic glass ...

and nominations from the

Gotham Awards The Gotham Awards () are American film awards, presented annually to the makers of independent films at a ceremony in New York City, the city first nicknamed "Gotham" by native son Washington Irving, in an issue of ''Salmagundi'', published on ...

and the

Critics' Choice Awards The Critics' Choice Movie Awards (formerly known as the Broadcast Film Critics Association Award) is an awards show presented annually by the American- Canadian Critics Choice Association (CCA) to honor the finest in cinematic achievement. Wr ...

for her performance as Sydney Adamu, an ambitious young sous chef. Her upcoming projects include co-producing and writing for '' Mulligan'', an animated series for Netflix, on January 26, 2023 she joins the

Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is an American media franchise and shared universe centered on a series of superhero films produced by Marvel Studios. The films are based on characters that appear in American comic books published ...

in the 2024 film ''

Thunderbolts A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the Proto-Indo-European mythology#Sky Father, 'Sky Father'; this ...

'' in an undisclosed role and voicing the lead role in the animated series ''We Lost Our Human'', also for Netflix.

Other work

Edebiri co-hosts a podcast called ''Iconography'' with Olivia Craighead that features interviews with guests in conversation about their shared personal icons. The podcast is produced by Forever Dog and the second season was released in 2020. She has canvassed for the

Democratic Socialists of America The Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing Democratic Socialists of America#Tendencies within the DSA, multi-tendency Socialism, socialist and Labour movement, labor-oriented political organization. Its roots ...

Filmography

Film

Television

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Ayo Edebiri
on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edebiri, Ayo 1995 births Living people 21st-century American actresses 21st-century American women writers American film actresses American people of Barbadian descent American people of Nigerian descent American podcasters American stand-up comedians American television actresses American television writers American voice actresses American women television producers American women comedians American women podcasters Comedians from Massachusetts Entertainers from Massachusetts Members of the Democratic Socialists of America New York University alumni