Beverly Naya (born Beverly Ifunaya Bassey; 17 April 1988) is a British-born Nigerian actress. She won Most Promising Talent at the 2010 Best of Nollywood Awards. She also won the award for Fast Rising Actress at the 2011

City People Entertainment Awards City People Entertainment Awards are an annual accolade presented by '' City People Magazine'' to honour Nigerian and Ghanaian entertainers. The first edition was held in Abeokuta, Ogun State on June 14, 2009. The event was hosted by Governor G ...

Early life

Naya was born in London as the only child of her Nigerian parents. At 17, Naya began acting while studying philosophy, psychology and sociology at

Brunel University Brunel University of London (BUL) is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It is named after Isambard Kingdom Brunel, a Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution. It became a university ...

. She also studied script-writing and film-making at

Roehampton University The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. The University traces its r ...

. In an interview with ''

BellaNaija ''BellaNaija'' is a Nigerian lifestyle, entertainment, and fashion website headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. History BellaNaija was founded by Uche Eze in 2006. In its early form, BellaNaija featured scanned magazine articles, pictures, and in ...

'', she explained that she relocated to Nigeria because of the rapid growth of

Nollywood Nollywood, a portmanteau of Nigeria and Hollywood, is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term goes back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history ...

, and the opportunities that it creates for aspiring actors. In another interview, Naya cited

Ramsey Nouah Ramsey Nouah (born Ramsey Tokunbo Nouah Jr.; 19 December 1970) is a Nigerian actor and director. He won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2010 for his performance in the movie '' The Figurine''. He made his direc ...

and

Genevieve Nnaji Genevieve Nnaji (; born 3 May 1979) is a Nigerian actress, producer, and director. She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actor to win the award. In 2011, she was honoured as a ...

as mentors.

Career

Naya began acting at the age of 17 and studied film-making at Roehampton University, London. In the year 2011, Naya was named the "fastest rising actress" in the

in Nigeria, when asked why she returned to Nigeria by '' Encomium Magazine'' she said:

After I graduated from university, I just knew that I wanted to act, I knew I wanted to act, and in London I could shoot a film probably once in a year and that's it. Whereas coming to this industry, I can build a brand as well as shoot films more often and be given a more diverse amount of scripts. So, I decided to come back for that reason.

Filmography

* ''Guilty Pleasures'' (2009) as Bella * ''Death Waters'' (2012) * ''Tinsel'' *''Home in Exile'' *'' Alan Poza'' (2013) as Pride Eze *''

Forgetting June ''Forgetting June'' is a 2013 Nigerian romantic drama film directed by Ikechukwu Onyeka, starring Majid Michel, Beverly Naya, and Mbong Amata. Cast *Majid Michel - Eddie *Beverly Naya - Tobi *Mbong Amata - June *Blossom Chuks Chukwujekwu - Georg ...

'' (2013) as Tobi *'' Make a move'' (2014) *''Up Creek Without a Paddle'' *''Stripped'' (2013) as Soledad *'' Weekend Getaway'' (2012) as Angela *'' ...When Love Happens'' (2014) as Jennifer *'' Brother's Keeper'' (2014) as Cassandra Okoro *'' Before 30'' (2015) as Nkem *''Oasis'' (2015) *'' Skinny Girl in Transit'' (2015) *'' Suru L'ere'' (2016) Omosigho *'' The Wedding Party'' (2016) as Rosie *''Dinner'' *''Affairs of the Heart'' (2016) as Stella *''The Arbitration'' (2016) as Chiamaka Sanni *''Dibia'' *'' The Wedding Party 2'' (2017) as Rosie *'' Chief Daddy'' (2018) as Adaora *'' The Eve'' (2018) as Yewande *''In Sickness and Health'' (2018) as Tinuke *'' Jumbled'' (2019) as Jasmin *'' Nneka the Pretty Serpent'' (2020) as Nkem Ojukwu *'' Two Weeks in Lagos'' (2021) *'' Chief Daddy 2: Going for Broke'' (2022) as Adaora *''Kofa'' (2022) as Franka *''The Fast Lane'' (2023) as Shakira *''Insecure'' (2024)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naya, Beverly British expatriate actresses in Nigeria Living people 21st-century British actresses 1988 births Nigerian film actresses 21st-century Nigerian actresses British emigrants to Nigeria Alumni of the University of Roehampton Alumni of Brunel University London