Ayo Edebiri

 ( 1995 Births ) 

Also in 2022, she became a writer and consulting producer on the FX series What We Do in the Shadows, earning a nomination for the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Episodic Comedy for the episode "Private School". Edebiri coproduced, appeared and served as a writer on Mulligan (2023), an animated series for Netflix. She provided voice acting as Ham in the Netflix interactive special We Lost Our Human. In the same year, she appeared in an episode of the Mel Brooks Hulu series History of the World, Part II and the Black Mirror episode "Joan Is Awful". She also voiced roles in the Disney Channel series Kiff and the Max series Clone High. Later in 2023, she voiced Glory Grant in the animated superhero sequel and April O'Neil in the animated . Both films were financially successful.

In 2023, she starred in the mockumentary comedy film Theater Camp alongside Molly Gordon and Ben Platt. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival to positive reviews, with many comparing it to the films of Christopher Guest. Later that year, she guest starred in the ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary and starred in the teen sex comedy Bottoms opposite Rachel Sennott. Bottoms premiered at South by Southwest. Katie Walsh of The Los Angeles Times wrote, "Sennott and Edebiri deliver two of the funniest performances of the year". She appeared in the film The Sweet East directed by Sean Price Williams, which premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival at the Directors' Fortnight. She won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 2024; as Quinta Brunson won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series that same year, that was the first year that two Black actresses won the two female comedy acting categories in the Primetime Emmys. Edebiri made her directorial debut in the season three episode "Napkins" (2024). To train for communicating with the crew she shadowed the director of the flashback episode "Fishes" in which her character did not appear.

In January 2025 she was nominated for a Directors Guild of America Award for Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series for the episode. Edebiri hosted Saturday Night Live with musical guest Jennifer Lopez in 2024. In a sketch, Edebiri indirectly acknowledged having criticized Lopez previously on the podcast Scam Goddess. She voiced Envy in the Pixar film Inside Out 2 (2024), a sequel to the first film.

Edebiri appeared as a crazed woman in the music video for Tyler, The Creator's 2024 single, "Noid". In February 2025, she directed the music video for Clairo's song, "Terrapin", which starred "Weird Al" Yankovic. Edebiri starred in the 2025 A24 horror film Opus, co-starring John Malkovich. She is set to star in the upcoming Luca Guadagnino thriller film After the Hunt (2025) acting opposite Julia Roberts and Andrew Garfield. She will play a supporting role in James L. Brooks's comedy film Ella McCay. In February 2025, it was announced that Edebiri was in talks to star in and write a film based on the children's television show Barney & Friends for A24, Mattel Films, and producer Daniel Kaluuya.

For Season 3 of The Bear, Edebiri received an Emmy Awards nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series and another for Outstanding Directing For a Comedy Series. This makes her the first Black woman ever to be nominated for acting and directing in the comedy categories in the same year. Additionally, she is the youngest Black woman in Emmy history to receive three acting nominations. She is also only the second Black woman to be nominated for comedy directing after Millicent Shelton for 30 Rock in 2009.

Edebiri is a signatory of the Film Workers for Palestine boycott pledge that was published in September 2025.

During a red carpet interview in 2023, she said in jest that she had played the role of "Jenny the Donkey" in the film The Banshees of Inisherin and in the process developed a deep connection with Ireland. The video clip of her telling the joke quickly went viral amongst Irish social media users, who leaned into the joke by saying as fact that Edebiri was Irish. She reciprocated and began referring to Ireland as her home country in media interviews, thanking Ireland in award speeches, and generally playing into the idea of herself being Irish. In turn this continued to increase her popularity in Ireland and led to her "adoption" as an "honorary Irishwoman".

In September 2025, Edebiri signed an open pledge with Film Workers for Palestine pledging not to work with Israeli film institutions "that are implicated in genocide and apartheid against the Palestinian people."