Uzo Aduba

 ( 1981 Births ) 

I auditioned for the show back in late July or early August of 2012. I had been auditioning that summer for more television and film after. I'd read a lot of scripts and I remember reading Orange Is the New Black, and it was at the head of the pack. I remember thinking, 'Wow, that is really good, I would love to be a part of that.' I went in and auditioned for another part, and my representatives called me about a month later and they were like, "Hi, we have some really good news. You remember that audition you went on for Orange Is the New Black? You didn't get it." I go, "So… okay, what's the good news?" They said they wanted to offer me another part, Crazy Eyes. I was like, "What in my audition would make someone think I'd be right for a part called Crazy Eyes?" But to be honest, when I got the script for it, it felt like the right fit.

Aduba has been recognized for her performance as "Crazy Eyes", winning Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series at the 66th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards and Best Guest Performer in a Comedy Series at the 4th Critics' Choice Television Awards. She was nominated for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film at the 18th Satellite Awards for her season one performance. Aduba's season two performance earned her the Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series at the 21st Screen Actors Guild Awards and a nomination for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film at the 72nd Golden Globe Awards.

Aduba won a second Primetime Emmy in 2015, taking home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, making her one of only two actors to win both a drama and comedy Emmy for the same role (the other being Ed Asner). Her performance in the third season earned another Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series win at the 22nd Screen Actors Guild Awards. Aduba also earned a Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries, or Television Film at the 73rd Golden Globe Awards.

In March 2014, Aduba performed at Broadway Backwards, the Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS benefit concert. She teamed with Rachel Bay Jones for a rendition of the song "Lily's Eyes" from the musical The Secret Garden. In 2015, Aduba played Glinda the Good Witch in the NBC live musical event special The Wiz Live!, receiving positive reviews from critics.

Aduba made her film debut in the 2015 musical comedy-drama film Pearly Gates. The next year, she starred alongside Maggie Grace in the comedy-drama Showing Roots and played supporting roles in Tallulah, Steven Universe, and American Pastoral directed by Ewan McGregor. Aduba played a major role in the 2017 musical animated film , voicing Queen Novo, leader of the hippogriffs/seaponies. She co-starred in two Netflix films; Candy Jar in 2018, and Beats in 2019. Also in 2019, Aduba played the title role in the film Miss Virginia.

She was cast to star opposite Lupita Nyong'o in the HBO Max miniseries Americanah written by Danai Gurira that was ultimately unproduced. Aduba also was set to star in the fourth season of FX series Fargo, but dropped out due to "some personal family issues". Aduba co-starred in the 2020 romantic drama film Really Love. In October 2020, she was cast as therapist Dr. Brooke Taylor in the fourth season of the HBO series In Treatment.

In 2021, Aduba appeared in the Broadway production of the Lynn Nottage play Clyde's, for which she received a Tony Award nomination. In 2023, she starred as Edie Flowers in Netflix's Painkiller, a limited series exploring the reasons behind the opioid epidemic in the United States. In 2024, her memoir, The Road is Good: How a Mother's strength became Her Daughter's Purpose, was published by Viking Press. Aduba stars as eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp in Shonda Rhimes's 2025 White House-set murder mystery series The Residence.

• In April 2017, Aduba received the Point Courage Award from the Point Foundation for her support of the LGBTQ community.
• In June 2018, Aduba became Heifer International's first-ever celebrity ambassador to Africa. She saw Heifer's impact firsthand on 2016 and 2018 field visits to Uganda.
• In July 2020, Aduba was announced as a minority investor in a then unnamed Los Angeles team, later unveiled as Angel City FC, that is scheduled to start play in the National Women's Soccer League in 2022.