Oyin Oladejo

Oyin Oladejo
Oladejo in 2015
Bornc. 1985
Ibadan, Nigeria
OccupationActress
Years active2013–present

Oyin Oladejo (born c. 1985 in Ibadan, Nigeria)[1] is a Nigerian-born Canadian actress, known for portraying Joann Owosekun on the television series Star Trek: Discovery.

Life

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Oladejo was born in Ibadan, Nigeria, and grew up in Lagos.[1] She moved to Canada in 2001 at the age of 16.[2] She originally planned to study law, rejected it, and got a job as a ticket seller for the Canadian Opera Company,[3] where she discovered her interest in acting.[2] She then completed a course of study in theatre arts at Humber College in Toronto,[4] and the Soul Pepper Academy in Toronto.[1][3] In addition to regular theater engagements in Toronto, she played a supporting role in a short film, but otherwise had no film offers; according to her own statement in an interview, she was about to give up the acting profession.[2] Finally, she took on the advice of her agent with a self-made video of a casting part, without knowing what production it was for, and was shortly thereafter selected for the role of bridge officer Joann Owosekun on Star Trek: Discovery.[2][5] Oladejo has since appeared in every season of the series.

In the following years, she was seen in the role of Ophelia in William Shakespeare's Hamlet, and in the male role of Lopakhin in Anton Chekhov's The Cherry Orchard.[6][7]

She received a Canadian Screen Award nomination for Best Lead Performance in a Drama Film at the 12th Canadian Screen Awards in 2024, for the film Orah.[8]

Theater (selection)

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Filmography

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Awards

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  • Edna Khubyar Acting Award (Humber College)[15][1]
  • Dora Mavor Moore Award for Outstanding Performance – Individual (for In This World)[1][16]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Oyin Oladejo – Biography". Soulpepper.ca. Archived from the original on 2019-04-13.
  2. ^ a b c d "Discovery Heads to Blu-ray: Oyin Oladejo". intl.startrek.com. CBS Entertainment. 2018-10-10.
  3. ^ a b Humber College, ed. (2014), "The Play's the Thing" (PDF), Humber Today (Digitalisat auf humber.ca) (in German), vol. Winter 2014, Toronto, p. 2
  4. ^ "Oyin Oladejo". intl.startrek.com. CBS Entertainment.
  5. ^ Heather Ferris (2018-08-04). "Discovery Part 4 at the 2018 Star Trek Convention in Las Vegas". youtube.com.
  6. ^ a b "Photos: Get A First Look at Michael Urie in Shakespeare Theatre Company's HAMLET". broadwayworld.com. 2018-01-25.
  7. ^ a b "The Cherry Orchard". crowstheatre.com.
  8. ^ Jackson Weaver, "BlackBerry, Sort Of, Little Bird dominate Canadian Screen Award nominations". CBC News, March 6, 2024.
  9. ^ Gretel Meyer Odell (2013-01-14). "In This World Photo Shoot".
  10. ^ a b Jon Kaplan (2015-09-09). "Preview: Happy Place & Marat/Sade. Actor shows contrasting sides in Soulpepper shows". nowtoronto.com.
  11. ^ Jon Kaplan (2016-11-30). "Review: Futuristic TomorrowLove™ looks at technology's effect on passion and relationships". nowtoronto.com.
  12. ^ Isabella Perrone (2019-04-02). "BWW Review: Competing Ideas and Unrealized Plotlines Leave THE CHERRY ORCHARD Struggling to Take Root". broadwayworld.com.
  13. ^ "The Father". coalminetheatre.com.
  14. ^ "Coal Mine Theatre Hosts Toronto Premiere of THE FATHER". broadwayworld.com. 2019-01-10.
  15. ^ a b "Oyin Oladejo". pondshortfilm.com.
  16. ^ "Recipients". Tapa.ca. Toronto Alliance for the Performing Arts (TAPA).
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