Uzo Aduba To Star Alongside Lupita Nyong’o In HBO Max’s “Americanah”

Emmy winning Nigerian-American actress Uzo Aduba will join Lupita Nyong’o on the set of HBO Max’s upcoming series “Americanah”.

“Americanah” is a 10-episode limited series based on Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s best-selling novel of the same name.

“Americanah,” tells the story of Ifemelu (Nyong’o), a self-assured young woman raised in Nigeria. As a teenager falls in love with her classmate Obinze (Momoh). Living in a military-ruled country, they each depart for the west.

Ifemelu heads for America. There, she finds academic success but has to grapple for the first time with what it means to be black. Obinze had hoped to join her, but with post-9/11 America closed to him, he instead begins living undocumented in London.

Aduba will play Aunty Uju, Ifemelu’s young aunt and confidant. A highly intelligent doctor, Uju left Nigeria under tumultuous circumstances. She resettled in America to build a better life for herself and her son Dike.

Danai Gurira wrote the pilot and will serve as showrunner on the limited series. Nyong’o, Plan B Entertainment, Andrea Calderwood, Didi Rea, and Danielle Del, and Nancy Won will also executively producing.

After “Americanah”, Uzo Aduba will star in “Mrs. America” opposite Cate Blanchett. The show ran for seven seasons. It earned Uzo two Emmy wins, a Critics’ Choice Award, two Golden Globe nominations, and multiple SAG nominations.

Aduba is famous for her role as Suzanne “Crazy Eyes” Warren on the Netflix original series “Orange Is the New Black” (2013–2019).

Also, British-Nigerian actor Zackary Momoh recently joined the cast. Momoh is popular for his role as Seth Butler in the 2018 TV series Seven Seconds.

The series will premiere in 2020 on FX on Hulu.