Nigerian-American actress, Yvonne Orji has revealed that she found her love for comedy while contesting at a Nigerian beauty pageant. The Port Harcourt born comedian moved to the US with her parents when she was child. Orji was raised by immigrant parents in Lauren, Maryland.
The “Insecure” star revealed this in a recent interview on the Ellen Show. Orji who is currently an actress and a stand-up comedian has added yet another feather to her hat. She just authored a new book titled: “Bamboozled By Jesus: How God Tricked Me Into the Life of My Dreams“. During the interview, the 37-year-old explained to Ellen DeGeneres how she started out in comedy.
Orji told DeGeneres: “Two weeks before the pageant they were like ‘what’s your talent’ I was like ain’t gat one. Cause as a child of an immigrant, your only talent is getting straight As in your report card.” However, when she was then asked to show her talent at the Miss Nigeria in America pageant she decided to pray.
Orji explained that the situation caused her to ask the holy spirit for her. According to her, she was told by God to do comedy. She admitted that although she was scared, she gave it a go. This was what gave her the boost to start a career in stand-up comedy.
Orji considering a career in daytime TV
Orji also made jokes on the show with DeGeneres about a TV host career. DeGeneres admitted to an opening being available after Orji implied she saw it on the news. “The Grapevine and the Deadline are right; there’s going to be an opening. I got one more year. I’m not going anywhere right now,” DeGeneres said.
However, Orji expressed how much she would like to actually host a daytime TV show. She said: “It was a thing that I always wanted to do. And I specifically wanted to do daytime because I was like I want to give away free stuff.“
“I want to help people go to college, maybe some cars, TVs, you know…the basics. But I also just, like, genuinely enjoy people.” However, she added that she was not ready to take on that role anytime soon.
In 2020, Orji then released a stand-up special on HBO dubbed “Momma, I Made It!“. There, she made jokes about what it means to grow up in with Nigerian-Igbo immigrant parents in America.