Beverly Naya (born Beverly Ifunaya Bassey; 17 April 1989) is a British-born Nigerian actress. Beverly won Most Promising Talent at the 2010 Best of Nollywood Awards. She also won the award for Fast Rising Actress at the 2011

City People Entertainment Awards City People Entertainment Awards are an annual accolade presented by ''City People Magazine'' to honour Nigerian and Ghanaian entertainers. The first edition was held in Abeokuta, Ogun State on June 14, 2009. The event was hosted by Governor Gbe ...

Early life

Beverly Ifunaya Bassey was born in London as the only child of her Nigerian parents. At 17, Beverly began acting while studying philosophy, psychology, and sociology at

Brunel University Brunel University London is a public research university located in the Uxbridge area of London, England. It was founded in 1966 and named after the Victorian engineer and pioneer of the Industrial Revolution, Isambard Kingdom Brunel. In June 1 ...

. She also studied script-writing and film-making at

Roehampton University The University of Roehampton, London, formerly Roehampton Institute of Higher Education, is a public university in the United Kingdom, situated on three major sites in Roehampton, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. Roehampton was formerly an e ...

. In an interview with ''

BellaNaija ''BellaNaija'' is a lifestyle, entertainment and fashion website in Africa. headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria. History BellaNaija was founded by Uche Eze in 2006 as a media startup which later metamorphosed into BellaNaija.com while studying for ...

'', she explained that she relocated to Nigeria because of the rapid growth of

Nollywood Nollywood is a sobriquet that originally referred to the Nigerian film industry. The origin of the term dates back to the early 2000s, traced to an article in ''The New York Times''. Due to the history of evolving meanings and contexts, there ...

, and the opportunities that it creates for aspiring actors. In another interview, Beverly cited

Ramsey Nouah Ramsey Nouah (born Ramsey Tokunbo Nouah Jr.; 19 December 1970) is a Nigerian actor and director. He won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role in 2010 for his performance in the movie ''The Figurine''. He made his director ...

and

Genevieve Nnaji Genevieve Nnaji (; born on 3 May 1979) is a Nigerian actress, producer, and director. She won the Africa Movie Academy Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role in 2005, making her the first actor to win the award. In 2011, she was honoured as a ...

as mentors.

Career

Naya began acting at the age of 17 and studied film-making at Roehampton University, London. In the year 2011, Naya was named the "fastest rising actress" in the

in Nigeria, when asked why she returned to Nigeria by ''

Encomium Magazine ''Encomium Magazine'' is a Nigerian magazine published by Encomium Ventures Limited. The magazine has started publishing since 1997. Its head office is located in Ikeja, Lagos. ''Encomium Magazine'' is among the top selling soft sell magazine ...

'' she said:

After I graduated from university, I just knew that I wanted to act, I knew I wanted to act, and in London I could shoot a film probably once in a year and that's it. Whereas coming to this industry, I can build a brand as well as shoot films more often and be given a more diverse amount of scripts. So, I decided to come back for that reason.

Filmography

* ''Guilty Pleasures'' (2009) * ''Death Waters'' (2012) * ''Tinsel'' *''Home in Exile'' *'' Alan Poza'' *''

Forgetting June ''Forgetting June'' is a 2013 Nigerian romantic drama film directed by Ikechukwu Onyeka, starring Majid Michel, Beverly Naya, and Mbong Amata. Cast *Majid Michel - Eddie *Beverly Naya - Tobi *Mbong Amata - June *Blossom Chuks Chukwujekwu - Georg ...

'' *'' Make a move'' *''Up Creek Without a Paddle'' *''Stripped'' *''

Weekend Getaway ''Weekend Getaway'' is a 2012 Nigerian romantic drama film directed by Desmond Elliot and starring Genevieve Nnaji, Ramsey Nouah, Monalisa Chinda, Ini Edo, Uti Nwachukwu, Alexx Ekubo, Bryan Okwara, Beverly Naya and Uru Eke. It received 11 nom ...

'' *'' ...When Love Happens'' (2014) *'' Brother's Keeper'' (2014) *''

Before 30 ''Before 30'', also known as ''B430'' is a Nigerian television drama series directed by Bodunrin 'BB' Sasore and starring Damilola Adegbite, OC Ukeje, Beverly Naya, Meg Otanwa and Anee Icha. The show which is sponsored by Airtel Nigeria, set an ...

'' (2015–) *''Oasis'' (2015) *''

Skinny Girl in Transit ''Skinny Girl in Transit'' is a Nigerian Comedy webseries by NdaniTV. The first episode was released on NdaniTV's YouTube page on 16 Jul 2015. The idea for the series was pitched by Temi Balogun. The series returned to NdaniTV for its fifth seas ...

'' (2015) *'' Suru L'ere'' (2016) *'' The Wedding Party'' (2016) *''

The Wedding Party 2 ''The Wedding Party 2: Destination Dubai'' is a 2017 Nigerian romantic comedy drama film directed by Niyi Akinmolayan. It is a sequel to '' The Wedding Party'', which was released in December 2016. Principal photography for the film, which was ...

'' (2017) *''

Chief Daddy ''Chief Daddy'' is a 2018 Nigerian comedy drama film directed by Niyi Akinmolayan, written by Bode Asiyanbi and produced by Mosunmola Abudu and Temidayo Abudu, which was released in December 2018. It starred popular Nollywood actors and actress ...

'' (2018) *''Dinner'' *''Affairs of the Heart'' *''

Jumbled ''Jumbled'' is a 2019 Nigerian family romantic drama film directed by Saheed Apanpa. The film was primarily shot in Lagos. The film was initially titled as ''Entangled'' but it was changed in early 2019 to avoid the use of a similar title which ...

'' *''The Arbitration'' *''Dibia'' *''In Sickness and Health'' *'' Nneka the Pretty Serpent'' (2020) *''

Two Weeks in Lagos ''Two Weeks in Lagos'' (theatrically as Duas Semanas em Lagos), is a 2019 Nigerian comedy drama film directed by Kathryn Faseghaa dn co-produced by director herself with Sarah Inya Lawal. The film stars Mawuli Gavor and Beverly Naya in the lead ...

'' (2021) *''

The Eve (2018 film) The Eve is a 2018 Nigerian Romantic comedy movie written by Tunde Babalola, Tosin Igho and Martin Adieze. It is directed by Tosin Igho, a veteran director of videos for Musician such as D'banj, Terry G, Faze, Yung L, Aramide and Sammie Ok ...

'' *'' Chief Daddy 2: Going for Broke'' (2022)

Awards and nominations

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Naya, Beverly British expatriate actresses in Nigeria Living people 21st-century British actresses 1988 births Nigerian film actresses 21st-century Nigerian actresses British emigrants to Nigeria Nigerian film award winners Alumni of the University of Roehampton Alumni of Brunel University London