Ayo Edebiri has made history — again!
The 29-year-old Nigerian American actress, writer, and director became the youngest Black woman to receive three Emmy nominations in acting categories, a groundbreaking achievement that further cements her place among television’s rising elite.
Edebiri’s triple Emmy nods — including Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series for her portrayal of sous chef Sydney Adamu in The Bear — come alongside a first-ever nomination for Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series.
Her nomination stems from the episode “Napkins,” which also marks her directorial debut. With that, Edebiri becomes only the second Black woman in Emmy history to be recognized in the comedy directing category, following Millicent Shelton’s nod for 30 Rock in 2009.
According to Variety, she is the first Black woman to be nominated in both acting and directing for comedy in the same year.
The third season of The Bear, a hit comedy-drama, has helped vault Edebiri into a new echelon of prestige. Across its three seasons, the show has now garnered 49 Emmy nominations and has already claimed 21 wins for its earlier seasons.
Born in Boston in 1995 to a Nigerian father and Barbadian mother, Edebiri was raised in a Pentecostal household and discovered comedy during her middle school years. After graduating from Boston Latin School in 2013, she pursued teaching at NYU but later shifted her focus to dramatic writing, where her passion for storytelling flourished. A transformative internship at the Upright Citizens Brigade during her junior year at NYU sparked her stand-up journey.
Edebiri’s breakout moment came as a writer and voice actor on the Netflix animated series Big Mouth in the early 2020s. She went on to co-create and star in the digital series Ayo and Rachel Are Single with comedian Rachel Sennott, and appeared in indie films like Shithouse before landing her breakout role in The Bear in 2022.
Her performance in The Bear earned her an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series — making her the third Black woman ever to win the category, joining Jackée Harry (1987) and Sheryl Lee Ralph (2022). She also recently won her first Golden Globe for the same role.
Beyond acting, Edebiri has written for series like Dickinson, What We Do in the Shadows, and Craig of the Creek. She’s also been a voice actor in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and appeared in Abbott Elementary, Theater Camp, and the cult-favorite comedy Bottoms.
The Emmy-nominated talent is also the co-host of the podcast Iconography, which explores the cultural impact of public figures.
As anticipation builds for the 77th Emmy Awards airing September 14, Edebiri’s fans and peers will be watching closely to celebrate her record-setting achievements.
