Zainab Jah

Zainab Jah
Zainab Jah
Born	London, UK
Occupation	Actress
Years active	2000–present

Zainab Jah is a British award-winning theater, television and film actress of Sierra Leonean descent.^[1] She is mostly known for her theater performances as Maima (Wife Number Two) in Danai Gurira's Broadway play Eclipsed, Venus, and School Girls, among others.^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]

She has also worked in film and television. She plays anti-corruption minister Aminata Sissoko in the second season of Deep State, and Aby Bah in Homeland. She has also appeared on Blindspot and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2000	Dinner Rush	Adrian
2006	Naptime	Singer	Short film
2007	The Summoning of Everyman	Confession
2008	How to Make Afang Soup	Mama	Short film
2015	Emily & Tim	Helayne Specter
2016	New York, I Love You	Sophie	Short film
2016	Buried	Zainab	Short film
2019	Jazz in Wakanda	Zainab	Short film
2020	Farewell Amor	Esther
2021	False Positive	Grace Singleton
2021	Out/Side Of Time		Short film
2021	The Black Disquisition	Sedalia/Mom	Short film
2022	Sherman	Sherman	Short film
2022	Launch at Paradise	Elsa	Short film
2022	Black Panther: Wakanda Forever	Mining Tribe Elder
2023	Drift	Etweda Kamara
2023	All Dirt Roads Taste of Salt	Older Mack

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2001	100 Centre Street		Episode: "Lost Causes"
2005	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Homeless Person	Episode: "Goliath"
2016–17	Homeland	Aby Bah	Recurring role; 4 episodes
2017	Elementary	Female Crematory Worker	Episode: "High Heat"
2018	Blindspot	President Botros	Episode: "Defection"
2018	Instinct	Rebreau	Episode: "Bye Bye Birdie"
2019	Deep State	Aminata Sissoko	Season 2 regular; 7 episodes
2020	The Good Lord Bird	Harriet Tubman	Episode: "Smells Like Bear"
2021	Only Murders in the Building	Ndidi Idoko	Recurring role; 4 episodes
2023	East New York	Adama Gueye	Episode: "We Didn't Start the Fire"
2023	The Blacklist	Aissa Joachim	Episode: "Dr. Michael Abani (No. 198)"
2023	The Continental	Mazie	Mini-series; 2 episodes

Theatre

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2005	Medea	Death
2006	King Lear	Regan
2007	(The Blood) Electra	Electra
2008	Trojan Women	Helen
2009	Eclipsed	Maima (Wife #2)
2015
2016
2016	Stuffed	Katey
2017	Venus	Sarah Baartman	^[8]^[9]
2017	School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play	Eloise Amponsah
2019	Boesman and Lena	Venus

Awards

Awards and nominations^[10]
Year	Award	Category	Work	Result	Ref
2016	Obie Award	Obie Award for Performance	Eclipsed	Won
2016	Outer Critics Circle Award	Outstanding Featured Actress in a Play	Eclipsed	Nominated
2017	Audie Award	Audie Award for Young Listeners	28 Days: Moments in Black History That Changed the World	Won
2018	Drama Desk Award	Drama Desk Ensemble Award	School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play	Won
2019	Drama League Award	Distinguished Performance	Boesman and Lena	Nominated
	Drama Desk Award	Outstanding Actress in a Play		Nominated	^[11]
	Lucille Lortel Awards	Outstanding Lead Actress in a Play		Nominated
2021	FESPACO Award	Best Actress	Farewell Amor	Won

References

^ "ZAINAB JAH". Huntington theatre. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
^ Mcphee, Ryan. "Zainab Jah and More Set for School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play Off-Broadway". Playbill. Playbill. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ Quinn, Gwendolyn (2017-05-28). "INSIDE BROADWAY: BRITISH-BORN AFRICAN ACTRESS ZAINAB JAH STARS IN HISTORIC 'VENUS' AND SHARES HER JOURNEY FROM SIERRA LEONE TO AMERICA". EurWeb. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ "Eclipsed's Zainab Jah on Being an African Woman in American Theater". Elle. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ "Sahr Ngaujah and Zainab Jah in New Photos From Boesman and Lena". Theatre Mania. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ Soloski, Alexis. "Zainab Jah, 'Eclipsed' Star, Is Ready for Battle". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ "Zainab Jah, Sahr Ngaujah & Thomas Silcott to star in Signature Theatre's Boesman and Lena". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ Windman, Matt. "'Venus' review: Zainab Jah shines in superb off-Broadway drama". Amny. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ "See Suzan-Lori Parks, Zainab Jah & More Step Out for Venus' Off-Broadway Opening". Broadway. Retrieved 12 August 2019.
^ "Zainab Jah". iobdb. Retrieved 25 December 2019.
^ Mcphee, Ryan. "Nominations for the 2019 Drama Desk Awards Announced; Oklahoma!, Tootsie, Rags Parkland Lead the Pack". Play Bill. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

[1] "ZAINAB JAH". Huntington theatre. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

[2] Mcphee, Ryan. "Zainab Jah and More Set for School Girls; Or, the African Mean Girls Play Off-Broadway". Playbill. Playbill. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

[3] Quinn, Gwendolyn (2017-05-28). "INSIDE BROADWAY: BRITISH-BORN AFRICAN ACTRESS ZAINAB JAH STARS IN HISTORIC 'VENUS' AND SHARES HER JOURNEY FROM SIERRA LEONE TO AMERICA". EurWeb. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

[4] "Eclipsed's Zainab Jah on Being an African Woman in American Theater". Elle. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

[5] "Sahr Ngaujah and Zainab Jah in New Photos From Boesman and Lena". Theatre Mania. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

[6] Soloski, Alexis. "Zainab Jah, 'Eclipsed' Star, Is Ready for Battle". The New York Times. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

[7] "Zainab Jah, Sahr Ngaujah & Thomas Silcott to star in Signature Theatre's Boesman and Lena". New York Theatre Guide. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

[8] Windman, Matt. "'Venus' review: Zainab Jah shines in superb off-Broadway drama". Amny. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

[9] "See Suzan-Lori Parks, Zainab Jah & More Step Out for Venus' Off-Broadway Opening". Broadway. Retrieved 12 August 2019.

[10] "Zainab Jah". iobdb. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

[11] Mcphee, Ryan. "Nominations for the 2019 Drama Desk Awards Announced; Oklahoma!, Tootsie, Rags Parkland Lead the Pack". Play Bill. Retrieved 25 December 2019.

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v t e FESPACO Best Actress Prize
1972–2000	Rosine Yanogo (1983) Bia Gomes (1989) Mariatou Kouyaté (1991) Maysa Marta (1993) Yousra (1995) Aminata Ousmane Maïga (1997) Dominique Mesa (1999)
2001–present	Albertine N’Guessan (2001) Awatef Jendoubi (2003) Pamela Nomvete (2005) Adèle Ado & Calmel Dorelia (2007) Les Jardins de Samira (2009) Mariam Ouedraogo (2013) Maïmouna Ndiaye (2015) Noufissa Benchehida (2017) Samantha Mugatsia (2019) Zainab Jah (2021)