Okwui Okpokwasili
Birthdate: Aug 6, 1972
Birthplace: The Bronx, New York City, New York
Okwui Okpokwasili (birthname: Okwuchukwu Ada Okpokwasili) is an acclaimed New York-based performer and writer in experimental theater and performance art who has also appeared as an actor in feature films ranging from independent art cinema to Hollywood studio releases.
Okpokwasili made her feature acting debut in The Interpreter (2005), starring Nicole Kidman and Sean Penn under Sydney Pollack’s direction, followed by small supporting roles in the Lasse Hallström-directed Clifford Irving biopic starring Richard Gere, The Hoax (2006); in the Will Smith-starring sci-fi epic grossing $585 million for Warner Bros., I Am Legend (2007); and director David Teague’s Japanese bunraku puppet-styled musical silent film, Love Suicides (2007), produced by the Brooklyn Vitagraph Company.
Okwui Okpokwasili played Queen Hippolyta in director Julie Taylor’s big-screen recording of her stage production, Julie Taymor’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2015), co-starring Kathryn Hunter, David Harewood, Tina Benko, Max Casella, Jake Horowitz, Joe Grifasi, Lilly Englert and Roger Clark, and executive produced by Robert Chartoff. Okpokwasili took on a supporting role in director/writer Stephan Littger’s German-U.S. drama debut, Her Composition (2015), with Joslyn Jensen, Heather Matarazzo, and Ryan Metcalf, and which premiered at the Austin Film Festival.
Okpokwasili was the subject (as well as credited writer-producer) of a feature-length profile of her work as an experimental performer-writer in director/producer Andrew Rossi’s non-fiction film, Bronx Gothic (2017), premiering at the prestigious Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Okpokwasili joined the ensemble of director/co-writer/editor Josephine Decker’s Madeline’s Madeline (2018), with Helena Howard, Molly Parker, and Miranda July, premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and released by distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories.
Okwui Okpokwasili had a leading role in directors/writers/producers Mika Rothenberg’s and Magyar Tousi’s film Remote (2022), with Nikita Tewani and Poona Mohseni premiering at the New York Film Festival and produced in part by the Louisiana Museum of Art and gallerist Hauser & Wirth.
Okpokwasili appeared in the supporting cast of the horror sequel The Exorcist: Believer (2023), the sixth film in the Exorcist franchise. It was directed and co-written by David Gordon Green and co-starred Leslie Odom Jr., Ellen Burstyn, Libya Jewett, Olivia O’Neill, Ann Dowd, and Linda Blair. The film earned a $137 million gross for producers Blumhouse Productions/Morgan Creek Entertainment and distributor Universal Pictures.
Okwui Okpokwasili landed her first co-starring role in a wide studio release (again via Universal Pictures and produced by Blumhouse) in the psychological horror movie, The Woman in the Yard (2025), starring Danielle Deadwyler and Russell Hornsby, under Jaume Collet-Serra’s direction.
Personal life
Okwui Okpokwasili was born and raised in The Bronx in New York City, by her parents, who are Igbo Nigerian refugees who fled Nigeria during the country’s civil war in the 1960s. Okpokwasili attended Yale University, where she studied theater at the Yale School of Drama.
Okwui Okpokwasili Movies
actor
Previous (3)
- 2025 |
The Woman in the Yard
asWoman
A mysterious woman repeatedly appears in a family's front yard, often delivering chilling warnings and unsettling messages, leaving them to question her identity, motives and the potential danger she might pose.
- 2018 |
Madeline’s Madeline
asNurse/KK
A theatre director's latest project takes on a life of its own when her young star takes her performance too seriously.
- 2017 |
Bronx Gothic
asSelf
From director Andrew Rossi (Page One: Inside the New York Times, The First Monday in May) comes an electrifying portrait of writer and performer Okwui Okpokwasili and her acclaimed one-woman show, Bronx Gothic. Rooted in memories of her childhood, Okwui - who's worked with concep... Read all
Facts About Okwui Okpokwasili
Theater Acclaim: Okwui Okpokwasili has received several honors for her critically acclaimed performances in New York experimental theater, including Bessie Awards, a MacArthur “Genius Grant,” and residencies and commissions, such as at the New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Choreography; at the Rhode Island School of Design, Lower Manhattan Cultural Council’s Extended Life Program; and as a Randjelovic/Stryker Commissioned Artist at New York Live Arts.
Okwui Okpokwasili News
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