Yaya DaCosta Bio, Wiki
Yaya DaCosta born Camara DaCosta Johnson is an American Actress and Model well known for her appearance in All My Children in 2008, Ugly Betty in 2009, and in Chicago Med in 2015. In America’s Next Top Model, she was the runner-up in Cycle 3.
Yaya DaCosta Age
DaCosta was born in New York City, United States on 15th November 1982. She is 41 years old as of 2024 and she celebrates her birthday on November 15th every year.
Yaya DaCosta Height/Measurements
DaCosta stands at an approximate height of 5 feet 8 inches.
Yaya DaCosta Education
DaCosta attended Northfield Mount Hermon School for her high school. She later went to Brown University where she majored in international relations and Africana studies.
Yaya DaCosta Career
DaCosta had a successful career after being the America’s Next Top Model’s runner-up on Cycle 3. She only appeared one time in the bottom two in the competition. She has appeared in several advertisements including Lincoln Townhouse, Radioshack, Garnier Fructis, Oil of Olay, Sephora, Seda, and Dr. Scholl’s. DaCosta has also appeared on covers of many magazines such as Hype Hair, W, Splash, and Global Modelling. She got a spot in the advertising campaign of Tom Ford’s Fall/Winter in 2014.
DaCosta started her acting career in 2005 after appearing in an episode of the sitcom Eve where she guest -starred. She then starred in the dance film Take the Lead in 2006 and she also had supporting roles in the films, The Messenger in 2009, and Honeydripper in 2007. She appeared in the soap opera All My Children where she portrayed Cassandra Foster in 2008. DaCosta left the show less than four months after joining so that she could join the cast of The First Breeze of Summer, according to an interview with the new head writer of All My Children. She had a recurring role in 2009 as Nico Slater in season 4 of the series Ugly Betty.
DaCosta had supporting roles in 2010 in the comedy-drama film called The Kids Are All Right and in the film Tron: Legacy. She then appeared in magazines such as W in September 2010, L’Officiel in November 2010, and in Vogue in January 2011. In 2013 DaCosta appeared in the drama film The Butler playing the role of Carol, starring Oprah Winfrey and Forest Whitaker. It was announced in 2015 through an interview with Angela Basset that she would star as Whitney Houston in a television film about her life. Her performance received a lot of good reviews.
From 2015 to 2021, DaCosta starred in the medical drama, Chicago Med where she played the role of an ED nurse, April Sexton. DaCosta announced on 14th May 2021 that she was leaving Chicago Med after 6 seasons and that she had joined Our Kind of People, a FOX drama series where she would play the role of Angela Vaughn.
Yaya DaCosta Net Worth
Throughout her career as an actress and model, DaCosta has been able to accumulate an estimated net worth of around $1 Million.
Yaya DaCosta Parents and Siblings
DaCosta was born and brought up in New York City United States by her parents, Carl Awolowo Johnson (Father) and Orundun DaCosta Johnson (Mother). She has not revealed further information concerning her parents. She has one sister Djassi Dacosta Johnson and two brothers one of whom sadly passed away in 2012 after she had prepared for her wedding.
Yaya DaCosta Husband
DaCosta was in a relationship with Joshua Bee Alafia, and independent film producer and director from 2012 to 2015. The couple was blessed with a son named Sankara in September 2013. However, it was reported in November 2015, that the two had broken up. As opposed to popular reports, Alafia and DaCosta were never married officially.
Yaya DaCosta Nationality, Ethnicity, and Race
DaCosta was born in New York United States and is of mixed ethnicity and race because her parents are of different ethnicities. Her father is African-American while her mother is Brazilian. She chose to use her mother’s surname as her stage name because she wanted to connect to her origin and race.
Yaya DaCosta Lincoln Lawyer
DaCosta appeared in the television series Lincoln Lawyer which aired in 2023 where she portrays Andrea Freeman. Andrea works as a prosecutor in the Van Nuys division of the office of the L.A. County District Attorney. She has faced Mickey Haller in court a few times, but he has never won. She is an ambitious and aggressive attorney. Andrea was the prosecutor in Lisa Trammel’s trial in 2011 for the murder of Mitchell Bondurant in which she again faced Mickey Haller. They were evenly matched and Andrea presented a strong case that Trammel was guilty.
Yaya DaCosta America’s Next Top Model
DaCosta was known for putting off judges and the girls due to her arrogance. However, she performed well in most of the challenges where she won 5 out of 8. In the sixth episode, DaCosta wore a shirt written Respeito which is Portuguese meaning Respect, responding to Eva and Ann ruining Cassie’s brownies. In the eighth episode, she was mocked for the judging panel challenge, calling a hat that she did not wear, cheap and going ahead to insult the designer. Rebecca Weinberg, the guest judge, told her that Africa-ness is overbearing and DaCosta took it as an offense. In the ninth episode, for the mock commercial judging panel challenge, she spit out food which resulted in her being at the bottom two but she was saved. DaCosta won the best photo in the finale, in the CoverGirl shoot. However, she lost to Eva.
Yaya DaCosta Chicago Fire
DaCosta played the role of April Sexton in the television series Chicago Fire which aired in 2015. April is a former nurse in the Emergency Department at the Gaffney Chicago Medical Center. She is the only daughter and oldest child of Marcia Sexton and Alfonso Sexton, Brazilian immigrants. She had a younger brother called Noah whom her parents always said should be the doctor. This resulted in April helping him through medical school sacrificing her own career. She was brought up Catholic and she admired St. Francis as she was growing up. Kelly Severide is her childhood friend whom she eventually developed a romantic relationship.
Yaya DaCosta Film and TV Shows
- Take the Lead
- Racing for Time
- Whole Lotta Sole
- Dark Horse
- The Nice Guys
- America’s Next Top Model
- All My Children
- Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
- Army Wives
- The Simpsons
- Chicago Fire
- Our Kind of People
- The Lincoln Lawyer
- Whitney
- The Nice Guys
Yaya DaCosta Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram
She is vocal on her social media accounts where she posts frequently. On her Twitter account, she has about 43.8K followers, around 430.7K followers on her Facebook page, and about 446.3K followers on her Instagram account.