Biography

Nija Okoro is a Bronx, NY native. She is an actress of the stage and screen. Her love of acting began when her mother enrolled her in the Harlem School of the Arts as an inventive way to busy her and keep her off the streets. To further her studies Nija decided she would attend the elite LaGuardia HS of the Performing Arts (the "Fame" school). When a guidance counselor advised her against it, because "no one from here ever gets into there", Nija refused to apply to any other school. She got in. The first from her Junior High School. Eventually she went on to attend Juilliard on a full merit-based scholarship where she also received the Marian Seldes award. As a lover of the theatre she has had the pleasure of working on plays directed by Phylicia Rashad and Ruben Santiago-Hudson. She has also starred in a world premiere of a Matthew López play. For her stage work Nija has received four LA Drama Critics Circle Awards and an Ovation award among others. Most recently Nija can be seen starring in the biopic of 1920's actor Charles Gilpin and in the upcoming thriller The Stay. Sometime this year she will return to the stage in the world premiere of Dominique Morisseau's new play Confederates in NY.
- IMDb mini biography by: Darlene Williamson