Naomi Ackie

Naomi Ackie (born 22 August 1991) is an English actress. She made her television debut as Jen in the Doctor Who episode "Face the Raven" (2015). For her role as Bonnie on the television dark comedy-drama series The End of the F***ing World, she received the British Academy Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in 2020. Ackie is well known for her role as Jannah in the film Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019). In 2021, she had a main role on the third season of Master of None. In 2022, she garnered critical acclaim for her portrayal of American singer Whitney Houston in the biopic Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody. Naomi Ackie was born in Camden and raised in Walthamstow, London, the daughter of second-generation immigrants from Grenada. Her father was a Transport for London employee and her mother worked for the National Health Service. She is one of three children and has an older brother and sister. She went to Walthamstow School for Girls. Her first role was at the age of 11, playing the angel Gabriel in a school nativity play. She studied at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama and graduated in 2014.