Naomi Ackie (born 2 November 1992 in Walthamstow, London) is a British actress of Grenadian descent; her parents are second-generation immigrants from Grenada.
Her first major film role was in Lady Macbeth, for which she won the British Independent Award for Most Promising Newcomer. She later gained wider recognition after being cast as Jannah in Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker and Whitney Houston in I Wanna Dance with Somebody. She also won a BAFTA for Best Supporting Actress with her role in The End of the F***ing World.
Selected filmography:
- Doctor Who (2015) as Jen (episode: "Face the Raven" )
- The Five (2016) as Gemma Morgan
- Lady Macbeth (2017) as Anna
- Vera (2018) as Louise Everitt (episode: "Black Ice")
- The End of the F***ing World (2019) as Bonnie
- Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) as Jannah
- Small Axe (2020) as Hazel (episode: "Education")
- Master of None (2021) as Alicia
- I Wanna Dance With Somebody (2022) as Whitney Houston
Tropes associated with the creator and her works:
- Dawson Casting: In I Wanna Dance with Somebody, although the inverse also applies; Ackie was 28 years old when she was cast as Whitney Houston, turning 29 during filming, and she portrayed Houston at the ages of 20 (close to a decade younger than her actual age) through to 48 (two decades older than her age at the time).
- Dyeing for Your Art:
- She spent seven months taking horse-riding lessons to prepare for her role as Jannah, who spends a lot of The Rise of Skywalker riding a horse-like creature.
- She wore a set of false teeth to portray Whitney Houston, as Ackie has a notable gap between her two front teeth while Houston did not. Ackie stated she had to get used to talking with an American accent while wearing the teeth (after already spending quite some time trying to perfect the accent).
- Fake American: She portrays American singer and actress Whitney Houston in a biopic. She spent six months learning how to speak with an American accent and said some people on-set would be caught off-guard when she starting talking with her natural accent out-of-character.
- What Could Have Been: She was cast in an undisclosed role in Bloodmoon, a planned prequel to Game of Thrones set during the original Long Night, but the series was cancelled after a poorly-received pilot.
