Yetide Badaki plays in the new and powerful STARZ original series “American Gods” as Bilquis. She’s making a great presentation as the show enters its first season. Also known for her appearances on “Masters of Sex,” “Criminal Minds” and “NCIS:New Orleans,” this could be the big break that helps her to become more widely known to television. She’s getting some great attention as her growing fan base can attest, but there isn’t a lot that has been publicized about her yet. We’re here to share five things that you didn’t know about Yetide Badaki. We’re sure that as she gains exposure, we’ll be adding more.
Yetide is a huge geek
Yep, she is a dyed in the wool Trekkie. She shared that she has had crushes on Data and Jean Luc Picard. She’s a big fan of fantasy and science fiction. She is also a fan of Neil Gaiman and devoured the book when it first appeared in 2001. This makes her role as Bilquis all the sweeter.
Yetide is a recent immigrant to the United States
Yetide Badaki is a native of Ibadan, Nigeria. Growing up, she could only dream that one day she would find herself in America starring in a new television series that deals with fantasy. She has officially been a citizen of the US for three years.
Badaki’s key to acting is connection
She shared that the one thing that helped her for auditioning for the Bilquis role is that all humans have a “need for connection.” She put herself into the character and related the lines in a way that people would be able to connect to. It must be a powerful technique because she nailed the audition and was given the part. She wasn’t as focused on the mechanics as she was in reaching out in a powerful way that actually communicated the character to those around her. Kudos for her successful audition.
Yetide is formally educated
Badaki attended McGill University where she majored in English Literature with an emphasis on Theater. Her minor was in Environmental Science. She went on to earn her Master of Fine Arts degree in Theater which she obtained from the Illinois State University. She has a brilliant mind and an amazing ability to digest information and interpret it for the benefit of others. Perhaps this is what gives her such a powerful ability to make her characters believable.
Badaki believes that Black women are sidelined-but she’s doing something about it
Yetide has an awareness that women of color have long been put on the back burner when it comes to representing woman and a sexual being, even a goddess of love. Most cultures have their legends about women and their representation of the woman’s magical ability to create life and to command the sexual desire of men. The issue is that globally, this position is not occupied as much by black women as with other ethnicity. This could be one of the reasons why she loved Neil Gaimen’s book so much. He wrote it to interject a black woman into this powerful role, and Now she is fulfilling this idea in her portrayal of the character Bilquis.
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