Yaya DaCosta, born Camara DaCosta Johnson is an American actress and model who starred in the TV series including ABC’s daytime drama All My Children (2008) and Ugly Betty (2009). She also participated in Cycle 3 of America’s Next Top Model and finished as a runner-up. She received praise for her performance in the Lifetime television film Whitney (2015) as singer Whitney Houston.
She has a successful career appearing in advertisements for Garnier Fructis, Lincoln Townhouse, Oil of Olay, Radioshack, Seda, Sephora and Dr. Scholl’s. She became the face of numerous magazines, including W, Hype Hair, Splash and Global Modeling. She began her acting career in 2005 as a guest star in an episode of the UPN sitcom Eve. She then featured in the 2006 dance film Take the Lead alongside Rob Brown, Antonio Banderas, and Alfre Woodard.
She played a supporting role in movies Honeydripper (2007) and The Messenger (2009). She appeared as Cassandra Foster, the daughter of Angie Hubbard in the ABC soap opera All My Children in 2008. She joined the cast of The First Breeze of Summer on Broadway after leaving the role in less than four months after joining. She played a recurring role of Nico Slater, the daughter of Wilhelmina Slater on the ABC comedy-drama series Ugly Betty in 2009.
She played a supporting character in science fiction action-adventure film Tron: Legacy and comedy-drama film The Kids Are All Right. She was cast alongside Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey in the historical drama film The Butler. Since 2015, she has starred as April Sexton, an ED nurse in the NBC medical drama Chicago Med. She married film producer and director Joshua Bee Alafia in June 2016. In 2013, she gave birth to their first son, after two years she filed for divorce from Alafia.