Biography of Beverly Naya
Table of Contents
Beverly Ifunaya Bassey, popularly known as Beverly Naya is a British-born Nigerian actress, producer, scriptwriter, model, and entrepreneur. The popular actress has made a name for herself in the Nigerian movie industry, though she came from the UK before kick-starting her acting career in Nigeria she also started small like most of her counterparts but everyone can agree she is a respected member of the industry now.
She founded the #fiftyshadesofblack campaign in 2014 which promotes and inspires the younger generation of girls to be self-confident, be color positive and boost their inner beauty. Early in 2021 Naya launched a company that produces women’s ready-to-wear clothing lines named after herself, Be Naya has clothing promoting African culture, also women of all shapes and sizes. She is a role model to many young Nigerian girls just as she has her mother and the likes of Oprah Winfrey and Mo Abudu as her role models.
Naya is also an ambassador to numerous companies like Guinness, Darling Nigeria, LG Africa, Nivea Nigerian among others.
The media IT girl is very active and outspoken on social media, these are her social media handles: Instagram @thebeverlynaya and Twitter @beverlynaya.
EARLY LIFE
Growing Up And Education.
Beverly Ifunanya Bassey was born on April 17 1989 in London, she is an only child. Her parents hail from Ibuzor, Delta State, Nigeria. She had her early education in the United Kingdom and studied philosophy, psychology, and sociology at Brunel University, Uxbridge, England.
However, she realized she didn’t feel fulfilled in her already chosen career so she decided to change her career path by studying drama and dance at Brunel University, Uxbridge. She furthered her education by studying script-writing and film-making at Roehampton University.
How Beverly’s Career Started.
Beverly’s career kicked off at the age of 17 when she started studying dance and drama at Brunel University, she was more in love with drama than dancing and has since then been actively acting.
Beverly made her television series debut in 2013 “Passport”, a BET TV series shot entirely in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. After finishing with the series Naya landed herself a supporting role as Yaya Giardia on M-Net’s number one soap opera Tinsel.
After her graduation, she relocated to Nigeria, when she was asked why she came to Nigeria this was her reply in her own words “After I graduated from university, I just knew that I wanted to act, I knew I wanted to act, and in London, I could shoot a film probably once in a year and that’s it. Whereas coming to this industry, I can build a brand as well as shoot films more often and be given a more diverse amount of scripts. So, I decided to come back for that reason” and indeed she had done just that.
Beverly’s Most Memorable Moments
One of Naya’s most memorable moments was finding out she was being featured on Forbes 30 under 30 awards Africa in 2018, which was a big feat for her.
Filmography
Beverly has featured in different movies over time. They are listed below:
Guilty Pleasures – 2009
Death Waters – 2012
Tinsel
Home in Exile
Alan Poza
Forgetting June
Make a move
Up Creek Without a Paddle
Stripped
Weekend Getaway
When Love Happens – 2014
Brother’s Keeper – 2014
Before 30 2015– ongoing
Oasis – 2015
Skinny Girl in Transit – 2015
Suru L’ere – 2016
The Wedding Party – 2016
The Wedding Party 2 -2017
Chief Daddy – 2018
Dinner
Affairs of the Heart
Jumbled
The Arbitration
Dibia
In Sickness and in Health
Beverly Naya AWARDS/RECOGNITIONS
Of course, Beverly has had a few awards and nominations to her name and they are listed below:
- Most Promising Talent at the Best of Nollywood Awards – 2010
- Fast Rising Actress at the City People Entertainment Awards – 2011
- ELOY Awards nominee for the TV Actress of the Year – 2014
- Nominated for the African Magic Viewers’ Choice Award (AMVCA) in the Best Supporting Actress – 2016
- Best Actress at the Toronto International Nollywood Film Festival (TIFF) – 2018
- Forbes 30 under 30 Awards, Africa – 2018
- Official selection (Skin) at the Urban World Film Festival – 2019
- The Skin was officially selected to play at the Slum Film Festival – 2019
- Official selection (Skin) at the San Francisco Black Film Festival – 2019
- The Skin was officially selected at the Africa World Documentary Film Festival – 2019
- The documentary – Skin, is an official selection of this year’s ERP International Documentary Film Festival – 2019
INTERESTING FACTS
Beverly Naya Net Worth
Naya’s net worth is estimated to be 1 million dollars all being income from acting, and her other businesses.
Other Interesting Facts
Beverly is currently single and said to not be in any romantic relationship, she is focused on building her career, love is said to find those not looking for it, hopefully, love finds dear Beverly soon.