Anna Akana

Anna Kay Napualani Akana (born August 18, 1989) is an American actress, comedian, filmmaker, musician, and YouTuber. She has appeared in TV series, films, and music videos that include Awkward (2011), Ant-Man (2015), Hello, My Name is Doris (2016), and Dirty 30 (2016). In 2015, she launched a clothing line Ghost & Stars. She is the author of So Much I Want to Tell You: Letters to My Little Sister (2017), in which she describes her struggles and experiences. Early and personal life Akana's father was an officer in the United States Marine Corps, including during her childhood. Her father moved every few years to a new state or country. In a 2020 interview, she said that she loved Sailor Moon, Inuyasha and Ranma ½, expressing her surprise that her dad would make them watch Tenchi Muyo! with him despite its "perverted" nature. Her father stated that she loved shows like The Powerpuff Girls, animation in general, and anime, the latter especially because she spent "four years growing up in Japan". On February 14, 2007, Akana's younger sister, Kristina, died by suicide aged 13. Several months after, Akana watched Margaret Cho perform on a Comedy Central special and laughed for the first time since her sister's death. She began to see laughter as a means of trying to move on with her life and decided to seriously pursue comedy. Akana has been vocal about her sister's suicide and is a strong advocate for suicide prevention. In 2013, Akana uploaded a YouTube video, "please don't kill yourself", in which she explains how it felt for her to have a family member die by suicide. In that same year, she released a book Surviving Suicide which contains her journal entries from the two years after her sister's death.