Yaya DaCosta

Camara DaCosta Johnson (born November 15, 1982), better known as Yaya DaCosta, is an American actress and model. She was the runner-up in Cycle 3 of America's Next Top Model. DaCosta eventually went to star in ABC's daytime drama series All My Children (2008), ABC's comedy-drama Ugly Betty (2009), and NBC's medical drama Chicago Med (2015–2022). DaCosta starred in the Lifetime television film Whitney (2015) as singer Whitney Houston and received praise for her performance. Early life and education DaCosta was born on November 15, 1982, in New York City and is of African-American and one-quarter Brazilian descent. Although often misreported as having Nigerian heritage, DaCosta has denied this, but states it might be possible given the history of the United States. She was raised in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City. In addition to English, she speaks Portuguese, French, Spanish and conversational Japanese. She attended the elite Northfield Mount Hermon School during high school before attending Brown University, where she majored in Africana studies and international relations. Career After being the runner-up on Cycle 3 of America's Next Top Model, DaCosta went on to have a successful career. DaCosta only appeared once in the bottom two during the competition. She has appeared in advertisements for Garnier Fructis, Lincoln Townhouse, Oil of Olay, Radioshack, Seda, Sephora and Dr. Scholl's. She has graced the covers of numerous magazines, including W, Hype Hair, Splash and Global Modeling. In 2014, she landed a spot in Tom Ford’s Fall/Winter advertising campaign. DaCosta began acting in 2005 after guest-starring in an episode of the UPN sitcom Eve. She then starred opposite Rob Brown, Antonio Banderas and Alfre Woodard in the 2006 dance film Take the Lead. DaCosta had supporting roles in the independent films Honeydripper (2007) and The Messenger (2009). She appeared in the ABC soap opera All My Children in 2008 as Cassandra Foster, the daughter of Angie Hubbard (Debbi Morgan). According to an interview with All My Children'''s new head writer, Charles Pratt, Jr., DaCosta left the role some time in August 2008, less than four months after joining the show, to join the cast of The First Breeze of Summer on Broadway.