Ekeobong Utibe

Ekeobong Utibe is a Nigerian-American actress and model. The first of four children, her father is a Pastor and her mother is a retired teacher and current small business owner. Her family relocated from Nigeria to St. Thomas, Virgin Islands when she was 6 years old, after a few years on the island of Dominica where her last sister was born. Ekeobong knew that she wanted to pursue acting at 10 years old, but there weren't many outlets for training in the performing arts on her small island. After graduating top 10 in her senior class, Ekeobong used her transition to college as a way to move to Los Angeles and learn as much as she could about acting, while pursing her B.A. in Communications Studies at UCLA. During her four years, she took classes at the UCLA theater program, as well as studied at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. Since graduation, she has dedicated herself to her personal growth and training in her craft. Ekeobong's first lead role was in the short film, Memoir of an Honest Voice, where she depicted the true story of refugee and civil war survivor Mariatu Kamara. The film follows the dramatic survival of a 16 year old who was kidnapped by rebels soldiers during the civil war in Sierra Leone. The film won several awards during its film festival debut in 2014, where Ekeobong received praise for her realistic and moving performance. Her next lead role was in the film Passports, where she played a young woman in a coming of age story. Some of Ekeobong's most recent work include the Verizon original series, Threads, as the lead character in episode 19, Insomnia. Along with her television and film work, Ekeobong is also a model, a hobby she has been able to enjoy since she was 16 years old and started walking in fashion shows around the Caribbean.