The age of Ayo Edebiri
From "The Bear" to "TMNT" and "Bottoms," 2023 belongs to the 27-year-old comedian


If you've watched a new movie or TV show in 2023, there's a good chance Ayo Edebiri was in there somewhere.
The 27-year-old comedian has only been acting professionally for a handful of years, but she has quickly taken over Hollywood. Her latest project is the raunchy comedy "Bottoms," and fans should expect to see a lot more of her in the coming years. So how did Edebiri become such a star so quickly, and where's she headed next?
The early years
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, Edebiri's parents are both immigrants, as her mother is from Barbados and her father is from Nigeria. She studied at New York University, originally planning to become an English teacher, but eventually shifting gears to study dramatic writing. "I did my student teaching, and did you know that teenagers are really scary, and they will tell you when you're not a good English teacher?" Edebiri joked on "The Daily Show." "So I was like, 'Hm, maybe change careers?'"
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Even before that, though, Edebiri tried out for improv groups on campus, as she planned to perform comedy at night while teaching. While at NYU, Edebiri met Rachel Sennott, who convinced her to try stand-up, as she recalled to Nylon. Edebiri also told Rolling Stone she was inspired by seeing "a lot of Black women around me" making a career out of comedy while she was interning at the Upright Citizens Brigade, so she decided to pursue comedy while planning to return to teaching if it didn't work out.
Early on, she recalled to Collider, Edebiri was cold-calling and emailing people "non-stop" looking for a job while still in college, including "The Affair" star Maura Tierney. In 2018, Edebiri co-authored a New Yorker humor piece with Olivia Craighead (with whom she also launched the "Iconography" podcast), titled "So You Want to Date a New York Museum," which led Edebiri's manager to find her and come see her perform, per The Hollywood Reporter. After graduating, Edebiri worked as a production assistant on Comedy Central's "Broad City."
Breaking in
In 2019, Edebiri performed stand-up for Comedy Central's "Up Next," which she told Forbes was the first time she saw her comedy gain online traction. "The video came out and I immediately spiraled and every hour was checking YouTube comments," she said. She also began landing TV writing jobs, including on the short-lived NBC sitcom "Sunnyside." In 2020, Edebiri collaborated with Sennott to create the Comedy Central digital series "Ayo and Rachel Are Single," and she was hired to write for Netflix's animated series "Big Mouth."
But "Big Mouth" soon turned into an unexpected acting gig, and major break, for Edebiri. Amid 2020's racial justice protests, Jenny Slate, a white actress, announced she would no longer voice the biracial character Missy, and Edebiri was tapped to replace her. Similarly, Edebiri was hired as a writer for Apple's series "Dickinson," only to be cast in the show as Hattie, a role created just for her. She told W Magazine she was hired for the writing job after admitting in her interview that she thought the way Black characters were handled in the first season was "a little off," and the creator agreed. Edebiri additionally wrote for FX's "What We Do in the Shadows," earning a Writers Guild of America Award nomination.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Breaking out
Edebiri's career exploded in 2022 when she played sous chef Sydney on "The Bear." The FX show, which follows the staff of a Chicago sandwich shop, was created by Christopher Storer, who worked with Edebiri on "Dickinson." Storer "had this innate feeling that this was her role," "The Bear" showrunner Joanna Calo recalled to Bustle.
Adding authenticity to her performance, Edebiri noted to Today that she had previously "worked in restaurants for five or six years in New York," and she further prepared for the show by training with real chefs. After the series became a hit, Edebiri joked on "The Late Show" that "this has been the first year that my parents aren't actively worried about me." The role has earned Edebiri an Independent Spirit Award win and Emmy nomination.
Since then, Edebiri's career has continued to skyrocket. In 2023, she has already had a guest role on "Abbott Elementary," voiced characters in "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem" and "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse," starred in her "Bear" co-star Molly Gordon's film "Theater Camp," and appeared in "History of the World, Part II," "Clone High," "Black Mirror," "I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson," and the second season of "The Bear." She has teamed back up with Rachel Sennott on the raunchy comedy "Bottoms," in which two high schoolers start a fight club to help them hook up with cheerleaders.
What's next?
Still to come from Edebiri this year is a performance in "The Sweet East," which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival. And in 2024, she's making her Marvel debut in "Thunderbolts" opposite Florence Pugh and David Harbour, though her role has been kept under wraps.
"I'm excited [for 'Thunderbolts'] because I don't know; and to me, that's cool," Edebiri told Backstage. "If I don't know what I'm going to learn, that's the best possible scenario for me."
Clearly, the age of Ayo is just beginning.
Brendan worked as a culture writer at The Week from 2018 to 2023, covering the entertainment industry, including film reviews, television recaps, awards season, the box office, major movie franchises and Hollywood gossip. He has written about film and television for outlets including Bloody Disgusting, Showbiz Cheat Sheet, Heavy and The Celebrity Cafe.
-
A Spinal Tap reunion, Thomas Pynchon by way of Paul Thomas Anderson and a harrowing Stephen King adaptation in September movies
the week recommends This month’s new releases include ‘Spinal Tap II,’ ‘One Battle After Another’ and ‘The Long Walk’
-
'The Office' spinoff, a 'Mare of Easttown' follow-up and the Guinness family royalty in September TV
the week recommends This month's new television releases include 'The Paper,' 'Task' and 'House of Guinness'
-
Film reviews: The Roses, Splitsville, and Twinless
Feature A happy union devolves into domestic warfare, a couple's open marriage reaps chaos, and an unlikely friendship takes surprising turns
-
Film reviews: Eden and Honey Don't!
Feature Seekers of a new utopia spiral into savagery and a queer private eye prowls a high-desert town
-
5 of the best platonic TV friendships
the week recommends Maintaining boundaries has proven tricky for all but the most committed of buddies on the small screen
-
The 5 best zombie movies of all time
The Week Recommends Ghouls feasting on flesh have been a staple of cinema for more than 50 years
-
Film reviews: Highest 2 Lowest and Weapons
Feature A kidnapping threatens a mogul's legacy and a town spins into madness after 17 children disappear
-
Every MCU movie since 'Avengers: Endgame,' ranked
The Week Recommends How did the recent 'Fantastic Four: First Steps' stack up?