Okawa Shaznay

Okawa Shaznay Biography / Profile

Okawa Shaznay was born on May 29th, 1986 in Bamenda, Cameroon. She is an actress and model who features in the Nollywood industry.

Okawa Shaznay Age

Okawa Shaznay is 37 years old.

Okawa Shaznay Early Life

Shaznay grew up in her land of birth. At a very young age she developed interests in performing arts, taking part in stage plays and small film projects in her home country. With the huge influx of Nigerian movies into Cameroon at the time and ongoing it introduced her to the world of Nollywood in the 90's which she grew to love and admire. At that time Okawa was strongly influenced to pursue an acting career in Nollywood after watching classic 90s Nigerian soaps such as; After the Storm and When the Sun Sets and movies like - Glamour Girls, Scores to Settle and Living in Bondage.

Okawa attended secondary and high school at the Presbyterian Secondary School Mankon in the North West region of Cameroon. She later moved to the United States in 2005 for higher education where she graduated in 2009 with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Texas Southern University.

Okawa Shaznay Career

Okawa starred in her very first movie titled; Master DJ, and produced in Cameroon by Sarabi Pictures in 2004 just before leaving to the U.S. While in Houston, she joined the All Africa Theater group with whom she moved on the road with for 2 summers performing an adaptation of Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart". After then, she went on to do a little over 10 African films in the U.S working alongside some of Nollywood's biggest stars. In 2010, she began to have a buzz in the African film industry within the US and was cited in UK blog - Dulce Camer's 2010 top 50 Cameroonians to watch out for.

Shaznay later moved back to Africa where she starred in her first big-screen role in the movie titled, Cheaters, and directed by the legendary Frank Rajah Arase. In 2014, she starred in her first movie in Nigeria, the hit blockbuster "Iyore" which released in cinemas in 2015, starring alongside Nollywood superstar Rita Dominic and Joseph Benjamin. ? Among the few Cameroonian fast rising acts in African cinema today, Okawa also featured in the 2016 TV series "Delilah", where she played a leading role.

Okawa Shaznay Personal Life

The beautiful actress lives in Lagos, Nigeria. She is currently not married.

Okawa Shaznay Awards

Shaznay was nominated as Most Promising Actress in the 2nd annual 2013 GIAMA awards
In 2014, she was nominated for the Best Supporting Actress Award by the Golden Icons Academy Movie Awards
She was nominated in 2015 for Actress of the Year (Africa) Award by Nigeria Entertainment Awards
She won the Exquisite Lady of the Year (ELOY) award for TV Actress of the year in 2016