Adunni Ade: her background, story, and rise in Nollywood

Adunni Ade is a Nigerian-American actress and producer. She has been featured in over 250 English and Yoruba Nigerian films. Her first film as an executive producer, Soólè (2021), is among the highest-grossing African movies at the box office. This article unveils exciting things you might not have known about Adunni Ade, including her journey to stardom.

Key takeaways

• Adunni F. Adewale, commonly known as Adunni Ade, is also a scriptwriter and fashion model.
• Her mother, Emily Faye, is German-Irish, while her father is a successful Yoruba businessman from Lagos State, Nigeria.
• The actress graduated with a degree in accounting from the University of Kentucky.

Profile summary

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Who is Adunni Ade?

Adunni F. Adewale is an actress, fashion model, scriptwriter, and film producer. She is best known for her roles in What's Within (2014), 2nd Honeymoon (2014), You or I (2013), and Iwo tabi emi.

How old is Adunni Ade?

Adunni Ade's age is 49 years as of 2025. She was born on 7 June 1976, and her Zodiac sign is Gemini.

What is the background of Adunni Ade?

Adunni Ade's mother and father are from different racial backgrounds. Her mother, Emily Faye, is German-Irish, while her dad hails from Lagos State, Nigeria. Adunni Ade's father's name is not known publicly, but he is a successful Yoruba businessman.

The actress was born in Queens, New York, United States, and her nationality is American-Nigerian. She was raised in Lagos State. Adunni was a year and a half old when they returned to Nigeria to attend her grandfather's burial.

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Who are Adunni Ade's siblings?

The actress has a younger sister, Mistura, who is a makeup artist and a Pentecost University, Ghana graduate. The two are half-siblings. Mistura is purely African, while Ade is biracial.

Adunni Ade's religion

The Nigerian actress was raised in a Muslim home. In her adulthood, she visited multiple churches but was eventually drawn back into Islam. Today, she is a practising Muslim.

Which university did Adunni Ade attend?

Adunni attended the Chrisland Primary School in Opebi, Lagos State, and the Bells Comprehensive Secondary School in Ota, Ogun State.

She then moved back to the United States in her late teens for her university education and earned an accounting degree from the University of Kentucky in 2008.

Career

Adunni worked in Kentucky State's housing and insurance sector in the US before pursuing a career in the modeling and fashion industry. After being featured on America's Next Top Model, she returned to Nigeria to be an actress.

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The model landed her first Nollywood role in the You or I Yoruba film in 2013. After that, her short video comedy skit, Date Gone Bad, got over 170,000 YouTube views in 2014.

One of her top films as an actress was It's Her Day (2016). Because of it, she was nominated for Best Supporting Actress in the AMVCA in 2017 and won the Best Supporting Actress Award at the Lagos Film Festival.

After performing diverse roles in movies, Adunni advanced her career to writing scripts and producing films in 2018. She wrote and produced her first Yoruba drama movie, Emi Mi – My Soul. Saheed Balogun directed the movie, and it starred D'Marion Young, Ibrahim Chatta, Sunkanmi Omobolanle, and Sola Kosoko.

Later that year, Adunni Ade produced another Yoruba movie, Ewa – Beauty. It was also directed by Saheed Balogun and featured Ibrahim Chatta. Other renowned actors in the film were Kunle Omisore, Yinka Quadri, and Tayo Sobola.

Adunni launched her film production company, Lou-Ellen Clara Company Limited, in 2021 and released her first film, Soólè, in the same year. This became her first movie as an executive producer.

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Kayode Kasum directed Soólè, which featured Femi Jacobs, Sola Sobowale, Shawn Faqua, Meg Otanwa, Lateef Dimeji, and other A-list Nollywood actors.

Soólè made N10.2 million in the first weekend of its opening and N16 million in the opening week. Additionally, the film earned over N51 million after nine weeks and was among the top 10 Nollywood movies in cinemas for 2021.

Moreover, Soólè actor Shawn Faqua was nominated for Best Actor in a Comedy award at the 2022 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA) ceremony. Adunni Ade received her first Yoruba Award for Best Yoruba Actress for the 5th Edition of the Cool Wealth Awards.

Adunni Ade's movies

Adunni is good at bringing out her characters on set. For that reason, producers would not think twice about hiring her to play in their movies. Below are some of the films Adunni has appeared in and produced as of writing:

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Adunni Ade's television shows

The actress has also appeared in the following television shows and web series:

• Behind the Cloud
• Babatunde Diaries
• Jenifa's Diary Season 2
• Sons of the caliphate Season 2
• The Island (2017)
• Witches (2020)

Is Adunni Ade still married?

The actress has never been married. The famous actress was in a relationship with Michael Boyd for eight years. Because the relationship lasted a long time, many people assumed Boyd was Adunni Ade's husband.

Who is Adunni Ade's daughter?

Adunni Ade does not have a daughter but is a mother of two boys. She and Michael Boyd welcomed D’marion Young and Ayden Young. The actress often shares pictures of her children on her Instagram page.

While speaking about her past relationship with Michael Boyd, the actress stated;

I'm a sucker for love. I love hard; that's why I take my time before diving into any relationship with the person I will love. I will do whatever I can in a relationship to make it work because I just don't get involved with people anyhow.

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She added:

I have said this; it's not something I want to hide, it's a part of me, and I don't think there's any need to lie or make myself look good or whatever, but I have never been married. I was with my ex, Michael Boyd, who is my children's father for eight years, and things did not work out, and I just let it go, and that has been three years ago.

Is Adunni Ade a single mother?

The Nigerian actress identifies as a single parent to her children. She sometimes calls herself "just a mother".

Adunni Ade's height and weight

The Nigerian actress weighs about 169 lbs or 77 kg and is 5 ft 6 in or 167 cm tall. Her body measurements are 36-25-36 inches.

Trivia

• The Nigerian Institute of Journalism gave Adunni Ade a Stella Award for promoting Nigerian culture.
• Adunni was the brand ambassador for OUD Majestic in 2017.
• Her love for the Nigerian culture is depicted in her clothing and hairstyles. Adunni often wears Nigerian-styled attire and braided hairstyles.
• The actress has tattoos on her hands and the back of her right shoulder.
• Adunni Ade is an animal lover.

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Adunni Ade is among the most influential actresses and film producers in Nigeria. Her recent career achievements confirm she has made a lasting impression in the industry.

Legit.ng published Kalu Ikeagwu's biography. Kalu Ikeagwu is a British-born actor and writer. He is best recognised for his roles in popular TV shows and films such as 30 Days, Domino, Accident, Broken, Damage, Doctors' Quarters, Two Brides and a Baby, and Tinsel.

Kalu Ikeagwu has been in the entertainment industry since 2005. Although he was born in the UK, he has significantly contributed to the Nigerian entertainment industry.

Source: Legit.ng