Femi Emiola

Infobox actor
name = Femi Emiola
birthdate =


imagesize = 150px
caption=Emiola at the iflookscouldkill.com launch party
birthplace = Iowa City, Iowa, U.S.
birthname =
occupation = Actress
spouse = Kevin Edwards
website = http://www.femiemiola.com

Femi Emiola is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the TV series "Wicked Wicked Games" and in the web series "If Looks Could Kill".

Biography

Early life

Femi Emiola was born in Iowa City, Iowa to a Filipina mother and a Nigerian father, then both PhD candidates at Iowa State University.Femi lived her early life in the Philippines and in Nigeria before returning to the United States as a teenager. "Femi" is prononuced "F-eh-mi" and means "love me" or "marry me." Both her parents are chemists.cite web|url= http://www.midiowanews.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=10879723&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554188&rfi=8f|title= Acting Out: Ames Native Follows Path to Success with Determination|author= Jayne Bullock|date= 2004-Jan-28|publisher= Ames Tribune]

She trained in Theatre Arts at Iowa State University, and studied in New York City with esteemed director and acting teacher, Wynn Handman, a former colleague of Sanford Meisner and artistic director/co-founder of The American Place Theatre in New York City.

Career

Emiola made her film debut in an award-winning short film " [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378263/ The Living Silence] ". Her performance in the film helped garner the filmmaker, Tanya Steele, a Directors Guild East Coast Student Filmmaker Award.cite web|url= http://www.blackstarnews.com/?c=127&a=4770|title= Femi - Multi-Cultural Talent|author= Milton Allimadi|date= 2008-Aug-17|publisher= Black Star News] cite web|url= http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0378263/awards|title= Awards for "The Living Silence" on Internet Movie Database]

Between 2006 and 2007, Emiola played "Lani Walker", the assistant to vindictive and psychotic Blythe Hunter famously portrayed by Tatum O'Neal in the My Network TV telenovela "Wicked Wicked Games", which premiered on December 6, 2006 and aired to completion (65 episodes) in March 2007. [cite web|url= http://www.allmovie.com/cg/avg.dll?p=avg&sql=1:386864|title= Wicked Wicked Games|author= Hal Erickson|publisher= All Movie Guide]

Emiola has also appeared on the television shows "ER", "Ghost Whisperer", "Scrubs", "Las Vegas", "The New Adventures of Old Christine", "Tyler Perry's House of Payne", and "The Practice".cite web|url= http://www.wtnh.com/Global/story.asp?S=5779088|title= Femi Emiola's Bio on WTNH.com - MyTV9] cite web|url= http://movies.nytimes.com/person/1363836/Femi-Emiola?scp=1&sq=femi%20emiola&st=cse|title= Femi Emiola filmography on nytimes.com]

In 2000, Emiola posed for the artist Meredith Bergmann and her profile became the foundation for Bergmann's Phillis Wheatley, which was part of the Boston Women's Memorial, unveiled in 2003 on Commonwealth Avenue Mall in Boston, MA. The sculpture also included Lucy Stone and Abigail Adams and is grafted from bronze and granite and is Bergmann's largest public commission.

In June 2008, Emiola became the face of an innovative marketing campaign by Toyota for the Toyota Camry.

The campaign for the Toyota Camry launched on June 9, 2008 targeting affluent African-American women ages 25-40. There are no television commercials, but instead there is an interactive website, [http://iflookscouldkill.com Iflookscouldkill.com] , which includes a video series and an online game.cite web|url= http://www.adweek.com/aw/content_display/news/agency/e3i95a8c8893ac9738a322fa04bae81384b|title= Toyota Drives Women Online|author= Steve Miller,|date= 2008-Jun-11| publisher= BrandWeek] The $5 million campaign centers on the website and a six-episode video series, promoted as "where espionage and high fashion collide." The target audience for the campaign is African-American women with an annual income of $70,000 and up. The video series stars Emiola as "Bianca Turner" a fashion designer and Toyota Camry owner who becomes unwittingly involved in an espionage plot. Visitors can navigate within scenes and play along, picking up clues to assist Bianca as she tries to solve the mystery. Print and online ads on [http://www.bet.com BET.com] and [http://www.essence.com Essence.com] also support the campaign which runs June 9 through July 27, 2008. [http://www.42entertainment.com 42 Entertainment] in Pasadena, California, developed the game and the site. Burrell Communications, Chicago, is Camry's agency.

Personal life

Femi married Canadian musician and Internet professional, Kevin Edwards in 2006.They live in Los Angeles.

Filmography

References

External links

* [http://www.femiemiola.com Femi Emiola's Official Website]
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* [http://www.iflookscouldkill.com If Looks Could Kill web series]